Recently in Helicopters Category

British and French combat helicopters recently got together for a Joint Warrior exercise in the UK, which coincidentally also provided an excellent photo opportunity. Staged at West Freugh airfield in Scotland, the manoeuvres included using British Army Apaches and French army Gazelles to escort Royal Air Force Chinook transport helicopters carrying troops into a simulated combat zone, with the services taking turns in leading the offensive. Other participants shown in this 16 Air Assault Brigade-provided image are Lynx and Puma aircraft from the respective services.

Pictured aboard HMAS Choules earlier in April is this Australian Army Aviation Corps MRH-90  helicopter with, the picture caption reads, "lashings fitted and engines still running on the flight deck off the coast of Sydney, NSW". Australia has 15 of the NH Industries-built transport helicopters in its inventory with a further 31 on order according to Flightglobal's World Air Forces directory.

Lovely picture on our AirSpace gallery from user sunshine band of this US Army Boeing MH-47 Chinook in Afghanistan. Thank him also for the title above. According to Flightglobal's World Air Forces directory, the US Army has a fleet of 72 of the attack helicopters.

Eurocopter has embarked on a US tour of its in-development EC175 all-singing, all-dancing super medium helicopter ahead of Heli-Expo next week. So far it has racked up 29 orders for the type, but has yet to net Bristow Helicopters as a customer. As the aircraft - the first production example - is clearly in Bristow livery (this was taken shortly before the Bristow logos were applied), one wonders if it's just a matter of time. 

OK, it's actually from the Dutch ministry of defence website, but it's a great photograph of a Boeing CH-47 Chinook operated by the Netherlands Defence Helicopter Command. Pictured on exercise in January, this example was transporting troops from the army's 11th air mobile brigade to a landing zone. We particularly like the paint scheme, very green.

I like Russian Helicopters, no, really I do, but however good they are, they certainly aren't easy on the eye. OK, you can forgive the Mil Mi-28  - it's not meant to be pretty, it's just meant to say 'Go away. Now.' to whoever is at the pointy end - but the Kamov Ka-226 with its co-axial madness has an appearance that only its mother could love. Both images were sent to us by Russian Helicopters as part of a press release detailing what aircraft it's showing at Aero India this week. 

Nice picture from the UK's official Defence Images website showing an AgustaWestland Merlin helicopter from HMS Northumberland vomiting forth 100s of flares over the Indian Ocean. The Merlin is one of several Flights (in this case 05) provided by 829 Naval Air Squadron in Culdrose, Cornwall, to Type 23 frigates for operations around the globe.

This image from the US Air Force shows pararescuemen with the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron securing the area after being lowered from a Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk during a mission in Afghanistan earlier this month.

US Air Force 

Now this is nice. Posted on our AirSpace forum is this little gem from Croatian snapper Boran Pivčić. He writes: "By far the most impressive visitor to our little airfield - Lucko (LDZL), Zagreb, Croatia - is seen hover taxiing to the helicopter start gates for a night mission behind callsign Crazy 21. An impressive piece of kit - this extremely rare special operations machine and its sister ship 08-03775 - both part of the US Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment - are in town to participate in the annual Jackal Stone 12 NATO exercise."

Boran Pivčić on flightglobal/AirSpace