In a remote corner of the Central African Republic, with a UN Hind hovering overhead, a fighting column is deployed to oust rebels from a village

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

Former British SAS operative Fred Marafano about to board Ellis's Hind at Freetown's Aberdeen Barracks

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

The infamous Neall Ellis in his Mi-24 cockpit

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

A Senegalese Hind gets a salute prior to heading out from Bangui, Central African Republic

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

A Sierra Leone Air Wing MI-24V gets ready for take-off. By 2008, this helicopter was lying derelict at Cockerill Barracks in Freetown

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

The author strapped into the gunner's front bubble seat of an Mi-24 during the gruelling civil war in Sierra Leone that ran from 1991-2002

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

A French mercenary side-gunner on board Ellis's Mi-24 during the civil war in Sierra Leone

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

Chopper down! One less Mi-24 in Sierra Leone after a bird strike

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-24 / Ми-35 - РоссияRussia - 1969

One of the UN Hips currently giving top cover in the Central African Republic

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-8МТ / Ми-17 - РоссияRussia - 1975

An East African brown-out involving a Hip

Самолёты на фотографии: Aircrafts on the photo: Миль Ми-8МТ / Ми-17 - РоссияRussia - 1975