Russian Helicopters, December 01, 2019 - Moscow - November 22, 2019 was the 110th birthday of the world famous aircraft designer Mikhail Leontyevich Mil.
The team of designers and engineers under his leadership laid the foundations of the domestic helicopter industry and created unique machines that were ahead of their time.
Mi-type helicopters operate on all continents of the globe. The total number of aircraft produced in this large family exceeds 30 thousand units.
Helicopters created by the engineering and design team under the leadership of Mikhail Mil are known and loved around the world.
The most famous brainchild of Mikhail Leontyevich is the Mi-8 helicopter, a true masterpiece of our aircraft industry. The number of Mi-8/17 family helicopters produced over the entire period exceeds 12 thousand units, and the number of its derivatives more than 120.
Mikhail Mil was born on November 22, 1909 in Irkutsk in the family of a railway employee. Since childhood, was fond of aircraft modeling. He studied at the Tomsk Technological and Don Polytechnic Institute. There he began to engage in aircraft design.
Since 1931, Mikhail Mil worked in the team of Nikola Kamov. He took part in the tests of the first Soviet gyroplane KASKR-1, worked on other rotorcraft. In 1941, he became head of a senior group where Soviet A-7 gyros were baptized.
After the war, Mikhail Mil headed the experimental design bureau. He created the Mi-1 helicopter, which is becoming a classic helicopter. The Mi-1 set 27 world records. It was followed by the first domestic airborne transport helicopter Mi-4 and a heavy helicopter Mi-6. The lightweight Mi-2 and the flying crane Mi-10, the experimental super-heavy rotorcraft Mi-12 and of course the world best-seller Mi-8. Mikhail Leontyevich was always full of new ideas and did not stop there.
"The chief designer has two tasks: to find a solution that provides high tactical data for a given payload weight and good flight data in terms of controllability, to build a machine that is good for the pilot; to create a machine that is good in operation - simple, reliable, with a high resource" - said Mikhail Mil about his work.
His helicopter developments have received international recognition from both foreign colleagues and operators. After a large presentation of Soviet helicopters at the Le Bourget air show in 1965, foreign media wrote that "in the field of helicopter engineering, Mikhail Mil won the palm branch of the championship."
Mikhail Leontyevich died on January 31, 1970, a few months after the flight tests began of the Mi-24 prototype. "Helicopter infantry fighting vehicle", Mil called him, the author of the idea of a flying fire support vehicle. His work was continued by associates and students of Mikhail Mil, developing and improving his decisions.
Now the Moscow Helicopter Plant named after M.L. Mile of the Russian Helicopters holding (part of the Rostec State Corporation) - Milev helicopters are being modernized and new ones are being developed here. The production center, together with Kamov, will be part of the newly created National Center for Helicopter Engineering named after M. Mil and N. I. Kamov.
Mi helicopters are produced at the Russian Helicopters Rostvertol, Ulan-Ude and Kazan factories.
The Mi-1, where all started
The team of designers and engineers under his leadership laid the foundations of the domestic helicopter industry and created unique machines that were ahead of their time.
Mi-type helicopters operate on all continents of the globe. The total number of aircraft produced in this large family exceeds 30 thousand units.
Helicopters created by the engineering and design team under the leadership of Mikhail Mil are known and loved around the world.
The most famous brainchild of Mikhail Leontyevich is the Mi-8 helicopter, a true masterpiece of our aircraft industry. The number of Mi-8/17 family helicopters produced over the entire period exceeds 12 thousand units, and the number of its derivatives more than 120.
Mikhail Mil was born on November 22, 1909 in Irkutsk in the family of a railway employee. Since childhood, was fond of aircraft modeling. He studied at the Tomsk Technological and Don Polytechnic Institute. There he began to engage in aircraft design.
Since 1931, Mikhail Mil worked in the team of Nikola Kamov. He took part in the tests of the first Soviet gyroplane KASKR-1, worked on other rotorcraft. In 1941, he became head of a senior group where Soviet A-7 gyros were baptized.
After the war, Mikhail Mil headed the experimental design bureau. He created the Mi-1 helicopter, which is becoming a classic helicopter. The Mi-1 set 27 world records. It was followed by the first domestic airborne transport helicopter Mi-4 and a heavy helicopter Mi-6. The lightweight Mi-2 and the flying crane Mi-10, the experimental super-heavy rotorcraft Mi-12 and of course the world best-seller Mi-8. Mikhail Leontyevich was always full of new ideas and did not stop there.
"The chief designer has two tasks: to find a solution that provides high tactical data for a given payload weight and good flight data in terms of controllability, to build a machine that is good for the pilot; to create a machine that is good in operation - simple, reliable, with a high resource" - said Mikhail Mil about his work.
His helicopter developments have received international recognition from both foreign colleagues and operators. After a large presentation of Soviet helicopters at the Le Bourget air show in 1965, foreign media wrote that "in the field of helicopter engineering, Mikhail Mil won the palm branch of the championship."
Mikhail Leontyevich died on January 31, 1970, a few months after the flight tests began of the Mi-24 prototype. "Helicopter infantry fighting vehicle", Mil called him, the author of the idea of a flying fire support vehicle. His work was continued by associates and students of Mikhail Mil, developing and improving his decisions.
Now the Moscow Helicopter Plant named after M.L. Mile of the Russian Helicopters holding (part of the Rostec State Corporation) - Milev helicopters are being modernized and new ones are being developed here. The production center, together with Kamov, will be part of the newly created National Center for Helicopter Engineering named after M. Mil and N. I. Kamov.
Mi helicopters are produced at the Russian Helicopters Rostvertol, Ulan-Ude and Kazan factories.
The Mi-1, where all started
See also |
Mil 
