Mil Mi-26

what is it?

The Mil Mi-26 (Russian: Миль Ми-26, NATO reporting name: Halo) is a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter. Its product code is Izdeliye 90. Operated by both military and civilian operators, it is the largest helicopter to have gone into serial production.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 turboshaft engines · 32 m main rotor

base stats

• speed 295 km/htop speed
• range 500 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 90passengers
• size 56 tmax take-off weight
• built 318made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 49 years ago, in 1977.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Rotor of 32 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 9 African elephants (~6 t each).

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight

1977-12-14

introduced

1985

status

still flying

number built

318

role

heavy lift transport helicopter

origin

🇷🇺 Russia

makers

Rostvertol, Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant

engines

2× ZMKB Progress D-136 / Lotarev D-136

crew

5

passengers

90

length

40 m

rotor diameter

32 m

height

8.2 m

max take-off weight

56 t

top speed

295 km/h

cruise speed

255 km/h

range

500 km

ceiling

4,600 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.