Which is the most successful helicopter in the history of rotary aviation?

[Heliport]

Fort Rucker reached an Army Aviation milestone last month — the one millionth flight hour in the TH-67.
The TH-67 Creek (Bell 206B) replaced the Huey in 1993 to train initial entry rotary wing students in primary, instrument and basic warfighting skills.

At a ceremony to mark the occasion, Fort Rucker commanding general Maj. Gen. Virgil L. Packett II, said the one millionth hour is a remarkable example of combining bureaucracy, leadership and industry to train more than 15,000 aviators, and the TH-67 Creek has allowed and enabled Soldiers to become Army Aviators in safe and reliable ways.

Nothing remarkable about the quote - I just wanted to use the name. :)



Is the Bell 206 the most successful helicopter in the history of rotary aviation?
If not, what is?



Heli P Ort I.

[SASless]

The Jet Ranger ought to be at the top of the list....there are zillions of them flying, they tend to go from inspection to inspection without problems, and they are relatively cheap. Now if they could just put a decent seat in the things!

[oldbeefer]

Sorry, SASless - I think the AS 350 puts the Jetranger to shame.

[teeteringhead]

Depends what you mean by "successful" ..... but I think the answer's a Bell anyway.

Jet Ranger/206/Kiowa has a lot going for it, but was not the Huey/205/Iroquois and variants the biggest production run, making it the "rotary DC-3".

You could also argue the case for the Bell 47, as the first mass produced rotary that could actually do a job (a contentious claim perhaps??)

And on a personal note I'm very pleased to have qualified on all three (amongst others).........hence the handle :ok:

[Steve76]

I the flying world I revolve in you cannot go past a Longranger L3 or L4 for complete practicality, work ethic, reliability and affordibility. I consider it the 'leatherman' of the helicopter world. Astars are great but they miss a lot that the Bell brings to the table. Its often too much helicopter for most jobs. Find another machine that carries 6 pax + gear for $1400 - 1600 Canadian an hour and will run from inspection to inspection with only the minimal amount of snags?

[Bitmonx]

Have not flown a L3 or L4, all we got is an LR which is nicer to fly than a jetbox but still, after 3-4 hours of flying in the LR my butt is hurting like there is no tomorrow. Put me in an AStar, I will fly all day......
Ever since I got into the AStar, its all I want to fly. Almost all the customers I fly with agree but are limited on a certain budget that allows them only to fly either a jetranger or longranger.
I grew up in Switzerland and there the most successful Helicopter would probably be the Alouette 3 SA319B. The Alouette 3 made mountain rescues possible and saved probably tens of thousands of peoples lives the last couple of decades.
The most successful Helicopter in the world most likely is the Bell 206 Jet Ranger but it is definetly not the best or the one Pilots favour. (Me, I hate the jetbox :yuk: )

[CYHeli]

AStars...often too much helicopter for most jobs.

Isn't it good to have something in reserve?
Or were you looking at cost?
I think the B206 reins simply from number of helicopters in service over number of years, One day a company will have had more helicopters of one type flying for more years than the '206, but it'll take a loong time.

(Nice handle Mr. Ort the first)

[widgeon]

Ranger for qty , but most influential I would say a tie between the Huey , who can forget the scenes of them being pushed of the decks of flattops after fall of Saigon and the great Valkerie scene from Apocolypse now and the Sea King again one of most memorable scenes is Nixon taking off from White house lawn for the last time.

[HELOFAN]

H/269-C.
I think the training helicopters are being overlooked.

Most military/goverments use the 300 as the base for their training.

Even though the UH1H or the bell KIOWA are very popular , didnt most of those pilots start out in the TH-269 at some point ?
And even though the R-22 is gaining momentum the Schweizer 300 ( H/269-C ) is still up there.

Other wise i'd have to vote for the Airwolf Helicopter , that never went down and it could cruise at Mach 1 ! :E


HF

[SASless]

Perhaps we should also consider the Chinook....first flew in early 60's and still rolling off the production line....with an EOS date sometime in Mid-Century. (Note to Bell.....Mssrs Boeing know how to build a decent pilot's seat!)

[topendtorque]

The '47 and most likely the world record holder for the most uncomfortable seat.

[Staticdroop]

Got to be the jetbox, the nicest and easiest of all the helicopters to fly and doing engine offs is a breeze, especially teaching them, none of the butt clenching as you get closer to the ground. Agree with SASLESS about the seats 3 days of 6 hours a day on a pipe is torture.:ok:

[Kakpipe Cosmonaut]

Surely the most successful helicopter in the history of rotary aviation is the first one!!?? (whichever that was!)

[Head Turner]

Successful?
1. In Military terms - Huey
2. In providing basic training ppl/h and military - H300
3. As a small working machine - B206 series
4. As an attack beast - Apache
5. As a medium sized working machine - S76
6. As a rugged hard worker - Alouette
7. As a SAR - S61
8. As a beautiful design - B222/230/430
9. As a logging/fire fighter - Kamov
10, As a heavy lifter - Mil

Successful does't mean the best but due to it's design and functionallity it has shown a creditable status above others in the group.

[Tynecastle]

Head Turner.
Good post, but how about the offshore sector, who can ignore the Puma and the good old 61.
The 61 is probably the one that can do it all, High Arctic, Logging, Hydro towers, Fire fighting, Offshore Bus, the most reliable machine ever built I would say, sure the Huey and the 206 in all its guises are up there, but they pale in significance to what Big Igor can do

[XX514]

I cannot but agree with 'teeteringhead', it depends entirely on what you mean by 'successful'. Sure, the B206 is (today) the eponymous helicopter, but what about the B47? From today's perspective it is difficult to realise that, 50 years ago, any other helicopter existed!

On a purely personal level, I would have to vote for the Westland Wasp/Scout on the grounds that, whilst not a world-beater, it did exactly what it said on the tin, and did it bloody well. In its latter years it also did a great deal that was not on the tin, but that's an entirely different issue!

[HillerBee]

Hiller 12, since 1948 more than 3500 produced and still being used. The US once had more than 700 of them for flight training.

[dragonsfly]

The answer is even more simple than you think. Watch any movie in the world and I'm sure the sound effects all come from the same recording. And what aircraft is it we hear everytime??? The Jetranger.
Now that spells success.
DF

[sir.pratt]

i always thought it was the bell 47 sound on the movies.

[Head Turner]

Tynecastle - An apology for missing out the Off Shore..

adendum to my previous post

11. As Off shore support - S61
12. For what was written on the can - Westland Scout/Wasp

XX514 I flew these wonderful machines and I agree with you in that they did a very good job in some pretty rough situations.

[topendtorque]

" always thought it was the bell 47 sound on the movies."

agree. absolutely, 47 G3B1

same as any f/w shots. if you haven't heard a D6B just out of synch, then start watching movies.

[MBJ]

Head Turner
What was written on the can of your Scout/Wasp?

On mine it said this is a can of Sh!t, open with caution! The only reason we used them off boats was there wasn't anything else that could carry 2 torpedoes 10nm and then run out of petrol shortly afterwards!

[Head Turner]

Scout AH1 - If it moves, salute it. If it doesnt move, paint it.
Use it for casevac, abseilling, troop insertion, underslung loads, Top Brass transport, SS11 anti-tank in any part of the world. Uses lots of fuel and needs plenty of tender loving care .

One other 'Successful' top add to the above;-

13. As the most enjoyable to fly - SA341 Gazelle

[Fareastdriver]

If you could fly a Sycamore you could fly ANYTHING, From an R22 to a Space Shuttle. In the hover the Alvis radial was running at emergency power compared with its fixed wing sisters. No hydraulics and limited control. Real Q force trim wheels that you had to whizz around as you transitioned into the hover so that you could arrive where you wanted to. A unique EOL technique where you had to restart the engine before the rotor blades cut off the boom. Water tanks in the front and the pylon so you could pump water backwards and forwards to control the C of G. One collective in the middle with a completely illogical throttle cam. BUT, and it's a big BUT. Once it got going you could sit back at 125 knots, completely trimmed out watching your wooden rotor blades flying over the top of the cockpit, JUST.

[Bravo73]

Fareastdriver,

From your description, you make the Sycamore sound like the WORST training helicopter in the world... :uhoh: