Afghanistan: lastige Mi-8 take-off met EEN werkende motor...

[Stratofreighter]

I managed an aviation cargo transport services as a civilian contractor to the U.S. and British Militaries while in Afghanistan and have a few interesting clips I will begin to share.
This is the first.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f68_1416565186

This is a Russian MI8-MTV variant that made deliveries to forward operating bases and LP,OP's in Afghanistan.
The helicopter had lost the ability to use one of its two engines.
The helicopter could not stay in this location as it was too dangerous.

Keeping it at that location for more than a few hours was NOT an option.
If nighttime had come it would have been destroyed by local Taliban.

So the pilot decided to have his crew take everything out of the aircraft that wasn't bolted down and try to fly it on it single working engine by himself.

Typical crew is 3 (Pilot Co-pilot Flight Engineer).

The pilot only wanted to risk himself to get the helicopter out to another more secure base for repairs.
He had a small fence to hop it over and a bit of space to pick up some airspeed.

Afghanistan has got to be the worst place for helicopter operations.

The combination of high altitude, high heat (summer months) and extremely dusty conditions adds stress onto the machines; not to mention the occasional AK or RPG round.

This is an MI-8 MTV variant.

The same engines as the "Hind" helicopter with a different body designed for cargo troop transport.
Great piloting... and yes we drank vodka in celebration later.

Side note: My Ukrianian crews and Russian Crews worked, drank and risked thier lives.... together.