Dare I ask... Favorite helo?

My fav is the AH-64D APACHE LONGBOW!!!

My favorite ? Mil Mi-4 ("Hound" ? - Huckelberry Hound ?) - I don't remember the NATO code for it - anyhow - it was the first helo I was inside as a child about 10 years old (still have a picture sitting on a pilot seat). Another one - PZL Mi-2 "Hoplite". Aleksander

My cousin would like that Apache photo.

COM.......ON YOU GUYS HAVEN'T HIT IT YET. THE COOLEST,BEST LOOKING,FINEST,CONFIGERED IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS ,CUTTING EDGE STILL,NOT LIKELY TO BE FOUND AT YOUR HOBBY STORE,IS THE ULTIMATE
S-76. FAST,CLEAN,MULTIBLE ENGINE PACKAGES,KILLER INTERIORS,PILOTFRIENDLY,
FAST,JUST A BEATIFULL THING. SORRY ABOUT THE SPELLING.
DAVEY5

Dave,

Well, certainly in its "Airwolf configuration! LOL

Rolling in Hot!

Jon

Airwolf wasn't a Sikorsky S-76, she was a Bell 212. FYI<S>

The cadillac of helicopters is the CH-47 Chinook. Smooth as a baby's backside and enough power to lift 25,000 pounds. Of course, this is a biased opinion since I used to maintain and fly in them.

Midnight,

I stand corrected on Airwolf not being an S-76, I goofed on that one. But it wasn't a Bell 212. The Bell 212 is the company designation for the UH-1N. I have to look it up, but I believe that Airwolf was an Augusta design.

Rolling in Hot!

Jon

PS, The S-76 Eagle "attack" version was pretty impressive. Sleek and loaded with guns and stuff!

You guys are BOTH wrong... Airwolf was a modified Bell Model 222, and Blue Thunder was made from an Aerospatiale Gazelle.

FITTER out

Correct on both counts Fitter. My fav (and a LOT of Naval Aviators') would be Sea King.

I stand corrected. Thanks for clearing it up Fitter.

Thanks Fitter,

Oh well, Airwolf was still cool! I knew Blue Thunder was a Gazelle. French piece of crap, although it looked cool. Especially on the miniseries "Amerika" where they used all of the "Blue Thunder" buildups as Russian Choppers....

But I digress....

Jon

Listen: with all this talk lately about a 1:35 scale CH-47 in the rumor mill, check out this site I found... it's about one of the old Aurora 1:48 Chinooks. The author obtained a pre-built example and proceeded to rebuild it to ACH-47 specs, which he extensively photo-documented!

http://members.truepath.com/modeling/

An example of this chopper can be seen in Squadron's "Gunslingers In Action." Rotor heads: if you don't already own this book, do yourself a favor!

Check out that site as well as the links indicated in the text. Enjoy! (Now I can't wait for that 1:35 scale kit to materialize!)

FITTER out

THE MAN WHO SAID BELL 222 IS RIGHT.AIR WOLF WAS JUST THAT. THE BELL 430 AND THE AGUSTA 109 CONFIGERATION ARE EXCELENT ,BUT THEY RUN A CLOSE 2ND TO AN S 76. AS FAR AS LOOKS AND PERFORMANCE.I GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAXI AND FLY A 109 ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO. MY GOOD FRIEND IS A PILOT FOR A RACE TEAM I WORKED FOR AT THAT TIME. THAT WAS SO COOL,THE THRILL OF A LIFE TIME.
WHY DO YOU THINK NO MODEL COMPANIES HAVE DONE THE S76?

I'm definitely bias, the UH-1. Both the UH-1C/M's and D/H's. I was a crew chief on H models in Vietnam and crewed a Medevac for 7 years in the Reserves. Next would be the AH-1G Cobra. A real bad ****** with the 20mm on the left stub wing. The Cav Unit we shared the hanger with in Chu Lai had a couple. MRC needs to make us a decent UH-1D/H, an AH-1G, and while they are at it AH-47 "Guns A Go-Go"!

Hey there Melgyver, do you have any photos of your ships you can share with us rotorheads?
Lee

Melgyver,

Would that be F/8 Cav or D/1/1 Cav that was at Chu Lai with you? Care to chat about your experience?

Jon
Cobrahistorian@aol.com

AH-1 Cobra. Of the variants, the AH-1G and AH-1S Mods were sweet aircraft. I flew in Germany from 1980-83 with OH-58As and AH-1S Mods and that was "seat of the pants" flight. AH-1F is a nice aircraft but the darn thing can a crew and thats about it.

For brute force and ignorance, AH-64D. It is sooooo ugly but the darn thing is made to rule the battlefield.

the apache is not an ugly aircraft, just like the A-10 is not an ugly aircraft! those are two of my favorite aircraft and I think they both look really cool!

my favorite helo is the blackhawk and apache. hawks are more fun to ride in but since I work on apaches I like them too.

hawks are especially fun when you are sleeping on top of a HEMTT and a hawk decides to land right next to you sandblasting your sleeping bag in the desert. those days are close again though!

My favourite chopper is the A-129 MANGUSTA. Fast, good range, very very agile {like a mangusta}, powerful armament in the last versions {stingers,hellfires, a 120mm gun}. Know it, it is a really good machine

GUYS, YOU CAN CHECK OUT THE SHARKS, DOLPHINS, & WITCH DOCTORS OF THE 174TH AHC, RVN 66-71 AT www.americal.org/174/ I was the Maint. Officer's Crew Chief mid "71". Witch Doctor "650". We are holding our 10 Official Reunion in Ft. Walton Beach, Fla. in Oct. I E-mailed Mark I was disappointed they didn't even mention the 174th in the article on the Sharks and it was on the April Cover! I've got pictures of the aircraft modeled. Easy Rider "242". Actually the 2nd one to carry that name. Check out the Web Page plenty of History! Great shots of our birds and some humbling stories. My E-mail is on the site, Assn VP.

Well I just gotta be different I guess, but as unglamorous as it looked I always liked the H-34 Seahorse.
It was used during the early years of the spaceprogam and Vietnam.
You can see it in the movie "The Right Stuff" in the scene where they're trying to recover Gus Grissom's Mercury capsule.
I used to live on a Navy base when I was a kid and I have vivid memories of watching them takeoff and land practically in my backyard......................What a great place that was to live!

Lockheed AH-56 Cheyenne

Looks mean, looks like a bird of prey.

Fade to Black...

Hey Mel and everyone!

Have you seen the Sharks markings for the MRC UH-1C? You get your choice of "Ace of Spades" or "Surfer". The instructions are wrong for "Ace of spades", showing it without miniguns and with the chunker (from the photos I've seen on the 174th website, it was the other way around!) There are a few other mistakes with the markings, most notably the absence of the "A" on the Ace of Spades on the decals. Still, the sharkmouths are nicely represented for two beautiful birds. The 174th had some impressive artwork on the sides of their Charlie models and the "Surfer" art is well represented here.

What they don't tell you is the history of both original machines. Both were lost during Operation Lam Son 719 (the 1971 invasion of Laos through I Corps). I've got copies of the loss reports for LS719 and both machines are listed there as being lost to hostile fire. At that point in time, Slicks and Cobras were being "Hooked" out after being shot down, but "Charlie" Hueys were considered expendable. An unjust fate for some incredible machines!

If anyone gets a chance to build either of these aircraft, DO IT! There's a great deal of reference material on them and they're beautiful when completed!

Ok, I'll shut up now.

Rolling in Hot!

Jon

Ch-46, no one makes 'em anymore but Marines keep 'em flying. A friend of mine was up with a bunch of rookies and he stuck nuts and bolts up in the ceiling so when they hit turbulance, they'd fall and hit the grunts in the head. Scared the hell out of them.

Semper Fi
Bryce

How about the one that even scares Apache jocks..... the Hokum

Greetings

Why hasn't someone manufactured a 1/48 CH-46. That has been one of the workhorses of the USMC for over 30 years.

Mike

Give me a blackhawk anytime, anywhere, at any situation.... they might not be as fast as an attack helo but they are extremely versatile and can really take a beating

Blue Thunder - OK, I know it's a re-dressed Aerospatiiale SA 341 Gazelle, , but I love the idea of a chopper like that

I have to agree with Shaggy. The CH-47 is the most versatile aircraft in the US Military Inventory. I have over 1000 hrs in RH,CH and MH-53 Sea Stallions,(I just finished a MH-53E) about 150 hours in CH-54 Skycranes and 2000 hours in Chinooks. Without a doubt, the coolest machine in the force and the Army just keep's ordering them. Great Post