Mi-24 book written by me

[+Gepard 11,268]

In November 2016 my book "Mi-24" was released by the german publishing house MOTORBUCHVERLAG.

And so it looks. 207 pages full of informations and photos. (Weight 1.050 gram, for our american friends more than 2 pounds.)

Written in german language.

Some guys asked me here in the forum, whether there would be an english edition.

And here it comes:

published by Schiffer Publishing in January 2020

Price 39,99$

Includes:

the history of Mi-24 development, from the first steps of the "flying Infantry fighting Vehicle" concept,

over the Mi-24 prototypes

to all Mi-24 versions (21 at least).

A walkaround and detailed description of the Mi-24.

The armament, including short development history of guns and missiles used by Mi-24s.

The Mi-24 tactics developed for the war in Central Europe (written after east german Mi-24 combat drill manuals)

The soviet tactics in Afganistan and the fight against the Stinger.

A short comparision between Mi-24 and  american attack helicopters of the timeframe (AH-1, AH-56, Sikorsky S-67 Blackhawk, AH-64A)

The Mi-24 in worldwide use with focus of Germany, but of american use of Mi-24 too.

 

 

Hope you enjoy it!

 

 

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by Gepard

[Stratos 3,188]

I own mine already, worth the price, is a real nice book, well written and with a excellent format and quality.

[+russouk2004 6,958]

Quote

(Weight 1.050 gram, for our american friends more than 2 pounds.)

ermmm we in uk still prefer pounds and ounces lol too

 

Edited March 26, 2020 by russouk2004

[+streakeagle 871]

I have a brand new copy on order at amazon. I paired it up with the latest edition of Sukhoi Interceptors that I have been wanting to get. Your book is "Prime" but is delayed until almost the end of april, whereas the other book is regular shipping and is supposed by be here the first week of April. Corona Virus scrambling up Amazon's shipping system.

[+Gepard 11,268]

15 hours ago, streakeagle said:

I have a brand new copy on order at amazon. I paired it up with the latest edition of Sukhoi Interceptors that I have been wanting to get. Your book is "Prime" but is delayed until almost the end of april, whereas the other book is regular shipping and is supposed by be here the first week of April. Corona Virus scrambling up Amazon's shipping system.

I hope you get it faster. And I'd like to hear how you liked the book.

[+streakeagle 871]

The only dedicated helicopter books I really have are a mid to late 1980s Salamander book,  Modern Fighting Helicopters, and an Osprey book, US Army AH-1 Cobra Units in Vietnam. So, this will be a very nice addition.

I am expecting various problems with the text due to translation. But if it has lots of good photos and lots of accurate technical and/or historical information it will be worth the price.

I only have five helicopter models hanging from my ceiling that is otherwise covered with fixed wing aircraft, predominately single-seat fighters. Among those five helicopter models is the Mi-24 along with the UH-1, AH-1, AH-64, and the Bell Model 47 (US Army H-13 Sioux). That should tell you where the Mi-24 stands on my list of favorite/historically important combat helicopters.

[+streakeagle 871]

I also hope this book helps get me ready for the DCS Mi-24P ;) The Take On Helicopters Mi-24 was a disappointment... not really any better than what you could already fly in the OFP / ArmA series in terms of flight model and systems modeling. But until DCS released the UH-1 and Mi-8, OFP/ ArmA series was my go-to helo sim because of the immersive experience of flying actual helicopter recon, attack, transport, and rescue missions as a small part of a huge environment. FSX and X-Plane have much better flight and systems modeling, but in OFP/ArmA, there is a huge world of AI and even other players that you can pick up, drop off, or kill. With DCS World, I can now fly a UH-1 on the same variety of missions with a similar immersive experience with much better graphics, flight modeling, and insane systems modeling. Then I can switch to the Mi-8 which performs similar roles but provides a radically different flight/operation experience. With the Mi-24 being derived from the Mi-8, I would expect the DCS Mi-24 to feel like a heavier Mi-8. It will be interesting to see what your book says, then compare what it is like flying the Mi-24 in DCS.

[+Gepard 11,268]

8 hours ago, streakeagle said:

 With the Mi-24 being derived from the Mi-8, I would expect the DCS Mi-24 to feel like a heavier Mi-8.

I dont know, how exactly the flightmodel of the Mi-24 in DCS would be.

In reality the Mi-24 was a big step forward. It was completly different from the Mi-8. One of the east german Mi-24 pilots descriped it so: "Flying the Mi-24 feels like driving a fast motorbike. But which bike can reach 300 km/h? The needed movement of the stick is very small. It has only the size of a 5 Mark coin."

The 5 Mark coin had had a diameter of 29 mm. What means that you needed a lot of feeling to fly this helicopter.

The Mi-8  flying was said was like driving a small van or small truck. It was a reliable, stable flying helicopter. My own experience with the Mi-8 was, that we had 3 of them at Nordhausen, when i served out my military time as a Sergeant. (I finished my military duty at the rank of a Unterfeldwebel (Staff Sergeant).

Always when a helicopter came out a routine check it had to be flight tested. One of the test was to fly the heli fully loaded. To make it easy and fast the heli was not loaded with weights or cargo, but with men. All folks available had to climb in the cargobay of the Mi-8. And then: here we go! In the hand of an experienced pilot the Mi-8 behaved like a bus. Smooth and comfortable. Okay, it was loud. Our Mi-8 were military and had not had the sound damping interior paneling of civil Mi-8s. But else it was a very good feeling to sit in the Mi-8 looking out of the window and the best was, that it was a flight for free!

But one time, i was assigned to take a television to another of our 3 landing points and the one of the pilots was a greenhorn, fresh from pilots school. He was the No 2 pilot. The No 1 pilot was the commander of the squadron. When the commander was flying the Mi-8 was stable like a bus, when the greenhorn was taking over it behaved like a small boat in high waves. That was not a really nice experience.

But worth. My only flight with a Mi-24 was terrible. During one of my trainings we visited a soviet helicopter base. They showed us all what they had, helicopters and weapons, even the the ODAP bombs. "That we usually dropped in an afghan village before the ground troops started an attack." they told us, "Usually one is enough to flatten one village."

And then the invited us to have a flight with a Mi-24. One crew was assigned to make a low level mission at treetop height. Okay, i thought, no problem at all. When our pilots flew at treetop hight it means flying straight away at 30 m. I thougt the soviets did it in the same way. My fault. The soviet crew came fresh from Afghanistan. And they flew like in Afghanistan. For them meant flying at treetop height, that the highest point of the helicopter was allowed to be at 30 meters. Maximum, better is to be lower, much lower! At fast speeds the nose of the Mi-24 is going down. Sitting in the cargo bay it felt like sitting on an inclined plane. This was terrifying enough. More terrifying was that i got the feeling, that the helicopter pilot was trying to scratch the soil with the gun of the helicopter. So low we were flying.

And then started the roller coaster. When an obstacle was in the flight path the heli "jumped" over it, only to sink down to former very low altitute in less than a second. The first 3 or 4 of that stunts were fun. But afterwards i started to become airsick. Holy moly! What a mess! I tore my steel helmet from my head and used it as spittoon.

After landing my spittoon was nearly completly filled and i saw things in it,  that I couldn't remember to have eaten. Oh my! Never again!!!! Mi-24 pilots are mad!!!!

[+streakeagle 871]

I would love to have had an Mi-24 ride like that! The only helo ride I have ever had was hanging out the side door of a UH-1 while flying low over the Hudson River near West Point, NY. If I could only have one helo ride, I would want it to be a UH-1, so that was a victory for me. But I would love a treetop ride at maximum speed in an AH-1, Mi-24, or AH-64.

The combination of VR and DCS World helicopters has been amazing. I can't wait for the DCS Mi-24, OH-58, and AH-1. Helicopter flight models are hard to develop, so every helo in DCS feels very different as much from the skills/approaches of the different developers as from actual difference due to real world design and performance. Realistic or not, the variety in feel, stability, etc. is challenging and fun. Unlike fixed wing fighters, I don't know a whole lot about the real world numbers/equations, so I enjoy whatever is delivered with less critical complaints. I don't even have any data points to challenge their results. I have tons of flight manuals for US fighters and some Soviet, but not one manual for helos. In this case, ignorance has been bliss. I have a lot more fun not knowing the top speed and/or climb rate is off by 15% or more or that the engine should be harder or easier to overheat than it is. Whereas, I know that the AoA indication should change decrease by about 1 unit when the gear is retracted on an F-4E/F/G while it should increase by about 3 units on all other F-4's with the larger nose as I own and have extensively studied the flight manuals for the F-4B/C/D/E/F/G/N/S. I am only missing the manuals for the RN/RAF F-4K/M variants.

But your book could be my start down the slippery slope of collecting helicopter references.

[+Gepard 11,268]

For me the Mi-24 was a childhood dream. To fly this helicopter was my desired career. But i was unable to pass the medical checks and was phased out.

When i wrote the book i asked the Museum at Cottbus airport (Flugplatzmuseum Cockpit) whether they would allow me to make a walkaround photoshoot of their Mi-24D. They agreed and opend all doors and hatches and cockpits of the Mi-24, especially for me. So i could climb into the cockpits for pilot and gunner. And i felt comfortable there, like in a very good car. I had an excellent view forward and sideward. The side armour protection was up to my shoulders and the front cockpit glas was thick, very thick. The cockpit was compared with soviet fighter planes spacious. A very good feeling.

Thats the Mi-24D at Cottbus. All doors open for me.

Some years later i had the chance to climb in the cockpit of the Eurocopter Tiger. One prototype is now displayed at Bückeburg Helicopter Museum. I asked the guys there and they opened the cockpit for me. And i could climb in, could sit where Pierce Brosnan was sitting some years ago! Yes it was the Tiger prototyp you have seen at James Bond movie "Golden Eye".

I was sitting in James Bond seat! Wow!

But to be honest. The cockpit of the Mi-24 is better. It is bigger and you felt much safer in the Mi-24 than in the Tiger.

Here a photo of the James Bond Tiger

 

 

What i want to say is, there are special days in museums. Days where no much visitor traffic is and the staff is bored. At some days you have the chance to make special experiences. Perhaps you will get the chance to sit in a Mi-24. Its worth trying.

 

[Stratos 3,188]

My child dream is to fly the Hind as well, but being in Spain was specially hard. At least sims made the dream a bit closer.

[+mue 715]

17 hours ago, Gepard said:

When i wrote the book i asked the Museum at Cottbus airport (Flugplatzmuseum Cockpit) whether they would allow me to make a walkaround photoshoot of their Mi-24D. They agreed and opend all doors and hatches and cockpits of the Mi-24, especially for me. So i could climb into the cockpits for pilot and gunner.

Yes, I can recommend the Flugplatzmuseum Cottbus (Sorry, it seems the webpage is in german only). Very nice and friendly people there. I too had the chance to sit in the cockpit of this very Mi-24D. If interested, I can post some cockpit photos.

[+streakeagle 871]

On 3/27/2020 at 9:17 AM, Gepard said:

I hope you get it faster. And I'd like to hear how you liked the book.

I got it much faster, and in fact it beat the other book here.

I haven't had much time to read it, but I have already read several pages, enough to know what I have on my hands. First, let me say the English translation's publisher did an outstanding job. This book has the quality of a really good school textbook. It has a hard cover with high quality color printing with an unusual combination of a matte finish for the photographic elements and a gloss finish for the title block and author block. The pages are heavy weight and somewhere between a matte/gloss finish with excellent color photos and clear text that isn't too small, but small enough to cram a useful amount of information in between the countless gorgeous photos. Without even finishing the text, this is one of my best books. So, far I haven't seen any of the editing errors I have come to expect from translations, which makes it much easier to read.

What it provides:

1. A comprehensive history of both development and operation of the Hind and its systems, including weapons employment and formation tactics.

2. Basic specifications of major variants.

3. A brief history of the opposition's attack helicopters.

4. Extensive number of high quality photos and some diagrams supporting the text.

What is doesn't provide:

1. Blueprints, schematics, profiles, 3-view drawings.

2. Detailed flight performance.

3. Pilot manual.

So, you won't be able to build a precise 3d model or learn how to fly the Hind from this book. But the photos are great for both traditional and 3d modelers to verify details, color schemes, etc. This is a great book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone that is a fan of Hinds, attack helicopters, or military aviation history.

 

[+streakeagle 871]

My review is up at amazon and there are two other reviews plus one rating with no visible review. Out of four ratings, this book has scored five stars every single time. So, I am not alone in thinking this is a really good book. While four reviews isn't many, having all four be five stars is a pretty nice start.

[+Gepard 11,268]

If you want to take a short look into the german Mi-24 book follow this link:

http://www.blickinsbuch.de/9783613038974&account=4223004745

For the english version i havnt found a "view into the book".

But i will ask the publisher, perhaps he has an idea.

[lewishicks 1]

Very nice--albeit brief--introduction to this heavy duty battlefield helicopter.

[+allenjb42 4,233]

Look what arrived in the post just in time for the weekend!

Michael, this is a great book, very readable and really nicely set out.

Do you have a reliable list of users by model? At the moment I'm interested in who operated the early versions, Mi-24A and Mi-24B.

Once again, well done on this.

[+Gepard 11,268]

Mi-24B was never in operational use. It was only prototype because the pilots disliked the glashouse style cockpit. Thatswhy the Mi-24D was developed. It had the weapon system of the Mi-24B and the new cockpit design.

The MI-24A was used by the Soviets and Afghanistan, as far as i know.

[+Gepard 11,268]

An other user of the Mi-24, which i forgot to mention, was Vietnam. Vietnam got the Mi-24A  when the soviets replaced their Mi-24A by Mi-24D. So the Mi-24 was not used during Vietnam War, but in the cambodian campaign against the Red Khmer regime after 1979.

[Stratos 3,188]

An amazing and very detailed Hind Walk Around...

 

[Stratos 3,188]

On 26/3/2020 at 8:47 PM, Gepard said:

Includes:

 

The armament, including short development history of guns and missiles used by Mi-24s.

 

Any info you can provide about external fuel tanks use? Name, weight, operational use...

[+Gepard 11,268]

4 hours ago, Stratos said:

Any info you can provide about external fuel tanks use? Name, weight, operational use...

The first versions of the Mi-24 could be equipped with internal auxilary tanks with 825 litres each. It were simply two barrels with fuel which were placed in the cargo bay.

From version Mi-24P and V the heli could carry 4 external fuel tanks under the hardpoints of the stubwings each tank contains 425 litres. The external fuel tanks were used for ferry missions only. During combat missions no external fuel tank was used.

The type designation of the fuel tank i cant found. But along with soviet terminolgy i wuld call them 425 Liter exterlan fuel tank for Mi-24. (BTW the same tanks are used on Mi-28.)

Edited April 25, 2021 by Gepard

[Stratos 3,188]

I know is not exactly a high intensity mission, but...

How is fuel tank in Russian? PTB-450?

[+Gepard 11,268]

4 hours ago, Stratos said:

How is fuel tank in Russian? PTB-450?

 

Fuel tank in russian language is "toplivnij bak". The TB in PTB-450 could stand for it. But i have no idea for what the P is standing.