8/31/2023 0 Comments Helio airplaneThe test aircraft, N461FM was acquired new by the JAARS operation back in 1972. Why employ a helicopter? Well, there are very few, if any, camera ships that can fly as slowly as a Courier when it has all of its slats and flaps deployed (around thirty mph) and stay in good close photographic formation. ![]() Perhaps, somewhat strangely you may feel, the camera ship provided for my use is a Robinson R-66 turbine helicopter. Both have served overseas?in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia?and Mike has been the demonstration pilot for the JAARS Helio Courier display, putting up a number of memorable performances at both Oshkosh and Sun’n Fun over the last fifteen years or so.īefore I am let loose in the Courier, there is the little matter of an air-to-air photo shoot to complete. Enter Chief Pilot Bruce Powell and Mike Maller, Director of the JAARS Missions at the Airport Programme. My introduction to the Courier came when I was invited to visit the facility at Waxhaw, North Carolina owned and operated by Christian mission air service provider JAARS inc (originally formed as Jungle Aviation and Radio Service in Peru in 1948). However, it may be surprising to learn that the Courier was not conceived for such nefarious purposes, being designed in 1949 by the Helio Aircraft Company of Pittsburg, Kansas expressly for safety, rather than STOL performance. ![]() Those who remember the 1990 classic Vietnam War movie Air America, directed by Roger Spottiswood and starring Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson, should quickly recall who the real stars of the film were: Fairchild C-123 Providers and Helio Couriers, the latter being played in the film by Pilatus PC-6 Porters.īased in Laos and operated by Air America?the clandestine company run by the CIA?the STOL fleet’s mission was the transport of illicit goods into and out of Southeast Asia. If it had claws, you could land it on a fence post! Originally designed with safety as the primary goal, the Helio H-295 Super Courier offers fabled STOL performance
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