In the Soviet Union the OKB-329 design buro headed by Mikhail Mil made a design for a 4 seat small utility helicopter and it was the first helicopter in the USSR to enter series production in 1950. It had a 575 hp Ivchenko Al-26 radial engine and 3 rotor blades. Several versions were developed (including one fitted with floats). Over 2,500 helicopters were probably manufactured from 1950 to 1965. Polish license production helicopters were designated SM-1. The type flew with dozens of air forces that were supported by the USSR. NATO code name was "Hare".
Mil would become a famous helicopter design buro in the following years and until today.
Mil Mi-1
This Soviet Mil coded CCCP-05712 has a sort of gold paint finish. It was seen well preserved in the Hubschraubermuseum in Bückeburg, Germany.
Photographed Summer er 2018 by Meindert de Vreeze (C) Copyright IPMS Nederland
Plastic scale models are the old DDR VEB Plasticart in 1/100, in 1/144 from Airkits. In the larger scales Special Hobby has a 1/48 kit. MPM had an old kit in 1/72 followed by Gran and Classic Plane. Nowadays AModel has 1/72 models in several versions.
This walk around page was first published July 2019 by M. de Vreeze