Unidentified Helicopter

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bigblockz8

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Nov 8, 2011
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Gore
This helicopter is getting to me. I cannot figure out what it is! It buzzed between the DC SFRA and FRZ over W00 this past friday. It looks like a Bell 47 at first but has three rotor blades and what looks like a jet engine. Then you assume SC300 but the open tail. Something is on it and I want to guess jet engine. It buzzed for two hours as everyone in the shop took guesses.


Something is written in white on the side. I want to think that it says experimental or restricted.

http://youtu.be/plSg-5FuDQM
 
Llama or gazelle. Guessi g but those look similar. Plenty in europe not so much over here.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Llama or gazelle. Guessi g but those look similar. Plenty in europe not so much over here.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I forgot all about those. Just so rare to see one here. Then the behavior made me wonder what type it was because it was there a while, had some sort of duty there, and was not LE or power line patrol. Narrows the guesswork down though thanks!
 
Based on the high mounted turbine and tail boom I am in the Alouette/Llama camp as well. The Llama is a offspring/refinement of the Alouette. Same basic machine.
 
A guy I knew when I lived in Colorado and was based at Front Range had an Alouette. He kept trying to sell it to me. :rolleyes:

It seemed like an neat machine though. Guess if you're going to have one, that's the place to have it.
 
Having spent some time in, around and even dangling under one, I can say definitively, without any doubt, that...




...it is spelled Lama not Llama :wink2:
 
It's definitely not a Gazelle since the tail is wrong. The Gazelle had an enclosed tail rotor. It's also the only turbine helicopter I have ridden in. A guy used to keep a RED one at Centennial but I don't know what ever happened to it or him.

avgazel_01.jpg
 
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