Mi-8: characteristics, sorties, disasters and photos of the helicopter

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

In our country, initially they did not attach too much importance to the creation of helicopters. What it was connected with is now difficult to find out, but the fact remains: initially, the Red Army received only aircraft, and there’s no need to even talk about the national economy.

And this despite the fact that we had promising developments in this area, and even what! Fortunately, the leadership of the young country soon realized the fallacy of such a strategy, and therefore the industry began to master the production of rotorcraft.

The first of these was the Mi-1, the production of which began only in 1948. From then until the end of the production of the Mi-4, all helicopters in our country were equipped with a rotary piston engine. It was normal for those times, but the need for a machine with better power plant characteristics became apparent very quickly.

New helicopter

And therefore, by 1960, the industry and the most important helicopter design bureaus of the country received a task. Its result was the development of the Mi-8 helicopter, which became a real legend in the industry, continuing to be actively used in the national economy and armies of allpeace.

History of Creation

Initially it was assumed that the helicopter will be produced in transport, passenger and business versions. Development began in the first months of 1960. As you might guess, the Mil Central Clinical Hospital took care of it. The well-proven Mi-4 was taken as a basis. In fact, the new Mi-8 was originally planned as a project for its deep modernization.

However, very soon the designers realized the need to introduce a new type of engine into the car, and therefore there was not so much left of the predecessor in this project.

The work was carried out at an accelerated pace. Already in mid-1961, the first prototype with four blades and one engine took to the air. The prototype with five blades and two power plants flew a year later. At the end of the same 1962, the first prototype was created.

The commission liked the characteristics of the future Mi-8 very much, and therefore, in just a couple of years, the new helicopters already went into mass production. Since 1965, the model has been produced in Kazan and Ulan-Ude.

MI-8: Characteristics

The new machine exceeded its predecessor by 2.5 times in carrying capacity. The maximum possible speed was also almost twice as high.

The transmission was largely left without any significant changes. The helicopter scheme is single-rotor, but a tail rotor is provided. The design uses two gas turbine engines, the chassis rests on three wheels. In general, the Mi-8 was in many ways an advanced model for its time.

Of course, the American Sikorskys bypassed it in some respects, but it was much cheaper, while having a greater carrying capacity and reliability.

Unlike the previous model, the design of the blades has been significantly revised. A hollow spar appeared, entirely made of high-strength aluminum alloy. To make the system as safe as possible, the blades are equipped with a special pneumatic signaling system that allows you to instantly register mechanical damage to the spar.

Why has this particular helicopter become so widespread all over the world?

It happened because of the unpretentiousness and reliability of the machine. Not only in our country, he is respectfully called a "workhorse". This is the most (!) widespread transport helicopter in the world. Abroad, it is known as the Mi-17, some of which are used as military helicopters (the photo is in the article) by the NATO contingent in Afghanistan. Due to the simplicity of piloting, it is not necessary to spend a lot of time on training pilots.

There are no more civilian transport helicopters in the world that would be produced in such a volume: even according to outdated data, more than 12 thousand of these machines rolled off the assembly line. And that's without taking into account some modifications!

By the way, in terms of the number of varieties, this helicopter is definitely the world leader. At the moment, even experts cannot say exactly how many modifications were created. Determining this figure is very difficult because some improvements are almost seri althey were made directly in military units, but they did not receive patents for their inventions, and therefore they no longer fell into industrial production.

Control system and motors

The whole control system this time was based on high-quality and powerful hydraulic boosters. In addition, the Mi-8 was the first to use the latest anti-icing system, which made it possible to use the helicopter in a variety of conditions. In addition, a special mechanism was provided to secure the load, allowing an additional three tons to be transported by air.

If one engine fails during the flight, the second one immediately starts to work in a forced mode, giving out power sufficient at least for an emergency termination of the flight. To make it more comfortable for pilots to work in difficult conditions, the machine is equipped with an advanced autopilot that can take on a significant part of human functions.

Thanks to the latest navigation and radar devices at that time, it was possible to fly a helicopter at any time of the year and day. This feature was quickly appreciated by the military. Moreover, the Mi-8 quickly became one of the symbols of the Russian army: the helicopter turned out to be extremely reliable and inexpensive, and therefore was immediately put into service.

In what variants is it used?

As we have already said, initially this model was created for transport and passenger (up to 28 people) needs. In addition, in Kazan, luxury items for seven people are also produced on special orders,which are very popular among the first persons of the state and we althy businessmen.

Military modifications and further development

We also mentioned in the article that the military really liked the Mi-8. Its engine was extremely reliable, in case of failure of one power plant, it was possible to take the car out on one, and the load capacity was very impressive.

And therefore, very soon a lot of modifications of this helicopter appeared, designed specifically for its army use. Most often, a transport option was simply taken, to which pylons were added for hanging bombs or Molotov cocktails. Very soon it turned out that even such reinforcement was not enough for the needs of the army, and therefore a modification of the 8TV appeared, equipped with reinforced and improved suspensions. The ability to attach missile weapons has been added.

Transport-combat helicopters

Modification 8MT has become logical and final on the way to creating a new family of transport and combat vehicles. The main distinguishing feature was the installation of new TVZ-117 MT power plants equipped with the latest AI-9V gas turbine. The helicopter has become much more reliable, as the air intakes were covered with a new screen, which filtered the air supplied to the engine much better.

So that the Mi-8 helicopter, the photo of which is presented in the article, could not be easily shot down by heat-seeking missiles, a system was developed to dissipate hot exhaust gases from the engines. In addition, there are mechanisms for shooting false targets. Between 1979 and 1989 a helicopter withpassed the entire conflict in Afghanistan with honor.

Combat and non-combat experience

During the period while the contingent of Soviet troops was in this country, the pilots made hundreds of thousands of sorties. They transported millions of tons of cargo, evacuated thousands of soldiers from under the very nose of the spooks. During all this time, the cases of machine failures can be counted on the fingers.

Unlike its "big brother" Mi-24, the "eight" was initially devoid of heavy armor, and therefore it always had enough flight thrust even in conditions of very rarefied mountain air.

In both Chechen conflicts, military helicopters of this type also showed their best side. Reliable and extremely unpretentious, they helped not only the troops themselves, but also the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Red Cross, who worked with the civilian population, providing them with medicines and food.

Disasters

Unfortunately, even the highest reliability and simplicity of design do not save MI military helicopters, as well as their civilian variants from falling.

Let's start with the fact that during the Afghan and both Chechen conflicts, about 50-60 cars were lost. In Afghanistan, losses among them are mostly non-combat, often associated with shelling of military airfields. It is believed that at that time no more than ten units of this equipment were lost. There are no exact data on losses in the First Chechen campaign. During the Second, 29 helicopters of this type were shot down.

The onset of peace also did not bring peace. As a resulttechnical malfunctions, low-quality fuel and extreme wear of mechanisms in the 90s, more than 174 cars fell or went missing (in Siberia).

Let's give specific information for 2012-2013. So, on July 14, 2013, the crew of the helicopter in the air felt that both engines began to work unsteadily. It was decided to land the car directly on the peat bog. True, the helicopter fell on its side, but otherwise the emergency landing was performed perfectly. No one died, and there were no injuries either. On July 11 of the same year, something similar happened in the Amur Region. Then they also managed to do without casu alties.

Unfortunately, on July 2 in Yakutia, as a result of a car crash, 24 people died, more than half of them were children. Only two crew members and one passenger survived. On May 6 and June 6 of the same year, crashes of these helicopters were recorded in the Khabarovsk Territory. There were also no survivors.

In 2012, these helicopters crashed seven times, but only one person died.

Of course, these figures are only for our country. It is impossible to say how many of the same Mi-17s crashed in Afghanistan, since local self-government rarely keeps any detailed statistics. The same can be said about incidents in Africa.