Bill Gunston cast an expert eye over the massive Mil Mi-12 ‘Homer’ helicopter in the February 1976 issue of Aeroplane Monthly. Here’s what he wrote
The Soviet Union produced many fascinating aircraft and the jaw-dropping Mil Mi-12 helicopter certainly falls into this category. Its big lifting power was expected to help develop remote parts of the USSR, while it was also designed with military missions in mind such as carrying large ballistic missiles. The type set a number of records, though only two were ever built. The helicopter never entered production largely because the military decided it no longer needed ballistic missiles to be rapidly transported around the country by helicopter.
Here’s Bill Gunston technical assessment of this strange-looking helicopter from 1976…
