Category: Helicopters

The Mil Mi-8 (Ми-8, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by CCCP, and now produced by Russia. In addition to its most common role as a transport helicopter, the Mi-8 is also used as an airborne command post, armed gunship, and reconnaissance platform. Along with the related, more powerful Mil…

When, after the death of Pope John Paul, the Conclave on October 16, 1978, chose Cardinal Karol Wojtyła from "a distant country" to succeed him, the communists fell in fear not only in Warsaw, but also in Moscow. They tried to kill the new Pope John Paul II, and if they failed, they would discredit…

The Mil Mi-4 (NATO name "Hound") was a Soviet transport helicopter that served in both military and civilian roles. The Mi-4 was designed in response to the American Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw and the deployment of U.S. helicopters during the Korean War. While the Mi-4 superficially resembles the H-19 Chickasaw, it is a larger helicopter and…

In a relatively short time, the team of WSK PZL Świdnik designers developed a new helicopter for the Western market. Therefore, the helicopter has two names: PZL Kania and PZL Kitty Hawk. Under the latter name, the helicopter was promoted in the West. If the helicopter were to be used in the West, it would…

In 1969, the first version of the Polish helicopter was created for military sea rescue. Until then, the pilot of a combat plane catapulting over the Baltic Sea could only count on rescue from vessels. This, of course, took a long time. The use of a helicopter in a rescue operation in a jump-like manner…

On December 29, 1966, the 74th Liaison-Sanitary Aviation Regiment adopted the first Mi-2 helicopter, starting its service in the Polish Army, which continues to this day (2018). The helicopters did not stand out from the civilian Mi-2 T helicopters, designed to carry 8 people or cargo weighing up to 700 kg inside the cabin. The…

Description for the photo: This PZL Mi-2 R helicopter was built in 1974 in Świdnik. It was used by the ZEUŚ-Heliseco company. He spent 2,823 hours in the air. He performed agricultural operations in Poland and abroad: Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria. in 2008, it was donated to the Polish Aviation Museum.

The idea behind the creation of the SM-2 helicopter was to use the excess power of the Lit-3 piston engine installed in the SM-1 helicopter. An engine with this power should easily carry five people on board, not just three or four as before. In addition, the SM-1 had several other operational shortcomings. For example,…

The Mil Mi-2 helicopter is one of the most recognizable helicopters in the world. In the NATO code, the Mi-2 was called Hoplite. (Hoplite is a heavy infantry soldier in ancient Greece from the 7th to 4th centuries BC.) The helicopter also received several dialect names, including the most popular Kettle. It was designed in…

The first utility helicopters in the world appeared in 1942. This fact meant that in 1947 CCCP established a design facility under the direction of Mikhail Leontjewicz Mil, who held the position of director of this facility. The facility was merely a design office at Factory No. 329 in Moscow. In other words, it did…