M.A.S.H. helicopter

J

John/az2

New member
I guess this is gun oriented only because it has to do with the Korean war...

I love watching the TV series M.A.S.H. and have thought to myself how fun it could be to fly one of those helicopters that they use to evacuate the wounded.

Does anyone know what kind they are and if they are available to puchase?

(it would be a long range goal! :D)
 
C

C.R.Sam

New member
Or also designated HTL by Navy. Made by Bell.

They turn up once in a while. They are a massive money pit. Very expensive parts that don't last very long but at least they are hard to find.

I have flown em, both with skids and with floats. Not much payload or range but, like anything that flys, fun.

Great grandaddy of the Bell ranger and Huey series.

Sam.
 
M

Mike Irwin

Staff
Not known for their power, either, or their stellar flight characteristics.

One of the most successful of the piston engine helicopters, though.
 
L

loknload

New member
M*A*S*H* Helicopter

There is a guy that lives not to far from me who was flying one of those out of his back yard. Had his own helipad and the neighbors just shot him down. He can no longer fly out of his backyard. The neighbors cited the noise as being a problem, The guy was only flying in and out twice a day and there were no night flights.
They did have a picture of it in the local paper and it was pretty neat ;)
Wasn't there another TV series that used one of those? Something called the Whirlybirds or something?
 
M

Monkeyleg

New member
Oliver North's "War Stories" show (not to be confused with Geraldo's "War Zone") did a piece on the origins of the helicopter for med evac. If I recall correctly, it was a medic named Jack Goetzinger who really got the air ambulance program going in Korea.

Ollie's shows are repeated frequently, so you might be able to catch that episode. It was really fascinating.
 
B

bruels

New member
Helicopters didn't really become effective load hauling machines until the development of the turbo-shaft gas turbine engine. Prior to that, the most one could hope for in a reciprocating piston engine was one horsepower per pound of engine weight.
 
C

C.R.Sam

New member
And, thanks to the pre turbine lack of power, the early ones managed to self destruct with amazing regularity. Very highly loaded parts had to be made critically light so it would get off the ground. Parts life for some componants only a couple hundred hours if nothing went wrong.

Sam
 
A

Azrael256

New member
Wait, loknload, lemme get this straight... The neighbors complained about the noise from a small piston-engine helicopter? I will bet money (and I don't bet) that at least one of the neighbors has a kid who drives around in a camaro/mustang/jeep/explorer/rice rocket that has either a glass-pack, one of those annoying trash-can mufflers, or no muffler at all. My only complaint would be if he didn't take me for a ride!
 
J

Jeff, CA

Guest
I thought it was a Bell 47.

There's an AD (Airworthiness Directive - like a recall, except the owner, rather than the manufacturer, is responsible for correcting the defect) out right now regarding the rotors. There are no replacement parts available, so they're pretty much grounded.
 
M

M1911

New member
Azrael:

In all due fairness to the neighbors, helicopters are loud. Really loud.

And yes, Bell 47s are pretty much done.

Owning your own helicopter is pretty much in the "if you have to ask, you can't afford it" territory. Robinson R22s are pretty much the cheapest, but you better make sure you don't unload the blades, or you'll cut off the tail -- at that point, the R22 does it's best lawn dart imitation. And you'll want a real good mechanic. Lots of moving parts.

M1911
 
C

C.R.Sam

New member
Lost the tail rotor on a HO4S. Made for a very interesting day. No notable injuries tho so could have and should have been a lot worse.:)

Sam
 
B

Borf

New member
Jeff, CA -

If mind serves, Bell 47G is closest civilian variant to H-13 - very similar bird. They've got one in the ticket lobby of the Buffalo Airport you can play with real close :) (about 20 minutes from Bell Aerospace in Niagara Falls)...

Figure ~$200 an hour operating costs. Shooting is cheap compared to any flying thingamajig :D
 
4

45King

New member
loknload wrote:
Wasn't there another TV series that used one of those? Something called the Whirlybirds or something?
Click to expand...

Thanks for jarring loose another good TV memory. IIRC, it was callyed Whirlybird, and it centered around two airborne Cali highway patrolmen using one of the little Bells.

My dad once looked into purchasing a 'copter (Alloutte,) but was put off not only by the high purchase price, but the operating and maintenance expenses. He decided to stick with fixed wings, and got rid of the vintage '55 Cessna 310 (damn!) then flirted with a Piper Aztec for a while, considered a Mitsubishi MU2, and finally wound up with a Cessna 421 Golden Eagle. I still want that 310 so badly, I can practically taste it (I can still smell it when I think about it.)
 
L

loknload

New member
Azrael256, C.R.Sam, Yep that's what they got him on "Noise" Went before the local zoning board and he plans on appealing it.
Yes you guys are absolutely right, Every neighborhood has them :rolleyes: but that's okay :rolleyes:
Those morons cruise down the back road and vibrate the windows in my house, but that's okay :confused:
I'm sure that this guy was doing everything possible to be neighborly about it and I'm sure with the money that he has invested he wasn't being stoopid with it ;)
These same idiots put the kybosh to a model airplane flying field some time ago. The model plane flyers were there first and suburbia built up around them. They got it for the "Noise" also :rolleyes:
Maybe he should load up two GE mini guns on that thing and clean out the neighborhood :D
 
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