The Mi-2 Hoplite is a small, lightly armored turbine-powered transport helicopter that could also provide close air support when armed with 57 mm rockets and a 23 mm cannon. Many of them have had the armor and military equipment removed and been adapted for other civilian roles such as air ambulance, aerial surveying, aerial spraying, and crop dusting. The video highlights the first startup of the Mi-2’s twin PZL GTD-350P turboshaft engines on a helo that’s been sitting outside in the elements for 20 years.
5,497 Mi-2s were built, all of them in Poland at the WSK PZL-Swidnik factory in Swidnik, Poland. The Mi-2 is essentially a turbine-powered version of the previous piston-powered Mi-1. The Mi-2’s turboshaft engines produce 40% more power at half the weight of the piston engines in the Mi-1. First flown in 1961, the development of the Mi-2 was moved to Poland in 1964. The Soviet Air Force started flying them in 1965. 30 countries have also flown the military variant. Operational civilian Mi-2s can still be found on every continent.
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