Mi-2 Hoplite.
Anything bester would be unpossible.
Posted on 06/16/2006 11:17:33 PM PDT by MarshallDillon
In 1956 Kazan Helicopters started exporting internationally and its helicopter products are now operated by customers in more than 80 countries of the world. In total the company has delivered more than 3800 aircraft overseas. Total flying time of helicopters manufactured exceeds an extraordinary 50 million flying hours. Export figures up to 2005 are as follows:
South America - 299 Africa - 657 Europe - 859 Asia - 1940
FeedBack: Comments from participants of Afghan War The Mi-17 is easy to control and highly manoeuvrable in flight. It features unparalleled protection and is reliable in operation. I think it has no equal as regards the aerodynamics propeties of the main rotor. Today it is flown in many countries, being a workhorse in flashpoints.
Major General of the Air Force Valery N. Ochirov, Hero of the Soviet Union, First Deputy Commander of Aviation of the Land Forces.
Designed as a transport helicopter, the Mi-17 proved a multi-purpose machine. If required, it became both combat, rescu and artilery observation helicopter. In many cases, it was indispensable. It rendered great assistance to ground troops in both small and large- scale operations.
Colonel General of the Air Force, First Deputy Commander of the Russian Air Force, Viktor S. Kot.
CASE FOR RUSSIAN HELICOPTERS For 70 years in the west have been taught that west good and east is bad. This is clearly and intellectually ridiculous. Who after all was the first into space? Who has been stunning the crowds at airshows over the last three years? The Sukhoi 27 with its cobra maneuver and now the vector thrusting Su-37 which stole shows. And who was Igor Sikorsky the founder of the American helicopter industry but a Russian emigrant? In Malaysia they have already broken this mental barrier by purchasing the MIG 29 fighter which has been very successful with a very high rate of serviceability and reliability. If we look deeper in history Indonesia in 50s has been satisfied buyer of the Kazan made Mi-4 helicopters. The Mi-17 is a derivative of the Mi-8. It is the Mi-8 Mark 2. It has bigger engines, an APU and new electrical system and the tail rotor is moved to the other side to increase yaw control to cope with the increased torque but also to improve yaw control in cross wind conditions. And the Mi-17-1V is the Super Mi-17 with engines modified to increase ceiling up to 6000 m (approximately 20000 ft).
The first thing you need to get used to with Russian helicopters is that they are not pretty. They look very old fashioned. It is hard to believe that this is a state of the art, in production machine. The basic airframe design is 30 years old and only those things that needed to be changed have been changed. It was ahead of its time when it was built and 9000 units later it has stayed ahead. The aircraft is designed for simplicity. This is not because the engineers did not know how to design anything more complicated but because they wanted to create a vehicle which could be thrown out into the Siberian wasteland with minimal maintenance and spares back up and give the user consistent reliable performance. If you are designing an advanced fighter aircraft or AWACS vehicle or even an attack helicopter, you need sophistication but how much sophistication do you need or can you tolerate in battlefield truck which is what the utility helicopter is. I have watched perfectly serviceable Super Pumas at Aberdeen Airport with engines turning and rotors running but not going anywhere because the computer is indicating no go due to damp or extreme cold somewhere in a printed circuit board. The S-76 rotor brake is a typical example of over designing. You press a switch and it does the rest. It senses rotor rpm and exerts increasing differential pressure as the rotor slows down but it still manages a violent shudder at the final full stop. What is so difficult about a handle and cable where the pilot can protect his aircraft by feeling his way to go wrong and it is easier to fix if it does go wrong. Ever increasing electronic sophistication may be a designer driven assault on the helicopter rather than user driven.
An example of Russian thinking is that the Mi-17 undercarriage is fixed and not retractable. You may lose 10 kts of speed but it can take a bard impact in case of careless handling or battlefield necessity. It also makes for ease of maintenance and lack of complex moving parts. The aircraft is remarkably robust and does not need or expect hangar except for deep maintenance. The engine power of the Mi-17 is quite phenomenal. With 2 hours fuel endurance you can fit 30 armed troops on board. In Sri Lanka over 60 troops have been loaded and lifted in an Mi-17 in war zone emergency conditions. The aircraft is well tried and has proved to be very forgiving. They worked in extreme battle conditions in Afghanistan and came home with bullets everywhere but still running. One came home from a 12000 ft mountain top site with only one engine running and 20 bullet holes in the rotor blade. It is a pilot's friend, a soldier's friend and a battlefield commander's friend because it usually gets somehow and can be patched up and sent out again in quick time. One of the most satisfying aspects of the Mi-17 helicopter it its cabin. If you like functional designs like a Land Rover or a good 4WD truck you will like this. The cabin is large with a tracked metal floor. Access is by a sliding door at the front or huge clam shell doors at the back through which you can drive a jeep. The sliding fittings for a 5 tone external load hook are on the main gear box accessed in the roof lining by popper studs (not even a spanner or screw driven needed). Two clip fasteners open the trap door in the floor through which you drop the hook and watch the load. You want a ferry tank or maybe four ferry tanks? Fine. You just fit them into the floor tracking and plug them into the fuel connectors on the cabin wall. You want to jump out? Fine. There is a static line in the roof to hook your parachute to or a 150 kg hoist over the door for a more gentle ride. This is essentially a versatile practical airborne truck and tractor combined. The heart of this helicopter though, is in its engines. Each one producing 2200 shaft horse power (compared to say the S-61 engines at 750). It can operate over a range of - 500C with very little attrition to performance at either extreme. It can carry a 5 tone load with 2 hours fuel externally or internally anytime and any place. What is hard to believe is that you can buy at least 2 Mi-17s and probably 3 for every Super Puma or Black Hawk and yet it will out perform both on almost every parameter. Its fuel burn is slightly higher than most western aircraft but this piece of the mathematics is last in the savings made elsewhere. This aircraft is cheaper not because it is not so good but because of 10 years of 70 years of communist history.
This was a vatim geared to creating work and not geared to commercial pricing of its products. They would simply not know how, now, to measure R+D costs on the Mi-17 or how to apply the labor cost or the factory overheads. Pricing is done assuming that all mutial capital costs are already written off. Some people worry about after sales support. Not many people know that over 50 countries outside Russia operate these aircraft and that the system for flow of parts around the world and a very effective AOG system has been in place for a long time. Those countries aligned with the USSR . during the cold war have enjoyed this system for many years but now western aligned countries are being added effortlessly to the list. In summary the Mi-17 is quite simply the best vehicle available for its task and the magic thing is that you can get three for the price of one western equivalent. Buy one squadron for your air force and get two free squadrons. How about that for an offer? From my own point of view I speak from the heart (and from the pocket). If I were offered a western machine in this class alongside the Mi-17 at the same price 1 would take the Mi- 17. It is a superb, powerful versatile cross country truck. Like a good wife it is always at hand when you want it and gives you the support you need without complaint and without fuss. Who needs a helicopter which complains and breaks down in tears when you make real demand on it? Since the break up of the Soviet Union many Russian engineers and designers have been overawed by the technology advances in materials and software particularly in the west and are presenting what they see as their slightly dated products on the market almost apologetically. As their confidence increases so also will the price - so now it is the time for a bargain "Make the best of it."
Go for it FRs!
Ha,ha. Quite a commercial.
(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")
Mi-2 Hoplite.
Anything bester would be unpossible.
We are also in space with them. I'm not going to fall for some dumb competition ad. (even though we are) ;)
I like these better:
http://www.airscooter.com/pages/airscooter_media_files.htm
Doesn't require a license. Goes 60 MPH. You can even land on water.
Up to 20,000 feet!!!! a favorite of CIA.
A spoonfull of caviar helps the medicine (or stealthless Whirly-Ivan) go down.
Mi-2A anyone?
More Himalayan Mi 17s.
Great for hunting ragheads
Great for hunting ragheads
One of these days, someone will write a great history of these helicopters in various conflicts.
"Like a good wife it is always at hand when you want it and gives you the support you need without complaint and without fuss. Who needs a helicopter which complains and breaks down in tears when you make real demand on it?"
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Tsk, tsk
Interesting 'stuff'and some good pictures...many thanks to all
Forget unreliable ice roads and dodgy northern airfields, these soviet helicopters can carry basically anything, from anywhere to anywhere.
Unfortunately the FAA and their Canadian counterparts don't share our enthusiasm. However there is no western alternative.
Makes me want to own my own Russian automoville.
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