Mi-8MTV-2 Hip

Khrushchev’s helicopter

In September 1959 Nikita Khrushchev visited the United States and took his first ride in the American presidential helicopter. He was so impressed that on his return he ordered a Soviet equivalent ready for the American president’s return visit, to save face. Mil’s bureau hurriedly produced a luxury Mi-4, and during Khrushchev’s inspection flight Mikhail Mil pitched the new turbine helicopter he was developing instead, arguing that it needed a second engine for reliability. In May 1960 Mil received the order to build a twin-engined helicopter, for the first time with purpose-designed Soviet turbine engines and a main gearbox designed in-house. [1]

The Soviet military had argued it did not need a new helicopter at all. Mil had already won approval by describing the project as merely a turbine update of the Mi-4. The single-engined V-8 prototype flew in 1961, and the twin-engined V-8A followed on 2 August 1962. A switch from four to five rotor blades in 1963 reduced vibration, and production began at Kazan in 1965. [1]

Inspired by the Huey

The army showed little interest until the Bell UH-1UH-1H Huey AircraftThe utility helicopter that defined the Vietnam War and served every US armed service; more than 16,000 built.’s role in Vietnam made headlines, showing how helicopters could move troops swiftly in and out of battle. Then a troop-carrying version was rushed into production, and the Mi-8 entered Soviet service in 1967. NATO named it the Hip. [1]

Its long, bus-like fuselage holds 24 troops or 12 stretchers, and a sling under it can carry loads of up to three tonnes. [1] [2] The two engines share the load, and if one fails the other automatically increases its output so the helicopter can keep flying, depending on its weight. [2] Armed versions carry rocket pods, bombs and anti-tank missiles on racks on either side of the fuselage, so the same machine can carry troops and support them with fire. [1] [2]

The second generation

The second-generation Mi-8MT and its export twin, the Mi-17, moved the tail rotor to the left side, where its advancing blades move up into the rotor downwash and give better yaw control. The tail rotor position, oval rather than round exhausts and dust shields on the intakes are the easiest ways to tell the newer helicopters from the original Mi-8. [1] The Mi-8MTV belongs to this generation. Croatia bought 18 Mi-8MTV-1s during its war of independence, and Georgian and Abkhaz Mi-8MTVs fought each other in 1993. [1]

Everywhere at once

Large numbers of Mi-8s served in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, where their rugged construction made them easy to operate and maintain in the field, and the Mi-8 family was the aircraft type the Soviet Union lost most often there. [1] In April and May 1986 Mi-8s flew over the burning Chernobyl reactor, helping drop more than 5,000 tonnes of sand, lead, clay and boron; most were left so irradiated that they were abandoned in a vast scrapyard nearby. [1] In 2001 the CIA and US Special Forces used Mi-8s and Mi-17s to support the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. [1]

More than 17,000 have been built, used by over 50 countries, and the Mi-8 and Mi-17 together are among the most common military aircraft in the world. Production continues. [1]