The Hermit Doffs his Shell

The Mil Mi 34, (designated the Hermit by NATO) is a single engine piston trainer, first created in 1986 as a competitor to the Robinson R44, the JetRanger, Hughes 500 and the PZL Swidnik SW4, but hardly ever has a competitor been more different from its rivals.

From the moment you see the Mi-34 you realise it is an unusual aircraft: it has a sleek, lizard like body; a tall rotor mast with a chunky, man-sized rotor head; four long elegant blades and both hydraulic and elastometric dampers; a large tail rotor, which can apparently take a third of the power of the engine through its blades/gearbox; and a huge, leaky radial engine, cramped into the space between the back seats and the baggage compartment. When you are told this helicopter was designed to do aerobatics, specifically loops, and to fly backwards at 130 km per hour you have no trouble believing it! However, life is never simple and straightforward, even for a helicopter with huge potential.

Mil having designed the helicopter and got out a few prototypes, were stymied when the ‘wall came down’ and the face of Soviet communism changed...