The Museum’s helicopter collection has grown with a new exhibit — the Mi-2 SN-02XP, donated to us last Monday, 15 December 2024, by the National Police Headquarters in Warsaw.
The machine, with factory number 534419095, was used by the Aviation Section of the Police Headquarters in Wrocław from September 2009 to August 2020. Previously, it served as a multi-purpose aircraft in the Border Guard. Carrying out aviation missions across Poland, the helicopter spent a total of 4,763 hours in the air — that is over 6.5 months!
The helicopter, in its beautiful police colours, did not fly to Kraków but was transported from a hangar in Wrocław on a specialised low-loader vehicle.
Visitors can already admire it in the Museum’s main building, alongside the Mi-1, which served for experimental flights at the Institute of Aviation in Warsaw.
Mi-2: multi-purpose helicopters from Świdnik
The Mi-2 were medium multi-purpose helicopters designed at the Mikhail Mil bureau and manufactured at the Świdnik factory. They featured a classic twin-engine layout, equipped with a three-blade main rotor and a two-blade tail rotor. Although this helicopter model was originally fitted with GTD-350 turboshaft engines producing 400 HP, these were quickly replaced by the GDT-350W version producing 425 HP, and this is the type of engine found in the example donated to the Museum on Monday. The fuselage was made entirely of metal, and the landing gear could be adapted for ski mounting, enabling landings on snow and soft ground.
A characteristic feature of these rotorcraft was the shared cabin for crew and passengers. The pilot seats had space for a parachute, and the double sofa in the passenger section was easy to remove for transport purposes. Our helicopter is also equipped with an electric hoist with a capacity of 120 kg. The Mi-2’s control system is based on a hydraulic installation, which represented a significant advance over the mechanical system in the Mi-1. Flight is controlled using a control stick and a collective pitch and power lever.
Serial production of these beautiful machines ended in Świdnik in 1993. A total of 5,500 examples in various variants rolled off the Świdnik factory line.
