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If they asked me to find a proper image to convey the most essential  idea of the ‘Bush Flying - Siberian Style“, I would undoubtedly choose this picture (by Misha). Because ‘a flying helicopter’ is a very common sight everywhere in Siberia, - “the bigger machine, the better”. They do everything, and it looks as if they’ve been there forever. Siberia - it is the ‘Mil-country’.

Certainly, it is one of the most obvious differences between Canada and Russia, - with regard to how the aviation in each of these two countries satisfies transportation needs of businesses and the government while they do exploring, developing and maintaining assets and communities in the vast lands sprawling across remote regions below the Arctic Ocean’s cost line.

Look at this vintage picture from the Soviet period, taken ca. 70s, somewhere in the Tyumen region of Siberia. Mil-6s began being widely used in Siberia since the early 60s and on until not too very long ago. However, I believe, there’s a few still flying in Siberia. In a recent post on my years in the Aktyubinsk Flight College I wrote: “Almost all of us were graduating as the ‘Yak-40’s First Officers‘..” Although it is true with regard to the ‘most of us‘, but there was ’some’ who went down the different career paths: to the military, or to flying helicopters. I still keep in touch with a few who abandoned ‘fix wing’ for the sake of ‘having more fun on the rotary’. At least two of them, to my knowledge, used to fly these giants in Siberia.

See, this is the MAN! - the genuine ‘Sibiryak‘, enjoying the ‘warm’ day!!

I recently established a connection with Valentin. A few years ago he retired from flying Mi-6s out of the Siberian city of Nizhnevartovsk, and lives now in Moscow. Here’s a picture he sent me from his archive

Oh, his archive.. That’s where the REAL TREASURE IS! :)  He was a designated photographer in our college. He confirmed he has tons of negatives dated that time. Can’t wait to see them!

But by far more popular type of the helicopter working in all places across vastness of Siberia is Mil-8, and its further modifications.

Time span between the dates these two pictures were taken may be at least 25 years. But Mi-8s keep playing their role of indispensable work horses across all ‘bush territory’ in Russia. And it is great that some of the modern Mi-8 pilots have digital cameras, and it seems the Internet has already reached the ‘middle of nowhere’

(to be continued..)