Airwolf (helicopter)

Airwolf (fictional info)
Airwolf, a modified Bell 222
Role	Disguised military helicopter
Manufacturer	"The Firm"
Designer	Dr. Charles Henry Moffet
First flight	1983
Primary user	Stringfellow Hawke
Number built	1
Unit cost	US$5 million (1984 price)
Developed from	Bell 222

Airwolf is the helicopter from the 1980s American eponymous television series. Its fictional features included stratospheric ceiling, stealth noise signature, a wide range of weapons and even supersonic speed. Airwolf was in fact a conventional Bell 222 helicopter modified by attaching some film props.

The flying Airwolf was derived from a Bell 222, a twin-turboshaft helicopter produced for the civilian market and typically employed for corporate, emergency medical or utility transport missions, with seating for up to 10, including the pilot.

The airframe used for Airwolf was serial number 47085 (registration number N3176S), of the initial production version, sometimes unofficially called a Bell 222A. During filming of the series the helicopter was owned by JetCopters Inc. in Van Nuys, California.

After the show was canceled, the modifications were removed (now owned by a private collector) from the actual helicopter. It was repainted and eventually sold to the German helicopter charter company, Hubschrauber-Sonder-Dienst (aka HSD Luftrettung and Blue Helicopter Alliance), and given the registration number D-HHSD. While operating as an air ambulance the helicopter crashed in fog on June 6, 1992, killing all three of its occupants.

A new, full-size replica of the Airwolf helicopter was created by Steven W. Stull for display in the short-lived Helicopter Headquarters museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee that opened in August 2006, using a non-flying Bell 222 with molds taken directly from the originals used in the show. The museum was unsuccessful, and offered the replica for sale through eBay. The replica was housed between 2007-2015 in the Tennessee Museum of Aviation in Sevierville, Tennessee. It has since been sold to a private collector in California, having been modified at West Coast Customs during late 2015. The replica is now on top of a $250 million mansion in Bel Air, CA, USA.

Airwolf was painted "Phantom Gray Metallic" (DuPont Imron 5031X) on top, and a custom pearl-gray (almost white) on the bottom, in a countershaded pattern. The craft was also fitted with various prop modifications, such as "turbo jet" engines and intakes, an in-air refueling nozzle and blister cowling on the nose, retractable chain guns at the wingtips, and a retractable rocket launcher, known as the "ADF Pod" (ADF standing for All Directional Firing, as the pod could rotate 180 degrees to fire at targets at the sides - 90 degrees to the left, forward, or 90 degrees to the right) on its belly.