Description
Designed by the Soviet Mil Design Bureau in late 1950s and exclusively produced in Poland by the WSK “PZL-Świdnik” factory, the Mi-2 was a small transport and utility helicopter. The Milʼs prototype first flew in 1961, while the first Świdnik-built example took to the air in November 1965. A number of specialised variants were evolved and produced (e.g., armed or chemical reconnaissance, anti-tank, command post, training, passenger/cargo, rescue/ambulance or agricultural). The Mi-2 was an all-metal helicopter powered by two Izotov/Klimov/PZL GTD-350 turboshaft engines mounted overhead. It featured a main cabin for one pilot and up to 8 passengers, fitted with a large windscreen and side windows. It had a fixed tricycle undercarriage and a tailskid. The engines drove a three-bladed main rotor while a two-bladed tail rotor was mounted on the angled tail boom.
More than 5,400 helicopters of this type had been built by 1998 (in 113 production batches), with about a third in military guise. The Mi-2s were also supplied and flown by various civilian operators all over the world (including police), providing invaluable service and also ensuring ubiquitous presence of this type of aircraft in the last decades of the 20th century.
Colour schemes included in the kit:
1) Mil Mi-2P Hoplite (WSK-built), B-2047/POLICIE (c/n 5311147060), Air Medical Service (Letecká záchranná služba/LZS), Aviation Dept. of the Federal Police Corps (Letecká služba Federálního policejního sboru/LS FPS), Praha-Ruzyně Airport, Czechoslovakia, autumn 1991
2) Mil Mi-2 Hoplite (WSK-built, ex-East German AF a/c), D-HZPL/POLIZEI (c/n 569342085), PolHS Brandenburg (Polizei-Hubschrauberstaffel), Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, Germany, 1993-99
3) Mil Mi-2S Hoplite (WSK-built), HA-BCB/ORSZÁGOS MENTŐSZOLGÁLAT (c/n 516302099), National Ambulance and Emergency Service (Országos Mentőszolgálat/OMSZ), Székesfehérvár Airport, Hungary, the 1980s
4) Mil Mi-2 Plus Hoplite (WSK-built), P-5003/POLISI (c/n 5311250114 or 5311250124), Directorate of Air Police (Direktorat Kepolisian Udara), Indonesian Police Aviation (Polisi Udara), Pondok Cabe Airport, Jakarta, Indonesia, 2014-19
Assembly instructions:
