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The Mi-10 (NATO name “Harke”) is a military transport helicopter created by the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant. The Mi-10 first took flight in June of 1960 and was officially introduced in 1963. The Mi-10 is what is widely known as a “flying crane”. It is a heavy-lift utility helicopter dedicated to daytime operations. The Mi-10 was developed from the Mi-6, under the product name izdelity-60. The Mi-6 had been a revolution for the Soviets, allowing them to lift and place large object like never before. The Mi-6 had multiple problems however. Visibility and total load capacity being the most urgent ones. So in February of 1958 it was decided that a dedicated flying crane would be designed to do what the Mi-6 could not. The Mi-10 usually has a crew of three: a captain, the co-pilot and navigator and then the flight engineer. One variant, the Mi-10K had a fourth crew member called an operator pilot. The Mi-10 had a low, four-legged chassis. With a long fuselage and massive conventional combination of main and tail rotor. It uses two 5500 horsepower Soloviev D-25V turboshaft engines. The first public demonstration of the Mi-10 was quite the spectacle. The helicopter delivered a prefabricated hut to a national airshow, which was then immediately converted to a shop. Neatly demonstrating the power of the craft. One of the prototypes also quickly set the global payload-to-altitude record. In total, the Mi-10 and its variants are responsible for ten world records. Fifty-five Mil-10s have been built and the helicopter is still in service today in Russia.
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