Mi-6
Mi-6 at Riga, Latvia.
Role	Heavy transport helicopter
Manufacturer	Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant
First flight	5 September 1957[1]
Introduction	1962
Retired	2002 (Russia CAA)
Status	In service with foreign users
Primary users	Soviet Air Force Aeroflot
Produced	1960 to 1981[2]
Number built	925+
Variants	Mil Mi-10

The Mil Mi-6 (NATO reporting name "Hook") was a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter designed by the Mil design bureau and built in large numbers for both military and civil roles.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 3 Variants 4 Operators 4.1 Military Operators 4.2 Civil Operators 5 Specifications (Mi-6) 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Design and development

The Mi-6 was first flown in September 1957. Getting this large vehicle in the air is no easy task; the Mi-6 has an enormous gearbox, heavier than its engines, and often uses short wings to relieve the load on the rotor in cruise. Not only was it for a long time the largest helicopter in the world, it was also the fastest with a speed of 300 km/h. Its maximum load capacity is 12,000 kg.

When this helicopter was designed in 1954-56 it was by far the largest in the world, and even today its dynamic components of engines, gearbox, rotors and drive shafts are considered state-of-the-art. In its early days this helicopter set many world records, including one for sheer circuit speed at over 211mph (340km/h). In 1959-72 a total production of at least 500 was built for various general transport, utility, firefighting and flying-crane duties, the last two sub-types not being fitted with the large fixed wings which in other versions bear part of the lift in cruising flight and thus enable higher speeds to be attained. Surprisingly, the twin nosewheels and large low-pressure main wheels do not retract. Normally flown by a crew of no fewer than five, the Mi-6 seats 65 armed troops and can alternatively carry 41 stretcher (litter) patients and two attendants, or a wide range of bulky loads, including vehicles, loaded through rear clamshell doors. In exercises fleets of these aircraft have airlifted many kinds of weapons, including Frog rockets on their PT-76 tracked chassis, as well as large radars and heavy artillery. All Soviet APCs (Armoured personnel carriers), armoured cars and light MICVs (mechanised infantry combat vehicles) can be carried.

[edit] Operational history

Test pilot N.B. Leshin has set the world record of speed. This event was awarded by the American Helicopter Society.

Small numbers are still in service, most in Siberia plus a small number with the People's Republic of China. The Russian Air Force currently operates 5 Mi-6s.

Several irradiated Mi-6s can be found with the thousands of other contaminated aircraft, cars, trucks, buses, military vehicles and fire engines in the "vehicle graveyards" near the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site.

[edit] Variants

• V-6 : (Zavod No.329 Moscow) First prototype series.
• Mi-6 (NATO - Hook-A) : Heavy-lift transport helicopter.
• Mi-6A : Civil transport helicopter, with accommodation for between 65 and 90 passengers.
• Mi-6T (NATO - Hook-A) : Military transport helicopter, which can seat up to 70 people on tip-up seats along the cabin sides, with additional seat along the center-line.
• Mi-6VKP (NATO - Hook-B) : Command post, electronic warfare helicopter.
• Mi-6BUS (NATO - Hook-C) : (Also Mi-6AYa and Mi-22) airborne command post helicopter of 1975.
• Mi-6AYaSh (NATO - Hook-D) : (Also Mi-6VUS and Mi-6VzPU) airborne command post with SLAR.
• Mi-6L : (Also Mi-6LL: Letayushchaya laboratoriya) Flying laboratory variant with D-25VF engines used for flight improvements of the Mi-6 and testbed for the powerplant of the Mi-12.
• Mi-6M : Anti-submarine variant armed with four aerial torpedoes and ASW rockets, and equipped with various experimental ASW systems. First built in 1963 and modified in 1965 for the "Barge Hauler" program.
• Mi-6P : Passenger transport helicopter, with accommodation for between 80 passengers.
• Mi-6PP : Electronic reconnaissance and AWAC detection jammer developed in the 1980s.
• Mi-6PR : (Protivodeystviya Radiorazvedke) Development in 1962 for jammer/electronic warfare variant.
• Mi-6PRTBV : A few modified as mobile rocket/technical bases and rocket fuel transports.
• Mi-6PS : Search and rescue helicopter developed in 1966 for pick-up of the landed "Vostok" and "Soyuz" space modules.
• Mi-6PSA : Little-known modification similar to Mi-6PS.
• Mi-6PZh and Mi-6PZh2 : Fire fighting variants with wings removed.
• Mi-6R : (Retranslyator) specialised radio communications variant developed in 1974.
• Mi-6RVK : Tested in 1965 armed with mobile missile launchers.
• Mi-6S : Medical evacuation helicopter, which can carry up to 41 litters.
• Mi-6TP : Convertible freight/passenger helicopter.
• Mi-6TZ : (Also Mi-6ATZ) fuel transport helicopter.
• Mi-6VR "Vodoley" : Experimental Mi-6 developed in 1976 for testing helicopter de-icing systems and for testing the rotor system of the Mi-26.
• Mi-6? : Developed in 1962 with collapsable BU-75BRM drilling rig for oil exploration in Siberia. Exact designation unknown.

[edit] Operators

[edit] Military Operators

 Algeria

Algerian Air Force

 Belarus

• Belarus Air Force

 Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Air Force - retired.

 People's Republic of China

• People's Liberation Army Air Force

 Egypt

• Egyptian Air Force. (Retired)

 Ethiopia

• Ethiopian Air Force

 Indonesia

• Indonesian Air Force

 Iraq

• Iraqi Air Force

 Kazakhstan

 Laos

• Lao People's Liberation Army Air Force

 Peru

• Peruvian Air Force

 Poland

• Polish Air Force

 Russia

• Russian Air Force
• Russian Army
• Russian Naval Aviation

 Soviet Union

• Soviet Air Force
• Soviet Army Aviation
• Soviet Naval Aviation. Passed on to successor states.

 Syria

• Syrian Air Force

 Ukraine

• Ukrainian Air Force

 Uzbekistan

 Vietnam

• Vietnamese Air Force

[edit] Civil Operators

 Poland

• Instal operated three Mi-6A.

 Soviet Union

• Aeroflot

[edit] Specifications (Mi-6)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1992-93^[3]

General characteristics

• Crew: 6 (pilot, copilot, navigator, flight engineer, radio operator, technician)
• Capacity:
  
  • 90 passengers or
  • 70 airborne troops or
  • 41 stretcher cases with 2 medical personnel or
  • up to 12,000 kg (26,400 lb) of internal cargo
• Length: 33.18 m (108 ft 10 in)
• Rotor diameter: 35.00 m (114 ft 10 in)
• Height: 9.86 m (32 ft 4 in)
• Disc area: 962.1 m² (10,356 ft²)
• Empty weight: 27,240 kg (60,055 lb)
• Loaded weight: 40,500 kg (89,285 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 42,500 kg (93,700 lb)
• Powerplant: 2× Soloviev D-25V turboshafts, 4,100 kW (5,500 shp) each
• Fuel load: 6,315 kg (13,922 lb)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 300 km/h (162 kt)
• Cruise speed: 250 km/h (135 kt)
• Range: 620 km (385 miles)
• Ferry range: 1,450 km (900 miles)
• Service ceiling: 4,500 m (14,750 ft)
• Disc loading: 44.17 kg/m² (9.05 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0.21 kW/kg (0.13 hp/lb)

[edit] See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mil Mi-6

Related development

• Mi-10
• Mi-12
• Mi-22
• Mi-26
  

Comparable aircraft

• CH-54 Tarhe / S-64 Skycrane
• CH-53 Super Stallion
• CH-47 Chinook
• Aérospatiale Super Frelon
  

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.aviation.ru/Mi/#6

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