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Old 27th Aug 2009, 12:41
  #1064 (permalink)  
FH1100 Pilot
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Posts: 770
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It can be confusing. That's not a civilian ship per se, but a "public use" aircraft. Here in the U.S., Public Use is a sort of "in-between" category in which a military helicopter can be given an N-number registration and used by law enforcement or other public agencies. The interesting thing about "public use" aircraft is that they are not constrained in operation by the FAR's that we actual, genuine civilian aircraft must follow.

The aircraft in question is a demilitarized OH-58 operated by one of Florida's numerous sheriff's departments. Looks like an OH-58C, but I'm not really up on my Army models. It has an odd mix of components in the drivetrain, from the military (i.e. olive drab) push-pull tubes to the civilian-looking mast and grips. Looks like civilian tail rotor blades too. Then again, you can never tell. There are shops that specialize in converting such aircraft from military to public use. Who knows what components get stuck on in the transition?

Someone once told me that OH-58C's *can* be converted to civilian - or Normal - category, but not the earlier -58's. Don't know why, or if that's even true. Doesn't matter though. By the time you did the conversion, the cost would be close to what a "real" 206 would go for in today's market.
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