The Little World

I often used to watch a television program in the 50’s and 60’s called ” Whirlybirds “.

It featured adventures and rescues centred around two pilots and a Bell 47 helicopter – the US Army Sioux. I realise now that Hollywood made the 47 do a lot more than ever it could. It is a pity they did not choose a Sikorsky Chocktaw as their vehicle – a lot more realistic performance.

It was capable of carrying 6-10 Marines fully equipped and could drop or pick up from very small fields. Precise taxiing on the wheels was possible – there was no need to hover to move forward on the ground. There was a cargo hook and winch underneath and a lot of them also featured a separate winch out the starboard side near the cargo door. I suspect a number of units mounted a machine gun out there as well.

The US Navy and USAF also mounted pontoons out on the wheel legs for maritime rescue. In this Italeri kit I was surprised to see that the US Coast Guard version was wheeled – it would seem more logical to let them land on the waters they patrol.

Well, design apart, the Italeri kit is a very rewarding build.I particularly like helicopters that allow me to remove the rotors for transport and storage. The real things let the operators fold the blades back along the boom, and I see that a number of museums who display this type of aircraft take the opportunity to do just that to save floor space.