From helicopter to racetrack: The USSR's inventive use of wheels

In the USSR, material shortages had to be overcome with creativity. That's why race car drivers, in search of an advantage, turned their attention to helicopter wheels, all because of their weight.

It may be hard to imagine today, but people competed, tuned, and sparked innovation in the USSR. Unfortunately, a centrally controlled economy is not the ideal environment for drivers who need parts made of materials like aluminium. In such cases, they had to, well, improvise.

Since aluminium wheels were nowhere to be found, a substitute had to be identified. Helicopter wheels were the solution. Specifically, the K2-116, made of magnesium, is used in Mi-4 and Mi-8 helicopters, An-28 aeroplanes, or Il-18s. An alternative, although perhaps more of a rumour, was the aluminium KT 192-020 wheel from plants that specialized in building military amphibians.

In one of the ads on a Russian website, it is mentioned that such wheels were multi-part, although it is less certain whether they weighed less than 9 kilograms.

Of course, the rims had to be adapted to the bolt pattern – depending on the version. Considering the quite "homemade" modification methods, their correct balancing was very complicated. However, it was hard not to take advantage of them if they provided an advantage.

Interestingly, today, the rim can be ordered from the Vertol company website in Kyiv.