consists of large paired main-wheel units on oleo-pneumatic levered shock absorbers mounted at the junction of a strut system supporting the rotor systems and wings and connected to the centre fuselage by a tripod strut structure with the nose-leg attached aft of the crew section. A pair of bumper wheels are mounted at the rear of the fuselage keel and fixed support pads ensure that the cargo ramp is extended to the correct angle. Long braced struts also connected the transmission units to the rear fuselage forward of the fin. Cargo handling is done by means of a forklift or electric hoists on traveling beams. The power system and wings are mounted above the centre fuselage with interconnecting shafts ensuring synchronisation of the main rotors which overlap by about . Drag and lift losses are reduced by the inverse taper wings with minimum chord in regions of strongest down-wash. The interconnecting shafts also ensured symmetrical lift distribution in the event of an engine failure. To optimise control in roll and yaw the rotors are arranged to turn in opposite directions with the port rotor turning anti-clockwise and the starboard rotor turning clockwise, ensuring that the advancing blades pass over the fuselage. Each power unit comprises two Soloviev D-25VF turbo-shaft engines mounted below the main gearboxes which each drive five-bladed diameter rotors and their synchronisation shafts which run from wing-tip to wing-tip. Each paired engine pod has large access panels which open up for maintenance access and also form platforms for servicing crews to operate from. Control of the V-12 presented several problems to the designers and engineers due to the sheer size as well as the rotor layout. The pilot and co-pilot sat in the lower flight deck with a wide expanse of windows to give excellent visibility. Using conventional cyclic stick, collective lever and rudder pedals the pilots input their commands in a conventional fashion. Roll control is by differential collective pitch change on the left and right rotors, ensuring that sufficient lift is generated to prevent inadvertent sink. Yaw in the hover or low air speeds is achieved by tilting the rotor discs forward and backward differentially depending on direction of yaw required. At higher air speeds differential rotor control is gradually supplanted by the large aerodynamic rudder on the fin. Ascent and descent are controlled by the collective lever increasing or decreasing the pitch of both rotors