Not being that familiar with helicopters, just saw a press release from an African country I go to which is not communist and which surprisingly (to me at least ) ordered new Mi-172 Russian Helicopters .
The Mi-8/17 pattern helicopters are designed for operation in any climatic conditions as they can be used in a wide temperature range (from -50°С to +50°С). Today, there are a total of 400 Mi-8/17 helicopters in countries on the African continent.
Does this mean that western helicopters have real difficulties above say 40 Deg C ?