Helikopter Hysterie - The Helicopter Blog

You're number two following a Cessna

2012-03-14T08:06:00.000-07:00

This is N935SH, a Robinson R22 two-seater helicopter flying behind a Cessna 172. I took the photo looking along the glide path at Hawthorne Airport. The perspective and long zoom lens makes the fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft appear close together, while in reality they have ample separation. When clearing the helicopter to land and proceed in the traffic pattern, Air Traffic Control has probably told the helicopter crew "helicopter five sierra hotel, number two, cleared to land, runway 25, following a Cessna on short final". The helicopter likely responded "helicopter five sierra hotel cleared to land 25, number 2, got the traffic in sight".

Related posts
More photos of N935SH

N129ES Motion Blur

2012-03-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

N129ES, a 2008 Robinson R44 II (c/n 12173) flaring and taxiing at KKHR. Click there for more helicopter photos with motion blur. Or click there for more KHHR helicopter photos.

LAFD 3 on Helipad 14 Marina Pointe Dr

2012-03-12T00:02:00.000-07:00

Seen on Sunday (March 11, 2012), thanks to my wife. Los Angeles Fire Department LAFD 3, a 2008 Agusta Spa (serial number 41012) AW139 sitting on a rooftop in Marina Del Rey, CA. I stopped on the side of Lincoln Blvd / PCH and looked over towards Marina Pointe Drive. The apartments or high-rise condominium towers there are called Azzurra, Regatta, and Cove and have helipads on top of them. I took a video of the helicopter taking off, which I will add later. As far as I could tell, nothing serious happened, as the team was not in a big hurry. They shot multiple approaches, probably for practice and training.

Related posts
LAFD 3
AW139 sticker
Lego AW139
LAFD 3 Tsunami warning
LAFD 5 fly-by sequence
All AW139 posts on HH

External links
Birds eye map view of this area on google maps

American Eurocopter AS350

2012-03-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we had a good view of an LA County Sheriff Department AS350. N961LA is serial number 7129 and is made by American Eurocopter. We have seen N961SD on HH, but not N961LA. It was a sunny and clear blue day today and we went for a hike in Palos Verdes, when the helicopter flew by. See photo below of the scenery on 3/11/12, looking north towards Manhattan Beach.

Related posts of LA County Sheriff Department helicopters
N966SD
N970SD
N962SD
N964SD
N971SD
N961SD
N961LA (this post)

HH introduces favicon

2012-03-10T16:49:00.001-08:00

Buckle up. HH introduces "favicon". I finally got around to creating and uploading the Helikopter Hysterie - The Helicopter Blog icon, that will now show up as the little 16 by 16 pixel image identifying the tab in your browser that has HH loaded. Above you can see the full-size image, below you can see how the HH tab now looks in some of your favorite browsers. Like internet explorer, firefox, and chrome. Gone is the white on orange blogger symbol. You might have to clear your cache to make it appear. If you re-bookmark us, the bookmark shortcut will also have the new icon.

MD 600N at AMARG

2012-03-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

N613BP is a Department of Homeland Security 1998 McDonnell Douglas Helicopters 600N. I saw it on the AMARG tour a while back sitting out in the desert with a few more of them. The MD 600N is an eight seat stretched derivative of the MD 520N. It has a six blade main rotor (not shown in the photo), is powered by an Allison M250 turboshaft engine, and has a NOTAR anti-torque system.

Related posts
McDonnell Douglas Helicopters 369FF
Other NOTAR posts on HH
Other MD helicopter posts
More AMARG photos

External links
MD 600N wiki
AMARG / Davis-Monthan Air Force Base home

MEDEVAC Blackhawk

2012-03-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Seen flying along the California coast a few weeks back. More Sikorsky UH-60 / S-70 Blackhawk photos. Also, Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawk night photo.

Just another sunset

2012-03-08T00:16:00.000-08:00

Hawthorne Police's Air 55, N521PD, a 1988 McDonnell Douglas 369E against a winter sunset and city rooftop silhouettes.

Related posts
Other MD helicopter posts
More sunset photos
More pointy noses
More t-tails
More Air 55

Belly View

2012-03-07T00:17:00.000-08:00

Just an EC130 silhouette flying overhead. More EC130 helicopters on HH.

Sikorsky H-19

2012-03-06T00:18:00.000-08:00

Quick walk-around the Sikorsky UH-19B Chickasaw sitting in the helicopter row outside at Pima Air and Space Museum.

Related posts
More helicopters at Pima Air and Space Museum

Bell 206A Jetranger

2012-03-05T00:02:00.000-08:00

It is not very often that one gets to see a Bell 206A Jetranger. This particular one I saw on the weekend is serial number 226 and is a 1968 model. Delivery of the Jetranger to customers began on January 13, 1967. We're looking back in time almost all the way to the beginning of this classic helicopter. For many people my age, this helicopter is the helicopter image that comes to mind when somebody says the word helicopter. N4067G is flying north along the Santa Monica shore. I took the photos while on a stroll in the Palisades Park. The pilot then turned east approximately along Wilshire Blvd.

Related posts
Bell TH-57 (military version of the Bell 206A)

LAPD helicopter from afar

2012-03-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

LAPD Air Support Division AS350. N662PD. More black and white LAPD Air Support Division helicopters.

Serene Motor Yacht Helicopter Garage and Night Photos

2012-03-03T00:12:00.000-08:00

Today we show three more images regarding the Serene Motor Yacht. I had walked out to the water front just to see if I could spot the yacht at all and was surprised to see it all illuminated in blue light. I used a life guard shack as make-shift tripod and switched the ZS10 to starry sky mode, with 15 sec shutter speed. The boat is gone now, so let me at least share the two best night photos I was able to capture. I did not see the helicopter on the yacht that night and thought it was probably in the air somewhere.

The really interesting part I found out later. Apparently the Serene has a secret helicopter garage under deck, in the forward part of the boat. You can land the EC 145 (M-SRNE) right on the H in the circle, on the helipad in the front. Then you have to fold two of the four main rotor blades and can consequently lower the helipad under deck, one story down, as shown in the illustration I made. I'd say James Bond meets Airwolf on the Serene. How do I know this? Let's just say I know this.

Related Serene posts
Serene Motor Yacht night photos with blue lighting
Serene Motor Yacht Marina Del Rey (134m)
Good view of the helicopter on the Serene

Related posts of other yachts with helicopters
Attessa IV photos on HH (100m)
White Cloud, Corse, France (67m)
Plan B photos on HH (49m)

Igarashi Design Personal Helicopter

2012-03-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

I recently had an email conversation with Yutaka Igarashi about the helicopter shown in today's photos, which we have obtained permission to show here on HH. The renderings are of a single seat personal helicopter, powered by a turboshaft engine. The rotorcraft is designed exquisitely, combining design themes from several different engineering fields into one unique beautiful machine.

The turbine exhaust case and main transmission sit on top of the tail boom. The fuel tank and rapidfill tank filler nozzle are visible below the main rotor assembly. The turboshaft engine is flanged directly to the main rotor and transmission housing casting (matte black). That in turn is attached to the main fuselage by means of a tube frame, similar to what Ducati did on some of their classic motorcycles. It is not clear whether there's a spaceframe under the blue skin, or whether the blue skin is structurally integrated as a carbon fiber monocoque. The main landing gear has hinges and is carried by a damper system. The rear is a single post damper. We see a three blade main rotor with probably carbon fiber main blades, a fully articulated main rotor head, and state-of-the art quiet rotor blade tips. The tail rotor is a large diameter two blade assembly. The pilot seat and cockpit are fully integrated. Man and machine become one. Towards the front, we see two main headlamps, with two covered fog lights similar to what an Audi Quattro rally car would have.

External links
ID-Performance home

Longranger Take-Off

2012-03-01T20:04:00.000-08:00

California Highway Patrol Bell 206 Longranger (N6197N) taking off at Jack Northrop Field.

Copter Spotting from Airliner

2012-02-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

You can look at helicopters from up close, or from far away. Sometimes you can only hear them. Sometimes you can only see them. Although that's admittedly the rarest form of coming across helicopters. A few days ago was one of these times. As I was flying passenger on a flight into LAX, I looked down on Los Angeles and guess what. I saw three helicopters. One was an LA County Fire Department Firehawk that was flying in the vicinity of Camp 8. I only have a very blurry shot of it, not worth posting. Or maybe, maybe I'll add it later. The second one I couldn't identify. The third one is likely a Bell 206, I zoomed in big time in that first photo. I'm guessing we were still up at around 10-12000 feet and on a right downwind to LAX runway 24R.

I rounded off the photo set with a few other interesting aerial photos of the city. Only the first and last photo includes the helicopter. You really have to squint your eyes to find it in that last photo. I had to wait for it to be in front of a cloud to even make it visible. That one photo includes the Boeing 737's wing, downtown Los Angeles, and even the Hollywood sign, all in one frame.

Related posts
Los Angeles Skyline with Bell 206
Downtown LA Skyline with AS350
New York City pre 9/11 skyline with World Trade Center and helicopter
Playa Del Rey skyline with R44 helicopter
Plane spotting at LAX
Helicopter with airliner contrails
Enstrom 480B with Lufthansa 747
Eurocopter AS350 with LH Boeing 747
HH sticker and Hollywood sign
Copterspotting while hiking up behind the Hollywood sign
KTLA chopper and Hollywood sign
Sikorsky Firehawk at Camp 8

Air 55 Landing

2012-02-28T00:01:00.000-08:00

Today's photos show Hawthorne Police's MD 369E helicopter landing at KHHR, where it is based. Air 55, as the helicopter is called, is a 1988 McDonnell Douglas 369E according to the FAA. It's powered by the widely used Allison 250-C20 turboshaft engine, outputting around 420 to 450 horsepower at the shaft. This engine is also known as the Rolls-Royce M250. To see more Air 55, follow the links below. Also look at the Allison 250 wiki, if you want to know all about that particular engine, and where it's used.

Related posts
All Air 55 posts
My favorite Air 55 video

External links
Allison Model 250 engine wiki

Serene Motor Yacht and EC145 Chopper

2012-02-27T09:05:00.000-08:00

More photos of Yuri Scheffler's "Serene" Motor Yacht. I walked out along the marina channel this weekend to take a look. While the vessel does not look that big in the zoom shots, you can get a better feel for its size by looking at the wide angle shot below, to see how far out she's anchored. It's quite an attraction too. Many smaller boats, kayakers, and even stand-up paddle boarders come out of the marina to loop around the Serene and get a close-up view.

The helicopter is indeed a Eurocopter EC 145. Several people were walking around the ship and helicopter. Also check out the many different bays the ship has, that can be lowered and opened to create additional decks and space. More photos later that will show that a bit better.

Related posts of yachts with helicopters
Serene Motor Yacht Marina Del Rey (134m)
Attessa IV photos on HH (100m)
White Cloud, Corse, France (67m)
Plan B photos on HH (49m)

External links
Serene Motor Yacht post on Yo! Venice!

Seattle Tugboat Race with R22 Mariner

2012-02-26T19:52:00.000-08:00

This photo set was taken May 5, 2010 during the Seattle Tugboat Race taking place that day. The same way helicopters attract me, the tug boats had attracted the little Robinson R22 Mariner with the boatpix.com fixed floats. The R22 Mariner is a version of the R22 delivered with the fixed floats. Follow the links below to get to some photos of the fixed floats pre installation we took while taking the Robinson factory tour in Torrance, CA.

Today's photos are taken from different vantage points. A few are taken while walking on the pier up close with the tugboats, and a few are taken while wandering off to Pikes Place Market, one of Seattle's top attractions.

The helicopter in the photos is N71FH, a Robinson R22 Mariner with c/n 1724M. It's a 1991 model year.

Related posts
June 2010 post with N71FH
Seattle Duck Tour with Claire Bouyant and her helicopter cap
Seattle R44 with pop-out floats
Historic photo of Seattle Bell 47 helicopter tour

External links
Seattle's Pike Place Market Home
Robinson Helicopter Home

Above: N71FH R22 Mariner and tugboat race overview.

Above: Pikes Place Market overview.

US Marines HMX-1 Kaman OH-43D Husky

2012-02-25T16:24:00.001-08:00

We're stopping in beautiful Tucson, Arizona today. More precisely, at Pima Air and Space Museum. We can't say it enough, if you're into aviation, a stop at Pima Air and Space Museum combined with the AMARG bus tour is a must. Similarly to how a stop at the Air Force Museum at WPAFB is not to be missed. By the way, you can bring your dog to the museum, so you can stop there even if traveling with your pet.

I picked out a few photos I took of a Kaman OH-43D Husky. This particular one has a US Marines HMX-1 paint job and is sitting outside in what I call helicopter row. The sign in front of it calls it the Kaman OH-43D Husky. OH-43D is the designation of the Kaman HOK-1 after 1962. The helicopter has two counter-rotating and intermeshing main rotors and hence does not need a tail rotor. The rotor blades have been removed on this display. The HUK-1 was powered by a 600 hp R-1340-48 Wasp engine, which is a 22 liter displacement 9-cylinder internal combustion radial engine - now that is an engine! See external links below for more information.

Related posts
Kaman HH-43B Husky
More from Pima Air and Space Museum
Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
More HMX-1 helicopters (US Marine Corps helicopter squadron)

External links
Pima Air and Space Museum home
Pratt and Whitney R-1340 Wasp Wiki
Kaman HH-43 Wiki

Below: Front, rear, and side views of the Kaman OH-43D.

Below: More photos of the Kaman helicopter and where it is parked in the helicopter row at Pima Air and Space Museum. Note the mountains in the background, as well as the other airplanes they have on display, like the B-52 and the F-4. We will walk around the other helicopters in future posts on HH.

Serene Motor Yacht

2012-02-24T00:01:00.000-08:00

Much thanks to our fellow bloggers over at Yo! Venice!! They allowed me to share the three photos in today's post of Serene Motor Yacht, which is parked just outside the marina entrance in Marina Del Rey, California. Close to the location where I saw the whale the other day. I would've gone over there to take some photos, but unfortunately I'm out of town.

We've seen the Plan B, we've seen the Attessa IV. Now, the Serene Motor Yacht beats everything I personally have seen before. Hopefully she's still parked there when I'm back in town. Here are the numbers:

Serene Motor Yacht - 134 meters / 440 feet length - Eurocopter EC145 - M-SRNE
Attessa IV Motor Yacht - 100 meters / 330 feet length - Eurocopter EC130 - N165WC
Plan B Motor Yacht - 49 meters / 161 feet length - Eurocopter EC145 - VP-CBP

The registration on the helicopter on the Serene appears to be M-SRNE and the helicopter is a black Eurocopter EC145, similar to the one parked on the Plan B.

For some more interesting technical data, ownership, and last known selling price of the Serene, go over to Yo! Venice!'s Serene post.

Related posts
Attessa IV photos on HH
Plan B photos on HH

External links
Serene Motor Yacht post on Yo! Venice!
Yo! Venice! blog Thanks for sharing the Serene photos!
Yo! Venice! flickr stream
List of the biggest motor yachts
More photos of M-SRNE

Copter Panel Launch

2012-02-23T10:30:00.000-08:00

The Helikopter Hysterie - The Helicopter Blog Team is pleased to announce Copter Panel!

As I mentioned in my January 30, 2012 message to the readers, HH has several updates and changes in the pipeline for 2012, in line with our overall commitment to Kaizen.

The Copter Panel is a sub-page of the blog and makes navigation simple for readers looking for one specific helicopter make and model. If you click on the tab above you will switch over to Copter Panel. Just try it and see what's there.

Essentially it's a list of links, sorted by helicopter manufacturer and make. If you click on any link in there, you will get to all the blog posts containing that specific tag or label.

Let's say you're looking for a Hughes 369. Click on the Copter Panel tab. Scroll down to the Hughes section (manufacturers are listed in alphabetic order) and look for 369. Click on 369. The blog filters for Hughes 369 posts. If you're specifically interested in round-nose 369s, click on the 369 subcategory saying round-nose. Same applies for Bell 206. If you want only Jetrangers, click on the Jetranger subcategory.

The Copter Panel will be updated periodically.

Sincerely,

Axel and the HH team.

Mosquito Alert

2012-02-22T23:28:00.000-08:00

Headed out for another hike in Elijo Lagoon near San Diego and saw these mosquito alert signs again. Somebody has stolen the corner that showed the helicopter, as shown in our last picture. It wasn't us! On the other side of the lagoon, the signs were still intact. Look at our post from almost exactly one year ago. As usual, follow the links below.

Related posts
Mosquito Alert Sign with Helicopter Depiction

Shier Aviation Convoy

2012-02-21T20:38:00.000-08:00

These two Shier Aviation helicopters flew by in a convoy over Scripps Park, La Jolla, CA on President's Day Weekend 2012. Leading was N491SA, a 2009 Robinson R44, followed by a 1976 Bell 206 Jetranger, N546SA. Plenty of seals and/or sea lions were out that day, plenty of paragliders were soaring off of Torrey Pines Gliderport in the background, and in my view the helicopters just rounded off the scene that day.

EC120 Barbed Wire

2012-02-20T21:12:00.000-08:00

This EC120 Colibri was seen here on HH before. Just adding some more views of it. See more photos of it by following the link below.

Related post
Click and scroll down. N104WE - more photos and videos of this Eurocopter EC120