Rotorcraft Nicknames
 

I need help figuring out some rotorcraft official names (or the nickname most closely associated with it)... (e.g., Bell 429 (GlobalRanger), Sikorsky S300 (Sausage), Airbus HH-65 (Dolphin)....

These are the airships I need help with...

Airbus EC130/H130
Airbus EC145/H145
Agusta Westland AW109
Agusta Westland AW139
Bell 407
Bell 427

GlobalRanger?!? Never heard that one before...
I always thought, regarding its issues, it's called: THE FAT RANGER !!!!!

GlobalRanger is the official name, not a nickname.

Hi Whimlew,


The base AW109 has no marketing title or nickname, but the 109E was marketed as the 'Power' and in US Coast Guard Service it was designated the 'Stingray'. The 109S was marketed as the 'Grand'
The AW139 has no marketing title or nickname.


Many of these names are used by the OEM marking departments, and no where else. Good example is the S-92 'Helibus' which no-one in the industry ever, ever uses.

Slightly off topic but I really like the name I once heard for the R66 in the style of a NATO reporting name.

The R66 'Goat" 😋

Naming helicopters seems to have fallen out of favor. Just like in the automotive industry, we seem to prefer a collection of numbers/letters instead of names like "JetRanger" or "AStar".

EC130: No official name, but at least a couple operators use the name "EcoStar" in advertising (I believe Blue Hawaiian started this)
EC145: No official name, but the predecessor BK117 was the "Starship" in some circles. Not sure if that was an official OEM name or someone's marketing department.
Bell 407 and 427 likewise have no official names.

Bell seems to be bringing back the name thing, at least for the 505 "Jet Ranger X". We'll see if it sticks.

AFAIC "Starship" was only one BK with special paintjob

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contri...jk/2715L-3.jpg

skadi

Whim:
I can't help much with nicknames for your list, but you may be interested to know some of the model numbers you list are actually marketing designations rather than the actual aircraft ID numbers. And some changed over time.

The EC130B4 and EC130T2 would be the "official" designation. The H130 is purely a catchy marketing number like the rest of the Airbus "Hs". The EC130B4/T2 are model variants of the original AS350 series in which the AS350C and D models had an official (TCDS) name of Astar and the AS350B series official name was Ecureuil.

EC145 and H145 are marketing numbers. Official models are MBB-BK-117 C-1 or 2 and MBB-BK-117 D-2 respectively.

AW109SP starts the "AW" designator with all previous 109s listed as A109, etc.

It was AB139 first until a certain serial number then AW139.

Bell usually used only one model number like 427 and 407.

Just a couple tidbits that fell out while racking my brain over nicknames.

Good luck.
W1

H130 - 'FatStar'.

I suspect that's not the 'official' one however!

In the 1970s the Agusta 109 was marketed as the Hirundo, or "Swallow".

wrench1 , Thank you so much! Your info really helps.

Gazelle: Chickenleg.

Enstrom ; "Piece of ****"

Lynx AH9 - Wheelie Bin
Wildcat AH1 - Sidrat (I can explain if required)

I’ve always loved that in the US they call AS350’s “A Stars”. Always seemed to me they were going out of their way to not really admit they’re sitting in a French helicopter.

Of course, they could just call them Squirrels like the rest of the planet, but then some other American would ask “why is it called a Squirrel?” to which they’d be forced to reply - it’s actually an AS350 Ecureuil; which is French for squirrel.

The US AS350 was re-engined with the LTS-101, hence the name change. But due to unreliability it soon became known as the Falling Star.

Further to the Gazelle mentioned earlier, I always heard it as the Whistling Chickenleg.

The Westland Sea King was often referred to as the King Dipper in its early days in the RN.

Yes John
I have a few hours in the Falling Star. If you didn't lose the Donk, you had no time on the Fcking thing. All our Astars now BA,B2 and BA+ with one old D mod,with the LTS engines, fine engine now.The old D, fastest ship out of all our 350,s.
Hows about "piece of crap" for the Notar.....I know got a few hours on the bloody things....:{:ugh:

The reason I remember for the different names and engines on the AS350 was because in order to import a foreign built helicopter into the US, it had to have a certain percentage of its parts manufactured in the US. And the easiest way was to use a US made engine. Hence the use of the LTS-101 in the Astar. Same for the USCG Dauphins I think.

Eventually the law went away and I can remember getting the 1st AS350B into the shop. We were intrigued the engine lasted so long.

As for the "falling star" name, it actually started with the sun gear issues in the main xsmn. However, after the fleet wide fix of the gear the 101s started to puke turbine disks regularly and the nickname came back with a vengeance.

I think between the all the 222s and 350Ds we operated then, there was a LTS-101 being changed every other day for awhile.

W1

The USCG HH-65 DOLPHIN is not a Dauphin in much the same way that a USCG HU-25 is not a Falcon 20 or 200. They are derivatives of the original type designs though, and share significant parts commonality. In both cases the USCG has been well served. The distinctive sound of the Dolphin can be heard in the vicinity of LAX to this day. I've always thought of it as "a herd of runaway hoover vacuum cleaners". I tend to prefer the sound (or lack thereof) of the later ABH fenestrons though. Glad they got that figured out.

Westhawk:

Maybe you can answer this. I don't speak Dauphin/Dolphin/365/155 but a number of years ago a friend ran across a number of parts that I identified as Aerospatiale in origin. Through the process we ran across a model number of SA366 or something.... was this the Aerospat ID for the HH-65?

I recall from other times there was no separate civil/military production lines for aircraft and once completed the model number was determined then between military and civilian use.

Thanks.
W1