Here is a list of what I believe is or has been the majority of the Irish Helicopters Ltd fleet down through the years. I may have missed a few machines and gotten some of the details wrong. This is copied from a Microsoft Word Document chart I drew up so it is a little all over the place. Basically each entry contains the following information.
Number.
Registration.
Aircraft Type.
Date the aircraft arrived or entered service.
Colour scheme (some aircraft flew in two or three different schemes.)
Date the aircraft left the Irish Register.
Fate where known.
1. EI-ASW Bell 206A 17/04/68 White and pale gold. September 1972 Went to UK. (Not 100% sure this was an IHL machine.)
2. EI-ART Fairchild-Hiller FH1100 20/06/67 Green and white. Yellow lettering. 08/02/71 Went to UK.
3, EI-ATO Alouette III SE3160 8/7/70 Overall white with green stripes. First Irish Lights flight; 29/10/69. Ditched off Louth Coast on the 26/05/71 (no fatalities).
4. EI-AUI Alouette II SE.3130 10/7/70 1. White with black (?) reg. No IHL titles. 2. Orange and Blue. May 1980 Went to UK.
5. EI-AVI Alouette III SA316B 01/09/71 Overall White with black lettering 01/07/73 Used on Irish Lights contract. Went to France.
6. EI-AWB BO-105D 31/10/72 1. Yellow and Black.
2. Dark Green and White. 3. Orange and Blue 10/01/78 Used on Irish Lights contract. Hijacked by IRA on the 24/01/74 for Strabane Bombing attempt. Flew in jail-break scene in Pink Panther movie!
7. EI-AWC Alouette II SA318C 30/01/73 Overall White with black lettering (?). Hijacked by the IRA on the 31/10/73 for Mountjoy Prison Escape. Crashed 15/05/74 at Cashel (no fatalities).
8. EI-AWK Bell 212 19/03/73 Overall White and Dark Green. 16/07/74 Went to UK.
9. EI-AWN Bell 212 28/05/73 White and Dark Green 28/05/74 Went to UK.
10. EI-BAM Bell 212 15/11/74 1. White and Dark Green. 2. Orange and Blue 18/08/83 Went to New Zealand.
11. EI-BDI BO-105C 26/7/77 Orange and Blue. Used on Irish Lights contract. Ditched off Donegal Coast on 03/06/81. Flew in the film "North Sea Hijack".
12. EI-BFH Bell 212 19/09/78 Orange and Blue.
Orange, Blue and White. 09/04/97 Papal Helicopter in 1979. Went to Nigeria.
13. EI-BHO Sikorsky S-61N 02/11/79 Orange and Blue. 14/05/97 Converted to SAR ship before 24/04/92. Went to UK.
14. EI-BIJ AB206B-2 29/01/80 Orange and Blue. Sold to Celtic Helicopters in March 85, registered with Celtic on the 13/05/95.
15. EI-BIY Bell 47 G-3 (Turbine) 03/06/80 Yellow and Red/Purple? Unknown Went to UK.
16. EI-BJR Bell 206B 28/08/80 Pale Gold and White. Unknown Went to UK.
17. EI-BJV AB206B-3 17/10/80 White overall. Unknown Private heli leased-in. Went to UK.
18. EI-BKG Bell 47 G-3 (Turbine) 02/04/81 Yellow and Red/Purple. Unknown Went to UK.
19. EI-BKT AB206B-3 06/04/81 Orange and Blue.
Orange, Blue and White. Unknown (In last few years). Is now privately owned in N. Ireland, flying in IHL scheme.
20. EI-BLD BO-105DB 21/07/81 Orange and Blue with CIL badge.
Orange, Blue and White. Used on Irish Lights contract. Currently for sale. Still flying as back-up for EC135.
21. EI-BLY Sikorsky S-61N 10/12/81 Orange, Blue and White. (2 different schemes in these colours). 16/02/98 Was interim SAR Ship prior to April 1992. Went to UK.
22. EI-BMP AB206B-3 28/04/82 White with Red and Black trim. Crashed in 1982, Headford (with fatalities - RIP).
23. EI-BRE Bell 212 24/04/85 Overall white. Went to UK.
24. EI-BRL AB206B-3 09/08/85 Colours not known. 29/10/85 Went to UK.
25. EI-BTE BO-105D 06/10/86 Colours not known. Unknown Used on Irish Lights contract.(?) Went to UK. WFU
26. EI-BXQ Bell 206B-2 20/06/88 Red, White and Blue. (Bristows Scheme). Unknown Went to UK.
27. EI-BYV Hughes 500D 16/02/90 Metallic Grey with Orange Tailplane. March 1993 Went to Turkey.
28. EI-CAF Bell 206B-2 23/10/89 Overall White with IHL Titles. 07/01/94 Went to USA.
29. EI-CTK Sikorsky S-61N 28/04/89 White with Orange stripes. Carried “Schreiner” titles and small IHL titles. 26/04/01 Went to The Netherlands.
30. EI-HER Bell 206B-3 01/07/94. White with Red and Grey trim plus IHL titles. Has left the Irish Register for the UK recently.
31. EI-LIT BO-105CBS 20/02/96 Orange, Blue and White. Used on Irish Lights contract. Possibly still with IHL but for sale?
32. EI-IHL AS350B1 Squirrel Pre-2005 Maroon with gold markings Crashed 12/07/07 in Clare (Fred Balcombe RIP).
33. EI-FAC AS350B1 Squirrel Not known Maroon with gold markings Believed to be currently with IHL.
34. EI-PDG AS350 Squirrel Not known Maroon with gold markings Believed to be currently with IHL.
35. EI-ILS EC135T2i 11/2008 Blue and Orange. Primary Irish Lights contract ship.
If anyone has any information to correct or update this list, please feel free to do so. I hope this is of use.
500 Fan.
Last edited by 500 Fan; 22nd Oct 2011 at 20:15.