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Chopper's - Irag/Afganistan


Pauly Boy

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Hello Paul

Unfortunately, I found surprisingly little about civilian helicopters in Afghanistan:

532bf32109da8.gif

Photo by Reuters, found here. Another photo of what looks like the same helicopter can be found here (scroll down to about the middle of the page). There must be more out there as IIRC Northern Alliance used proper civilian Mi-8 (the ones with square windows) as a VIP and troop transport even before 2001 invasion. Cheers

Jure

P.S.: Sorry, Paul, it took me some time to figure out what PMC means. Why did not you just write mercenaries? OK, two photos of YK-KME here, along with a photo of another Mi-8/Mi-17 family choper. Here is a photo of Mi-26 Australia hired for airlift operations in Afghanistan - not exactly a private army, although strictly speaking the helicopter is civilian. And, of course, a report about an accident of a Bell 214 ST here; unfortunately, all the photos I found on the web show this helicopters decades before her military use.

Edited by Jure Miljevic
P.S. added
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 Thanks Jure.  Sorry for the confusion. I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that not everyone is familiar with the shortened titles. COIN, FAC, PMC, etc.

 The info I'm looking for is not easily obtain, your right. Nice effort though!

 

P.S. I was in Slovenia last September, beautiful country. I would visit again!

Thanks Paul

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Thanks, Paul. Cold war acronyms are not a problem, but I have not heard PMC often enough to memorize its meaning. Well, live and learn. Cheers

Jure

P.S.: I am glad you liked it in Slovenia. I was in Canada on summer vacations (way back in 1975) and I enjoyed the visit very much, too.

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Try looking for images of the US State Department Air Wing. They operated Hueys in Afghanistan in both a fetching sand camo scheme and a civilian-looking grey with red stripe, both of which might be armed.

 

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2 minutes ago, tonywood said:

A Google search for CIA Mi 17 brings up some interesting photos. 

 

 

Wolfpak decals did some markings for one of these on one of their sheets, I don't think that it is print no more.

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On 2/13/2020 at 10:03 AM, Jabba said:

 

Wolfpak decals did some markings for one of these on one of their sheets, I don't think that it is print no more.

It's sheet 72-018 "Working the Sands" and, unfortunately, is out of print,

 

A Google search for "Blackwater Helicopters Iraq" will also return some interesting images which may give you some inspiration.

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 Thank you all for the information! I've looked at some of the sites suggested and have found a plethora(good word) of great pictures. I find these "covert"/pmc kind of subject very interesting and for modelling purposes so much more interesting than a standard look. 

 I find myself looking further afield for interesting build subject that are not routinely found on our modeling sites. I think there could be something here for a future endeavor!

 Thanks again to all.

  Paul

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  • 1 month later...

Way back in 2006 during my first tour in Basra, the refuelling point next to our Merlin hangar was regularly visited by a plain gloss blue Huey that was always met by a black Chevy van and some dodgy looking blokes in civvies. Most of our lads assumed it was either CIA or Blackwater operated. None of us RAF boys ever had the balls to get a picture though!

Edited by paul_c
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  • 4 weeks later...
On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2020 at 11:48 AM, Jens said:

I found another one.

 

Mi-8_Hip_sand_hover.jpg

 

Jens

I'm pretty sure this isn't an Afghani Hip. The antenna fit might provide a hint.........

 

BM.

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I don't know if it's one of the Mi-8s pictured but I seem to recall that the very first air assets that became available in Afghanistan was a Hip utilized by the CIA when we first put boots on the ground. This was before the Green Beret ODA teams were inserted to help the Northern Alliance.

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