Frag Out! Magazine

maiden flight in 1959. Unfortunately, the fate of the Polish heli- copter designs was decided upon by politics. In 1954 a decision was made to manufacture the Soviet Mil Mi-1 in Poland, and the newly built Świdnik plant was selected to handle that task. Mi-1, designated SM-1 in Poland, was a lightweight helicopter powe- red by a piston engine, typical for the first, post-war generation of helicopters. The SM-1 was able to carry a pilot, two (three in later variants) passengers, or two wounded in externally moun- ted pods. If that evokes MASH associations, and the shots of US helicopters carrying the injured to the 4077th MASH, then this is an accurate reference - Bell 47, known in the US Army as OH-13, was a direct counterpart of the Mi-1. The limited capabi- lities and simple design meant that the mission set handled by this helicopter was quite limited. SM-1 had one, key advantage - it existed. For that reason, it was being mass-produced. 1,594 examples were made until 1965, 1,157 of which were sent to the USSR, while the Polish military was operating more than 100 SM-1s. At the same time, an attempt was made at enhancing the usability of that rotary-wing aircraft, by extending the fuse- lage length. This is how the bigger SM-2 was born, capable of carrying 5 persons. A small number of those aircraft were ma- nufactured and operated. The larger Mi-4, capable of carrying 12 soldiers, or GAZ-69 4x4 vehicle, was procured by Poland in a small quantity. Both trans- port and naval ASW variants were acquired. Turbine helicopters, however, were a breakthrough. In 1965 Poland received the Mi-2 helicopter documentation from the USSR. Then, the Świdnik facility started to manufacture these, to meet the demand of the whole Warsaw Pact. The Mi-2 dominated the Polish helicop- ter inventory, both in civil, as well as military use. The military AVIATION

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