That’s just too big for me.

I was watching one of those “Heavy Metal” shows last night. They were up in BC moving some huge oil field storage tank (11K lbs, I think it was) with a Mil Mi-26.
That thing is huge.

But looking at the flex in the rotor disc, especially under load, I couldn’t help but wonder what things would be like if they had to drop that load or a cable failed. Certain death for the crew.

I’m sure the procedure calls for dropping the collective and counting to 5 (or so) before dropping the load. At which point I wonder if it would have the time and ability to recover itself.

I also noticed that for the left seat, the collective control is on the right. For the right seat, it’s on the left (like most every other helicopter out there).

In an external lifting configuration, that has the pilot pulling the power along the greatest open length of their body, regardless of which seat they are in. Picture the pilot leaning away from the power/collective control as they look out the window down towards the load. That’s a good thing. Leaning over that control while working it is not. Better to pull up than push down, if you will. Hats off to that idea. I wonder why all the other heavy lift helicopters didn’t go with this configuration. Besides the fact that it would drive a lot of pilots nuts if/when they had to switch seats. That would take some getting used to for sure.

I also noticed the hook jettison lever is on the cyclic control and not the collective as with all the others. That is odd, but I’m sure they have their reasons.

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1980 300D - Veggie Burner !