Mil Helicopters - Russia / USSR: Books - History

Mil Mi-6 and Mi-26 Heavy-Lift Helicopters (Flight Craft)

Developed in the early 1950s to meet a Soviet Army requirement and first flown in June 1957, the Mi-6 was the largest-yet helicopter created in the Soviet Union. Its notable features included a power-plant consisting of two turbo-shaft engines (for the first time on a Soviet helicopter) and stub wings offloading the main rotor in forward flight.
The cabin was big enough to accommodate artillery systems and tactical ballistic missiles.

Built by two plants, the Mi-6 saw service with the Soviet Air Force (including participation in the Afghan War) and the air arms of several Soviet allies. It also proved valuable as a civil air-lifter during oilfield exploration in Siberia, remaining in service right the way up to 2002.

A worthy successor to the Mi-6 appeared in 1977 - the Mi-26. With its 20-ton payload, it was (and still is) the world's largest and most capable transport helicopter.
Again, the Mi-26 had both military and commercial uses (the former included participation in several armed conflicts); the type is still in production, being updated to meet modern requirements, and has been exported to several countries in Asia and Latin America.

The book describes the history, variants and service career of the Mil' 'big lifters' and contains a detailed overview of the scale model kits covering these types which are currently available on the market.

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Mi-28 Night Hunter and Others

The Mil design bureau, led by Mikhail Leonteyevich Mil, was one of the leading soviet plants promoting combination of helicopters and firepower. Mil was personally involved in the development of pre-war A-7 autogyro equipped with machine gun for its own defence and two more for ground targets destroying.

However, this type did not reach mass production. But Mil was since that time thinking about arming the rotorcraft, especially after his practise during design of several Bratukhin helicopters, of which some models were intended for artillery spotting and clearly showed that helicopter can play an important role in the army and can be a part of front line units.

When the Mi-1 helicopter was test flown for the first time on 20th of September 1948, it was clear a very versatile type was born. It became the first mass produced soviet helicopter with vide variety of special variants both for civil and military applications.

The Mi-1 was the first in a line of Mil helicopters, which were not only built used in the Sovjet Union but also in other countries.

In this book Jakub Fojtik describes the history, development and use of the Mil Mi-28 helicopter.

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Mil - seit 1948 (Typenkompass)

The Russian helicopter manufacturer Mil was founded in 1948 and is famous for its robust and often gigantic helicopter designs.
Some of the most powerful helicopters in the world come from the factory halls near Moscow, such as the world-famous Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter or the enormous Mil Mi-26, the largest series-produced helicopter in the world to date. The machine has an unglazed weight of 22 tons.

In this Typenkompass, Jörg Mückler describes everything there is to know about the Russian manufacturer. Each type is presented using a photo, a historical description and a technical data sheet.

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