HISTORY

Exterior surface – fuselage middle section

In front of the lower halves of the cargo doors on D version there are

consoles for the optical weapons fire alignment. Interesting feature of

some of our air force Ds, from the period after „Revolution“, are so-called „little Ernests“. It’s the shaped steel sheet screwed on the oval

covers of the fuel installation in front of cargo section thirds windows

on both sides. Cans were hung on those in order to catch the fuel overflow from the drain plumbing ending here happening during the engines

start up and shut down. Named after a certain member of the unit located in Prostejov who invented them nevertheless over the time the

disadvantage became apparent. The chopper could have taken off with

these cans (unless it did really happen) so ecology was brushed off and

the application was suspended. The device however remained on the airframes and sometimes even survived the overhaul. The airframe 0220,

nowadays on exhibit at Kbely museum, is a proof.

On D version, there is an oval hatch for a neutral gas supply, and a circular hatch below it, located between 3rd and 4th window on the left side.

Luckily, they are both featured on the Zvezda kit since they are universal

for the future A version, however they are incorrect for V version. There

is a circular plastic indicator of the neutral gas ejection on the fuselage

in front of the left wing leading edge. Above the 3rd and 4th window

on the right side D version features the filling port cover of the interior

auxiliary fuel tank and to the left of it the light indicator of the full tank.

Because D version cannot carry exhaust gases coolers EVU, it’s missing

the consoles for their attachment, two large ones under the exhaust and

two smaller ones above it. It also lacks stainless steel coolers lining

around the exhausts (their different shape is mentioned earlier).

T-shaped consoles are installed on the fuselage under the wings on

D version where the winch for ordnance installation was mounted. It featured one more attachment point in the lower wing aerodynamic cover

(small rectangular depression). The winch cable was passing through

the openings in the aerodynamic covers of the inner racks. This system

In the picture with the Falanga training missiles, the S-13 gun camera is clearly visible. It

was also there on the early Mi-24s delivered to the Czechoslovakia (Nos. 0701 to 0710). In

the later choppers it was moved to the cockpit next to the helicopter captain's sight.

was abandoned on the V version. The racks themselves are almost identical only on the D version there are metal blanks on their lower front

section covering the fuel installation connections. All Ds in our air force

featured so called „dry racks“ only. D version carries the launching rails

2P32M/K-4U for 9M17P Falanga rockets installed on the wing vertical

pylons. Be aware that the launching devices are not attached in parallel

with the helicopter longitudinal axis. In order for the rockets to detect

the guidance antenna beam well the left pair is turned 0 degrees 30 minutes and the right one by 3 degrees 30 minutes relative to the fuselage

longitudinal axis. On the vertical pylons, the inner left and the outer right,

there are white metal plates screwed on where, in the case of combat,

the combination of the attached ordnance was supposed to be written

but I suspect this was not really used. In the left transition wing-pylon

Ds and early Vs (0701-0710) feature and aerodynamic cover of the S-13

gun camera. On the upper section of both pylons and at the end of the

aerodynamic covers of the outer racks (Nos. 1 and 4) D version has the

antennas of the S3m Sirena warning system installed.

Same lot on Mi-24V

T-shaped bracket for

mounting the winch

for hanging armament. The V version

does not have it.

The lack of trim around the exhausts is clearly visible in the picture. These are only on the V version. Also missing are the mounting points for the EVU device above and below the

exhausts. Also different is the shape of the exhausts themselves, which did not have to be cut for D version to install the EVU exhaust gas cooling system.

INFO Eduard - November 2021

eduard

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