Mil Mi-6

what is it?

The Mil Mi-6 (NATO reporting name Hook), given the article number izdeliye 50 and company designation V-6, is a Soviet/Russian heavy transport helicopter that was designed by the Mil design bureau. It was built in large numbers for both military and civil use and was the largest helicopter in production until the Mil Mi-26 was put in production in 1980.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 turboshaft engines · 35 m main rotor

base stats

• speed 300 km/htop speed
• range 970 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 90passengers
• size 44 tmax take-off weight
• built 926made 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 69 years ago, in 1957.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.3× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Rotor of 35 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 7 African elephants (~6 t each).

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

spec sheet

first flight

1957-06-05

introduced

1963

retired

2002

status

retired

number built

926

role

heavy transport helicopter

makers

Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, Rostvertol, Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center

engines

2× Soloviev D-25V / Soloviev D-25

crew

6

passengers

90

length

33.2 m

rotor diameter

35 m

height

9.2 m

max take-off weight

44 t

top speed

300 km/h

cruise speed

250 km/h

range

970 km

ceiling

4,500 m

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