rick1128...
Again – with respect – I stick by what I said in my last posting.
I know most (if not all) the UN Air Ops people you mention – I worked with them in the year you refer to (2004). I have worked within the UN (DPKO and WFP) and with the UN continuously since then, and I spent most of 2007 in Kabul, along with a few months of last year (and I have another gig there starting in January. Sigh…). I have also worked in the Middle East, South East Asia, and Africa with American, Canadian, South African, Australian, Ukrainian, Russian, Moldovan, and various other operators. And crews from all those places plus more.
Of course there are biases among us all; indeed I certainly had my own “anti-Russian aircraft bias” for a long time. My point is simply this: The UN’s own statistics – and those of the CAA’s of other countries where both Western made helicopters and Russian made helicopters are abundantly represented – show that in the past 10 years helicopter losses, AOG time, injuries and fatalities, all show that the Mil machines (MI-8, MI-17, and MI-26) have a better record (per flight hours) than (for instance) Bell 212’s in the same missions doing the same tasks.
BTW, the most recent contracts being signed by the UN (by that I mean the past two years) show the contract costs of the Mil helicopters creeping much closer to those of the “equivalent” Western machines (i.e./ no longer the 1/3 to ½ you mentioned). The free market always finds its level…
You mentioned having to look for a missing MI-8 (in Afghanistan, in 2004 I presume). In Afghanistan specifically, since 2003 there have been approximately 3 times as many Western helos lost or substantially damaged as MI’s. (I’m referring to civil rotary wing ops, with “shoot-downs” excluded) This despite the fact the Mils have put in far more hours (combined).
All types have their advantages and disadvantages. What we “from the West” have been finding out in the past few years is that when KA’s and Mil’s (for example) are operated to ICAO standards – including maintenance, training and, most importantly, safety culture – they are reliable safe machines.
As was mentioned earlier, perhaps this thread should be split, as it’s evolved into a “Western Helos v/s Eastern Helos” thread.
Again I offer a PM exchange if you or anyone else wishes.
Cheers,
grizz