Russian Mil Mi-8P from Poland

Polish Air Force Mi-8P, 618 Mi-8P, 618, interior
Russian multi-purpose, twin-turbine, passenger transport helicopter Mil Mi-8P, Serial 618, was built in 1972 for the Polish Air Force. The 24-seat passenger transport Mi-8P, Serial 618, c/n 10618 was delivered to The Museum on 5th February 2010, after a three day journey on a low loader, from the army airbase at Leznica Wielka in central Poland. Donated by the Polish Ministry of National Defence it is the first Mi-8 to be displayed in a UK Museum.
ex-Polish Air Force Mi-8P, 618, at a truckstop, in the Netherlands, en route to the UK Mi-8P, 618, cabin seats secured for transport
Mi-8P, Serial 618, en route to the UK and seen at a truck stop, in the Netherlands, on 3rd February 2010.
Arrival at The Helicopter Museum Mi-8P Flightdeck in the Fully-Glazed Nose
Lowering the Main Gearbox onto Mi-8P, 618 Landing Gear Fitted
Mi-8P 618 Flight Deck Mi-8P 618 Flight Deck
Cockpit Photograph by Martin Sirrett
Preparing to push into the Hangar Mi-8P, 618 right hand Instrument Panel
The external fuel tanks and cabin heater had been removed for the journey and were secured in the cabin along with the horizontal stabilisers and some seating units. Rotor blades, main gearbox, tail rotor assembly, tail rotor pylon and landing gear all followed by separate transport on 6th February, when everything  was unloaded.  The landing gear and main gearbox were fitted before 618 was brought into the Conservation Hangar where the external fuel tanks were fitted in March 2010. It remained there until 24th April 2010 when it was pushed into the main Display Hangar but was returned, temporarily, to the Conservation Hangar on 3rd July to allow the tail rotor assembly, horizontal stabilisers and tail rotor pylon to be fitted.
Mi-8 Clamshell Rear Doors Mi-8 Cabin Seating Mi-8 Cabin Heater Unit
Assembly work on 618, in March 2010, included checks on the opening rear clamshell doors (above left) and the incorporated, central, downward-hinged, passenger airstairs. The cabin interior was cleared apart from the seating units (above centre) and the external fuel tanks were refitted. The cabin heater unit was installed forward of the starboard fuel tank (above right).  
Mi-8P, 618, in 2004
Mi-8P Serial 618 in 2004
The Mi-8 was designed by Mikhail Mil and about fifteen of the Mi-8P, Mi-8PS and Mi-8S passenger variant helicopters, with rectangular windows, were supplied to Poland.  Serial 618 was manufactured in the Kazan factory, in the then Soviet Union, in June 1972 and delivered to the Special Air Transport Regiment (SPLT) of the Polish Air Force in Warsaw, as a Mi-8PS, in the red and white national colour scheme, in September 1972. 
It was used, initially, as an executive transport but was later modified to Mi-8P configuration with green and sand camouflage, for use with 37 Air Group, Leznica Wielka, as an air ambulance, an airborne command post and as a troop transport. It was withdrawn from use in 2006 and parked in open storage at Leznica.
618 in use as an Air Ambulance
Mi-8P, Serial 618, as an Air Ambulance in 2006
From 1960 Mil’s OKB were designing a replacement for the 14-seat Mi-4 (also represented in The Museum collection). This was the Mi-8 (“Hip”), a multipurpose, medium-lift, helicopter that was originally intended for use by Aeroflot. They decided to use the Mi-4’s rotor hub, blades and tail boom initially, with a single 2700 shp Soloviev turbine above the fuselage and a 2-seat cockpit in the nose. This prototype first flew in June 1961, the same year as the first Mi-2 flight, and was seen at the Tushino Display in July of that year. 

The second prototype, with two 1400 shp Izotov TV2-117 turboshafts and all-metal rotor blades, first flew in September 1962 and was later demonstrated to members of the Soviet government.  
Mi-8PS VIP Transport in Polish Red/White VIP livery
Mi-8PS as a VIP transport in Polish national livery
A third version, now with five rotor blades and 1700 shp turboshafts, went into production in 1964 having claimed two world speed and distance records. Two years later a civil 28-passenger variant, the Mi-8P with large rectangular windows, entered production. It had a strengthened floor so could be easily converted to carry freight, internally or underslung. A very similar civil version, the Mi-8PS with seating for only 5 or 6 passengers, but with improved facilities and amenities, was introduced for VIP use. 
A prototype civil Mi-8P had been on display at the 1965 Paris Air Show, where it was flown by Captain John Cameron, of BEA’s Helicopter Unit. In 1967 Cameron led a BEA team, on a visit to Moscow, to evaluate the Mi-8P for possible use in the UK, in place of the Sikorsky S-61. The team's verdict is understood to have been positive but none were ever purchased for use by UK civil operators.  
The Mi-8T and its derivatives soon became the standard Soviet and Warsaw Pact countries' military utility and assault helicopters, some with increasingly varied and heavy weapons fit, though the weight of these armaments, which included rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles, made it necessary to reduce the number of troops that could be carried. Many passenger versions have been sold to civil operators worldwide. The Mi-8 has been used by these civil operators and by armed forces in over 65 countries, including Peru, Poland, Russia, Cuba, India, China, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Up to 2006, factories in Kazan and Ulan Ude had produced more than 10,000 examples of the Mi-8, in twenty versions, and at least 7000 of its subsequent, more powerful and efficient, export derivative, the Mi-17. Many later versions of the Mi-8 and Mi-17 were still in use, worldwide, in 2019.
Aerogaviota Cuban Domestic Airline Mi-8PS
Aerogaviota's Mi-8PS in Cuba in June 2006