Airwolf

When i was a kid i used to love Airwolf watched it on ITV from the pilot onwards, although now i am all grown up it is still fun but not as much as you now have to poke holes in things like where is all the fuel and the maverick is 6 ft long and it could carry 10 of them etc

But who care it is still a thousand times better than any of the competition, also in the states their is a guy who is building airwolf for airshows out of a bell 230 fuselage i will try to find the link.

For more information and some great pics and info have a look at the below link

http://news.airwolf.tv/

curlyboy

I think the guy who stared in it went on to do the more straight forward variety of porn, no choppers involved,well at least not the rotary type.

I haven’t heard that, but he (Jan Michael-Vincent) did have a near fatal motorcycle crash and recently one of the “entertainment news” TV shows did an interview with him and he’d fallen off the wagon and is having or had troubles with drink. Rather sad.
He had a pretty good career, “Airwolf” was supposed to be his “comeback”, but they day he was hard to work with and an hard partier.

However his costar, Ernest Borgnine, is alive and well at 92. Saw a lengthy interview with him the other day on a classic film channel, he’s in great shape for his age. I don’t think he’s aged in my lifetime.

Ummmm helicopter porn…

I think the guy who stared in it went on to do the more straight forward variety of porn, no choppers involved,well at least not the rotary type.

its now set as my text tone 🙁 brainwashing me again daz

This is what we had as young lads…i used to love it!!!
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YUsGspDDfr0&feature=related

As I said in post 15, Whirlybirds is still be best helicopter show ever.
Last time I saw it on broadcast TV (as opposed to the few episodes I have on video and DVD) was on the BBC in 1988-9 as part of a Sunday moring kids show. Good stories (better than I expected) a bit of adventure, and lovely “choppa, choppa” soundtrack.
Good fun from the days kids were still allowed to be kids.

A few years later I met the historian for the Helicopter Association International trade/operators group in DC.
On his wall he had an original Whirlybirds costume uniform patch.
I begged him to have some remade (actually I threatened to steal it if he didn’t :D) .
Well he did, and here is one… and a copy of the decal they had on the bubble of their 47s. A very nice Canadian made and sent me a set for any models I might make. Or if I ever get a real one…I’m m sometimes temped to sell the cars, cash in some savings and buy one and park it out back.

If you surf ebay long enough, you can find the two comic books and the coloring book from the series.
I even found a rare premium that was supposedly offered by a local sponsor in the Los Angeles area…a crude plastic 47 model (more like a toy) with a Whirlybirds decal on it.
And, there was a UK produced Whirlybirds board game…the one item I don’t have.
And as I’ve mentioned in a past post, the series got me hooked on helicopter flying to the extent I learned to fly in a vintage 47G. I never knew TV watching could get so expensive.

This is what we had as young lads…i used to love it!!!
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=YUsGspDDfr0&feature=related

I used to watch Airwolf when it was shown on ITV (or London Weekend Television, LWT, as it was known back then!), but then it got moved to Bravo, so couldnt watch it anymore!

However, I am now the proud owner of three seasons worth of Airwolf on DVD, so now I can watch it whenever I want!:D

For all those fans, here is a great set of videos on YouTube of footage from Airwolf, put to the ‘Hooked On Classics’ music…great stuff!:D

Part 1 – http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=HnFs125tooI
Part 2 – http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Bde-JAJUqFY&feature=related
Part 3 – http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QxUPvU8xp4Q&feature=related
Part 4 – http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=NLHfMKFFfo8&feature=related

Also, I am really sad, if I have the Airwolf theme tune on my iPod?

Halson’s Helicopter Museum of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, apparently.

http://projects.airwolf.tv/ssmockup/about.html

wow nice link, thanks very muchly !!

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Ummmm helicopter porn…
I have some episodes on DVD – more selections from various series than a specific series.

The Bell 222 is a beautiful machine….even in its Airwolf guise.
In 1984 I was visiting LA. On on a hunch I went to Van Nuys airport to the Bell Helicopter distributor. Parked out on the ramp was Airwolf it was in for maintenance from its owner, Jetcopters, which was also based on the field. One Bell employee had a car with the personal numberplate “Bell222”.
I did take away some neat sales brochures for the 222 and a options list with pricing.

I sweet talked them into letting me out on the locked ramp and took a few shots. The dark paint and overcast sky made for less than great shots, but somewhere I have a 9 by 11 print (still have the large format negative), but the framed poster I had printed of it hangs in my garage…

Still, given a choice, I’d rather watch Whirlybirds….
The Bell 47…now that’s a helicopter!

Sadly, Airwolf never featured a 47. The only vintage helicopter I recall seeing was a Garrett turbine conversion of a S-55.

Would love to see those pics sometime. I used to watch Airwolf avidly as a youngster

The S55 was in the episode Day of the Jackal and guest starred a very young Shannen Doherty from ‘Charmed’ and ‘Beverly Hills 90210’ Shannen was aslo nominated for a best actress award by the Young Artist Foundation

Martin

Last week two F4U Corsairs were taking on some Hughes 500’s,

Funnily enough, I’ve just watched that episode! :p

My god i’d forgotton how good Airwolf was ! 🙂

I found this info about Blue Thunder…

A super-duper police helicopter equipped with advanced sensors, long-range microphones, a forward-mounted six-barrel electric canon and a “whisper mode” that allowed the vehicle to fly virtually silently, Blue Thunder was designed to be the ultimate in aerial law enforcement. In reality, the craft was a modified French Gazelle (Aerospatiale) helicopter tricked out with a dozen or more prop gimmicks to give it that “high tech” look. The chopper later starred in the short-lived “Blue Thunder” TV series (1984).

Halson’s Helicopter Museum of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, apparently.

http://projects.airwolf.tv/ssmockup/about.html

The actual Airwolf airframe reverted back to original Bell 222 spec and was operated as an air ambulance in Germany – sadly crashed in a storm, killing all on board.
A sad way to go for an iconic machine – the only representation these days is an accurate replica (which I believe was for sale not so long ago).

Universal Studios kept the glassfibre add-ons left over when the airframe was brought back to standard.
I believe they were for sale in Trade-A-Plane at one time for about $5000.
The shots of the side guns deploying and missile launcher extending were done in the studio with mockups or models.
Notice, you never see them deploy on the flying aircraft…just as a close-up.

When the side guns and launcher were hung on the actual aircraft, it was only legally flyable away from populated areas per FAA directive…or so I was told.

The replica was built, IIRC, for a helicopter museum in the Smokey Mountain region of Tennesee…which is a popular tourist area for people on the east coast and midwest.
The museum failed so that’s why the airframe became available.
I’d like to know its current location.
Whether it used the actual pieces from the original aircraft or copies of them I don’t know.

I was told by a Bell test pilot that the cockpit studio set was an actual item from a retired prototype or engineering mockup.

I was bored today, so dug up some YouTube vids of R/C Airwolf models – here are a couple of the better ones!

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=aVagmBvFLig

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=j58-xr_7550

(There is a vid, somewhere, of an R/C model complete with retractable guns!! Will have to find it)

I’m a bonafide warbird fan (got the ParkZone Spitfire under the bed, waiting for better weather) but I really wouldn’t mind having one of these beasts down the park! :diablo:

The actual Airwolf airframe reverted back to original Bell 222 spec and was operated as an air ambulance in Germany – sadly crashed in a storm, killing all on board.

A sad way to go for an iconic machine – the only representation these days is an accurate replica (which I believe was for sale not so long ago).

The Bell 222 is a beautiful machine….even in its Airwolf guise.
In 1984 I was visiting LA. On on a hunch I went to Van Nuys airport to the Bell Helicopter distributor. Parked out on the ramp was Airwolf it was in for maintenance from its owner, Jetcopters, which was also based on the field. One Bell employee had a car with the personal numberplate “Bell222”.
I did take away some neat sales brochures for the 222 and a options list with pricing.

I sweet talked them into letting me out on the locked ramp and took a few shots. The dark paint and overcast sky made for less than great shots, but somewhere I have a 9 by 11 print (still have the large format negative), but the framed poster I had printed of it hangs in my garage…

Still, given a choice, I’d rather watch Whirlybirds….
The Bell 47…now that’s a helicopter!

Sadly, Airwolf never featured a 47. The only vintage helicopter I recall seeing was a Garrett turbine conversion of a S-55.

Aaaaaaaaaaah Airwolf, so much better than Street Hawk.

And even as a little’un I had a soft spot for Jan Michael Vincent. now i just go wobbly for the bird.

I watched Airwolf way back then…..but it hasn’t aged well and I’ve grown up (a bit)…..so I think I’d rather watch Ernest Borgnine in ‘The Wild Bunch’…

…still like the Airwolf theme music though…..enjoy! 🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EhD_3uV0m4&feature=related