Helicopter ID - single engine skidded ducted tail rotor
Helicopter ID - single engine skidded ducted tail rotor
Hey all,
There I was, bored on boxing day watching Jack Ryan on Prime (average, but not terrible) and I saw a helicopter I didn't recognise (moderately unusual). See attached - what looks like a skidded single with a fenestron - to my eye looks like a cross between a dauphin and a squirrel, but what do I know? Anyone point me at it?
There I was, bored on boxing day watching Jack Ryan on Prime (average, but not terrible) and I saw a helicopter I didn't recognise (moderately unusual). See attached - what looks like a skidded single with a fenestron - to my eye looks like a cross between a dauphin and a squirrel, but what do I know? Anyone point me at it?
Doesn't look as weird as the Dauphin with a tail-wheel undercarriage, like HKGFS flew back in the early 80s though 
Yes, early C series Dauphin with skid option. The French Sécurité Civile operated a number of them and I modeled it for Microsoft FSX back in the day.
What's really unusual is I've seen some which also have a tailwheel.
What's really unusual is I've seen some which also have a tailwheel.
Makes me feel old when this early version of the Dauphin is a puzzle. It is the newer versions of Dauphin that I struggle to identify, especially with all the re-designation that has happened from Aerospatiale to Eurocopter to Airbus Helicopters (and should I add Sud-Aviation?).
The Dauphin started off as the single engined SA.360 with Astazou XVI which first flew on 2 June 1972. The first twin engined SA.365 prototype flew on 24 Jan 1975.
I have always preferred the style of the tail and twin main wheel SA.365 to the skidded or later nose wheel versions, but I guess it is a matter of taste.
The Dauphin started off as the single engined SA.360 with Astazou XVI which first flew on 2 June 1972. The first twin engined SA.365 prototype flew on 24 Jan 1975.
I have always preferred the style of the tail and twin main wheel SA.365 to the skidded or later nose wheel versions, but I guess it is a matter of taste.
Hey all,
There I was, bored on boxing day watching Jack Ryan on Prime (average, but not terrible) and I saw a helicopter I didn't recognise (moderately unusual). See attached - what looks like a skidded single with a fenestron - to my eye looks like a cross between a dauphin and a squirrel, but what do I know? Anyone point me at it?
There I was, bored on boxing day watching Jack Ryan on Prime (average, but not terrible) and I saw a helicopter I didn't recognise (moderately unusual). See attached - what looks like a skidded single with a fenestron - to my eye looks like a cross between a dauphin and a squirrel, but what do I know? Anyone point me at it?
Weird? The tailwheel AS365C ‘Daphne’ was our routine Air 490/PolAir 1 for Victoria Police in the 1980s, later supplemented by two more in about mid/late 80s IIRC.
Gnome de PPRuNe
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On 9 September 1974, a few days after he was at the Farnborough Show, the test pilot Roland Coffignot flew up to see us so we could do an assessment of the SA360. It was F-WSQX, the second prototype, and although I enjoyed flying it we didn't take the project any further.
Last edited by Democritus; 27th Dec 2022 at 13:32.
[QUOTE=John Eacott;11354882]Aerospatiale SA360. I first flew in one in 1974 leaving Farnborough Airshow to Battersea 👍
This is a single engine AS 360. Look at the exhaust nozzle.
This is a single engine AS 360. Look at the exhaust nozzle.
Those old C models ex HKGFS ended up in Australia. Well somebody thought they were a "good deal". Basically just rotten when they arrived and slowly disapeared by attrition.
Avoid imitations
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Thats no surprise. HKGFS aircraft work hard in a corrosive environment. I’ve even seen shiny brass turn purple in a few weeks and the gold plated contacts of avionics deteriorate in short order. The RAF sold its HK based Wessex to Uruguay and that didn’t end too well for the buyer.
[QUOTE=ATN;11355078]
Absolutely: I didn't look hard enough, as I followed the thread title 'single engine skidded helicopter'. Mea Culpa 
