Helicopter-DataBase

Mi-4 delivered to the German Democratic Republic

The Soviet foreign trade company AVIAEXPORT delivered a total of 48 Mi‑4s to the GDR - 43 rotorcraft in the transport version, one rotorcraft in the salon version and four rotorcraft in the anti-submarine version. The Mi‑4 was the first type of helicopter operated in the GDR - both for military and civilian purposes.

The first aircraft were delivered in August 1957. So the GDR was pretty much the last member state of the Warsaw Pact which received Mi‑4 helicopters. The first aircraft came from the 51st production batch. The last Mi‑4s, delivered in 1965, were from the 174th production batch. The technical equipment of the Mi‑4s delivered to the GDR was therefore very different

In March 1957, formation of the first helicopter unit began in Cottbus. The training of the first pilots took place at the Soviet 226th Independent Mixed Aviation Regiment stationed at Berlin-Schönefeld airport where the commander of the helicopter unit completed his first solo flight (still with a Soviet instructor on board) on June 27, 1957. With the delivery of the first four aircraft (561, 567, 550, 556), the helicopter unit was relocated from Cottbus to Dessau and assigned to the Transport Aviation School (Transportfliegerschule). Immediately after the start of flight operations, Mi‑4s of the Air Force (Luftstreitkräfte/Luftverteidigung) took part in a joint exercise of the National People's Army (Nationale Volksarmee) and the Soviet Armed Forces Group in Germany from August 17th to 23rd, 1957. On September 1, 1957, the new helicopter technology was presented to the public for the first time. In November 1957, the school was reorganized into the Transport Aviation Training Regiment 4 (Transportfliegerausbildungsgeschwader 4).
In January 1959, the Mi‑4 helicopters were transferred to the newly formed Helicopter Regiment (Hubschraubergeschwader) at the Brandenburg-Briest airbase. In 1961, this regiment was reorganized into the Helicopter Regiment 31 (Hubschraubergeschwader 31). At Brandenburg-Briest, also the formation of the helicopter units of the People's Navy (Volksmarine) and the Border Guard troops (Grenztruppen) began. On September 15, 1962, a Helicopter Flight (Hubschrauberkette) was separated from the HG 31 and relocated to Parow airfield. This Helicopter Flight was assigned to the command of the People's Navy. On December 1, 1964, the Border Flight North (Grenzkette Nord) and the Border Flight South (Grenzkette Süd) were separated from the HG 31 and assigned to the Border Guard troops command. The Border Flight North was relocated to Salzwedel, the Border Flight South to Meiningen.

During the service from 1957 to 1979, four Mi‑4s were lost in air disasters: 29Sep1959 ‑ crash of 579 after tail rotor failure (technician was killed), 19Aug1960 ‑ crash of 552 (three crew members were killed), 29May1964 ‑ crash of 581 as a result of an uncontrolled flight (technician was killed), 08Aug1964 ‑ crash of 526 after hitting the ground (one pilot was killed).