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 airplanes, and we can’t even talk about the national economy.
And this despite the fact that we had promising developments in this area, and even what! Fortunately, soon the leadership of the young country 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 release of which began only in 1948. From then until the end of the Mi-4, all helicopters in our country were equipped with a rotary piston engine. At that time, this was normal, but the need for a machine with better propulsion characteristics became apparent very quickly.
New helicopter
And therefore, by 1960, industry and the country's most important helicopter design bureaus received a task. Its result was the development of the Mi-8 helicopter, which became a true legend of the industry, continuing to be actively used in the national economy and the armies of the whole world.
History of creation
Initially, it was assumed that the helicopter will be available in transport, passenger and business versions. Development began in the early months of 1960. As you might guess, the Mil TsKB took up it. The proven Mi-4 was taken as the 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 not much was left from 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 off. A 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 characteristics of the future Mi-8 really liked, but because just a couple of years, the new helicopters have already gone into mass production. Since 1965, the model was produced in Kazan and Ulan-Ude.
MI-8: characteristics
The new car exceeded its predecessor 2.5 times in terms of load capacity. The maximum possible speed was also almost twice as high.
The transmission was largely left without any significant changes. The helicopter layout 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 for its time was largely an advanced model.
Of course, in some ways the American Sikorsky circumvented it, but it was much cheaper, while it had greater carrying capacity and reliability.
Unlike the previous model, the design of the blades has been significantly revised. A hollow spar appeared, made entirely of high-strength aluminum alloy. To make the system as safe as possible, the blades are equipped with a special pneumatic signaling system, which allows you to instantly register mechanical damage to the spar.
Why exactly this helicopter has become so widespread throughout the world?
This happened due to the unpretentiousness and reliability of the machine. Not only in our country, he is respectfully called the "workhorse". In the world, this is the most (!) Widespread
transport helicopter. Abroad, it is known as the Mi-17, some of which are used as military helicopters (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.
In the world there are no more civilian helicopter helicopters that would be produced in such a volume: even according to outdated data, more than 12 thousand of these machines came off the assembly line. And this is without taking into account some modifications!
By the way, by the number of varieties, this helicopter is unequivocally a world leader. At the moment, even experts cannot say how many modifications were specifically created. The determination of this figure is greatly hampered by the fact that some improvements were almost serial introduced directly in military units, but they did not receive patents for their inventions, and therefore they did not get into industrial production.
Control system and engines
The entire 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 icing warning system, which made it possible to use the helicopter in a variety of conditions. In addition, a special mechanism was provided for securing the cargo, so that it is possible to transport an additional three tons by air.
If one engine fails during a flight, the second starts working in the forced mode the same second, giving out power sufficient for at least an emergency termination of the flight. To make it more comfortable for pilots to work in difficult conditions, the car is equipped with an advanced autopilot, which 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 or 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 it was immediately adopted for service.
What options are used?
As we already said, initially this model was created for transport and passenger (up to 28 people) needs. In addition, in Kazan special orders also produce luxury items for seven people, which are very popular among top officials of the state and wealthy 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 bring the car out on one, and the load capacity was very impressive.
And so very soon there appeared a mass of modifications of this helicopter, designed specifically for its army use. Most often, a transport option was simply taken, to which pylons were added for hanging bombs or tanks with incendiary mixture. It soon 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 mount missile weapons was added.
Combat helicopters
The 8MT modification became logical and final on the way to creating a new family of combat transport vehicles. The main distinguishing feature was the installation of new power plants TVZ-117 MT, equipped with the latest AI-9V gas turbine. The helicopter became much more reliable, since the air intakes were closed 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 brought down by heat-guided missiles, a system for dispersing hot exhaust gases from engines was developed. In addition, there are mechanisms for shooting down false targets. Between 1979 and 1989, the helicopter honorably went through the entire conflict in Afghanistan.
Combat and Peaceful Use Experience
During the period when 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 dushmans. For all this time, cases of machine failures can be counted on the fingers.
Unlike its “elder brother” Mi-24, the “eight” was initially deprived of heavy booking, and therefore it always had enough flight thrust even in conditions of very thin 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, which worked with the civilian population, providing it with medicines and food.
Disasters
Unfortunately, even the highest reliability and simplicity of design does not save MI military helicopters, as well as their civilian variants, from falls.
To begin with, about 50-60 cars were lost during the Afghan and both Chechen conflicts. In Afghanistan, the losses among them are mainly non-military, often associated with shelling of military airfields. It is believed that then no more than ten units of this technique were lost. There are no exact data on losses in the First Chechen campaign. In the Second, 29 helicopters of this type were shot down.
The onset of peace also did not bring peace. As a result of technical malfunctions, low-quality fuel and extreme wear of mechanisms in the 90s, more than 174 cars fell or went missing (in Siberia).
We give specific information for the years 2012-2013. So, on July 14, 2013, the helicopter crew in the air felt that both engines began to work unstably. It was decided to land the car directly on a peat bog. True, the helicopter fell to one side, but otherwise the emergency landing was performed perfectly. No one died, and there were no wounded. On July 11 of that year, something similar happened in the Amur Region. Then it was also possible to do without victims.
Unfortunately, on July 2, 24 people died in Yakutia as a result of a car crash, 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, disasters of these helicopters in the Khabarovsk Territory were recorded. There were no survivors either.
In 2012, these helicopters crashed seven times, but only one person was killed.
Of course, these are figures only for our country. It is impossible to say how many Mi-17s crashed in Afghanistan, since local government rarely maintains any detailed statistics. The same can be said of incidents in Africa.