Amercom ACHY37 French Army Aerospatiale Alouette II Utility Helicopter - 1972 (1:72 Scale)
"Obsolete weapons do not deter."
- British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
The Arospatiale Alouette II ("Lark") is a light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Arospatiale, both of France. The Alouette II was the first production helicopter to use a gas turbine engine instead of the conventional heavier piston powerplant.
The Alouette II was mostly used for military purposes in observation, photography, air-sea rescue, liaison and training, but it has also carried anti-tank missiles and homing torpedoes. As a civilian helicopter it was used for casualty evacuation (with two external stretcher panniers), crop-spraying and as a flying crane (with a 500 kg external under-slung load).
Although Sud-Est's previous helicopter design, the SE 3120 Alouette, broke helicopter speed and distance records in July 1953, it was too complex an aircraft to market successfully. With the records falling, the French government started showing interest, but with their financial backing, the state gave an ultimatum that within two years a helicopter had to be in production, otherwise all rotary wing activities would cease. SNCASE came up with seven turbo-engine helicopter designs: X.310A - X.310G. Earlier Joseph Szydlowski, the founder of Turbomca, had successfully managed to develop the Artouste, a 260 hp (190 kW) single shaft turbine engine derived from his Ordon turbine. The X.310G design was chosen and together with the Artouste engine was fast-tracked towards production as the SE 3130 Alouette II.
The SE 3130 first flew on March 12th, 1955, and within three months on June 6th a pre-production Alouette II flown by Jean Boulet set a new helicopter altitude record of 8,209 m (26,926 ft). On June 13th, 1958, one SE 3130, again flown by Boulet, re-took the record, reaching a height of 10,984 m (36,027 ft).
Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a French Civil Security Aerospatiale Alouette III SA-316B utility helicopter.
Now in stock!
Dimensions:
Rotorspan: 8-inches
Release Date: April 2014