Mil-17 Description

The original Mil Mi-8 "Hip" medium-lift transport helicopter series first flew in prototype form on July 7th, 1961 and was introduced in 1967. Since then, over 17,000 examples of the type have been produced while the series maintains an active presence within the inventories of many air services today (2015). The Mi-17 "Hip" model - based on the Mi-8M/MT variant of the Soviet/Russian military - was developed with exportation in mind and has been adopted by over twenty nations worldwide. The Mi-17 model achieved its own first flight in 1975 and was introduced in 1981. Notable serial production has been ongoing since 1977 with totals reaching around 12,000 units with production shared between the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant as well as the Kazan Helicopter Plant.