Rotor Blades +++ Wayne Buck.
1992-1993, Major, deployed to the Sahara Desert as part of a UN mission. In the desert there are few things more important than water and transportation. During my time in the Sahara, water was shipped in twice per week via helicopter in two litre bottles. Food usually came at the same time but if it did not, we could always beg some food from locals.  Helicopters were our lifeline. The Russian Mi-8 (Hip) did extremely well in the desert and is now used by over 50 countries around the world for a variety of roles. Interestingly, the material that covered the rotor blades on the helicopter were very abrased by the desert sand and had to be replaced fairly often (once per year). The blades were only attached to the rotor by one pin and were easy to remove but they weighed quite a bit. I often used my tow truck to lift the blades and take them off. They were then traded for a different helicopter’s good blades and flown back to Russia for refurbishment.

BTW, I had been flying in those helicopters for six months before I knew that they had seatbelts. The crew just shoved them behind and under the seats.

Wayne changing blades on the MI-8.