Yes, those mi-2's are horrendous helicopters. The Russians used to turn up to the World Championships in them, didn't stop them totally wiping the floor for all the trophies though!
Here are useful links to allow people to decide for themselves what the helicopters really are:
mi-2:
http://www.scramble.nl/mil/2/kop/gfx/mi2-orbat.jpg mi-8:
http://www.pidocchio.net/turboland/l...i%208%2002.jpg
mi-17:
http://perso.orange.fr/aeromil-yf/MI...0CK%200201.jpg
I think JAB may be correct on the TR failure with the mi-17. To me (a rather untrained eye on russian aircraft) it looks like mi-8 and mi-17 are relatively similar. Any thoughts on this?
nick