The world's largest helicopter, en route from southern Russia to Yellowknife, stopped in Whitehorse on Friday evening to refuel before departing Saturday morning.

Tony Hunley of Alberta's Airborne Energy Solutions explained today the MI-26 Halo will be used to resupply and service the mining industry north of Yellowknife which is normally serviced by winter roads.

'We expect to be in the Yellowknife area for about 30 days,' Hunley said.

He said his company has leased the helicopter for a year as a trial period to work in the oil and gas industry in western Canada and the Northwest Territories.

The initiative has been in the works for three years. If using the MI-26 to service the industry proves to be viable, it will be staying on longer, Hunley said.

He said drill rigs are now being designed and built to specifications that will take advantage of the MI-26's capabilities.

Once finished in Yellowknife, the helicopter will be based out of Whitecourt, Alta., the home of Airborne Energy.

The chopper burns 3,000 litres of fuel an hour, and charges out at more than $20,000 an hour.

Its cruising speed is 255 kilometres per hour (183 mph), and it can lift a maximum 20,000 kilograms (44,000 pounds).

Hunley said when you consider there is a relatively small time frame in the year for oil and gas exploration, given restrictions on winter-road access, it makes economic sense to have a helicopter that can move this type of heavy gear all year long.

Some areas, he said, are not even accessible by winter road.

Hunley said part of the planning for the MI-26 program involved providing two captains with the necessary language preparation and Canadian flight regulations to permit them to obtain their Canadian flight certifications.

There are five members of the flight crew two pilots, a navigator, flight engineer and load master. Also onboard Friday was a five-member maintenance crew.

With two captains trained to Canadian standards, there is the ability to establish a shift rotation, Hunley said.

The MI-26 departed from Rostov-na-Donu in southern Russia, stopped in Moscow to refuel, and gassed up in northern Siberia before flying across the Bering Strait to refuel in Anchorage, where it lifted off Friday morning.

The Russian-built chopper measures 34 metres long, eight metres in width and eight metres in height.

Its eight main rotor blades measure 40 metres in diametre when turning, and its tail rotor measures 7.6 metres in diameter.