Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Giant Russian Helicopters














Helicopters. The Americans flew Bell Hueys in Vietnam, immortalized in all those Vietnam war movies. We Europeans have a few helicopter companies as well, but in the arena of Helicopters it is the Russians who rule and always have. Hell, the largest US helicopter company is called... Sikorsky! The USSR (and its successor state Russia) are home to a helicopter company called Mil, named after founder Mikhail Mil. This company designs and manufatures giant helicpters. Helicopters many times larger than anything the West has ever come up with. Just look at this first picture of a Mil Mi-10 Harke, first in Soviet service in 1963, it could lift 20 tons.













Then consider the largest helicopter ever built, the Mil Mi-12 Homer from 1968. Only two prototypes were ever built. 37 meters long, and two rotors with a 35 m diameter each. Wow!












Finally the Mil Mi-26, the heaviest helicopter ever. In service since 1983, more han 250 built. The workhorse of the Soviet Air Force, used heavily in the Afghanistan war.

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