HISTORY

former position behind the front wheel

bay like in the case of APX-100. As the

KT-76C did not need the second antenna,

there was none on the tail boom.

Last seven

The very last of the Hinds E supplied

either to Czechoslovakia or to Czech

Republic (Slovakia only received the

former Czechoslovak Hinds D and E

in the process of dividing the assets

of Czechoslovakia and did not buy any

new Hinds) were seven examples with

numbers from 3365 to 3371. They were

in the same configuration as the three

previously supplied and underwent the

same changes regarding the transponders

and radio installations. Later, four of them

(3367, 3368, 3370 and 3371) got the KT-76C

transponders replaced by APX-119 . It was

visible by minor change of the position of

the antenna behind the front wheel bay

(from centerline slightly to the starboard

side) and the second antenna was added

again on the top of the tail boom. At the

end of the Hinds E service in Czech

army, the short-wave radio Jadro was

deleted and with it also its wire antennae

between the rear fuselage and horizontal

stabilizers.

Of the 17 newly supplied Hinds E, 11 went

through general overhaul in the LOM

(Aviation Repair Shop Malešice; Malešice

being part of Prague) company. They

got the same colors (so-called NATO

standard, as described in Czech army)

as they were supplied from Russia in

compliance with Czech requirements,

but as the colors were not sprayed with

the use of templates, the borders of the

color shades are diffuse. The twelfth Hind

E planned for the general overhaul did

not make it, as it was lost in an accident

(engine failure while conducting the hover

check ).

Why just the Hinds E?

There might be a question why the Czech

Republic opted for the already obsolete

Hind E during negotiations with the

Photo: David Všetíček

mounted on the left front panel while in

the rear cockpit of the pilot-in-command

it replaced the now obsolete Doppler

navigation system DISS.

Next supplied were three Hinds E

now designated Mi-35 as mentioned

previously. These were Nos. 7360, 3361

and 3362. These choppers were already

NVG compatible, the cockpit stenciling

was in English. In the cargo compartment,

there are two black cases hanged on the

starboard side to store the NVG cabling.

These choppers were equipped with the

GPS antenna fitted to the tube of the

DUAS system. To be honest, the solution

developed by the LOK (Aviation Repair

Shops in Kbely; Kbely being part of

Prague) looked much better …

As a new transponder KT-76C was

installed, its antenna was placed on the

bottom of cover of the Shturm guiding

system. This placement was rather

unhappy, as the antenna was quite

vulnerable when the towing shaft was to

be fitted. Due to that, it was moved to the

A nice view on the rear cockpit illuminated for the use with the NVG.

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INFO Eduard

April 2023