Flying a 60 year old Bell 47 Helicopter. Walkaround, start up, take off & landing.
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- čas přidán 27. 10. 2022
- The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use on 8 March 1946.[1][2] The first civilian delivery was made on 31 December 1946 to Helicopter Air Transport.[3] More than 5,600 Bell 47s were produced, including those under license by Agusta in Italy, Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Japan, and Westland Aircraft in the United Kingdom.
Records
13 May 1949, a Bell 47 set an altitude record of 18,550 feet (5,650 m).[11]
21 September 1950, first helicopter to fly over the Alps.[11]
17 September 1952, Bell pilot Elton J. Smith set a world distance record for piston helicopters of 1,217 miles (1,959 km) by flying nonstop from Hurst, Texas, to Buffalo, New York.[11] As of 2018, this record still stands.[12]
#bell47 #helicopter #pilotlife - Auta a dopravní prostředky
I worked at a flight school in Texas for a few years. My boss had very high work standards as you should in the aviation industry. We had 4 bell 47s an R44 and an R66. I was learning these helicopters inside and out. The Bell 47g2 flies like a Cadillac. I was once working in the hangar and my boss said did you hear that? I said no (because I was standing next to an ac) he said it sounded like a plane crash. The bell was already down at the helipad and he said let’s go see. We hopped in and this man did the fastest run up I’ve ever seen in my life! There was indeed a crashed plane. He took off from halfway down the runway. Couldn’t get enough airspeed to climb out and stalled, landed in the trees. If I remember right he limped away with just a broken leg or something. Another thing about the bell 47 is that it has an assload of grease points. Greased every fifty flight hours. And being as we were a flight school flying them every day that particular maintenance job came around often. You’d grease it and wipe off all the excess grease and then you do your first flight and it never fails to sling grease all over itself in places you wouldn’t believe. And it would get all over the top of the bubble. Constantly wiping them down. Washing them every day. I used to think they were the ugliest things but after having worked on them and learned how simple they are you grow a certain appreciation.
Spent a lot of time in these as mechanic, really a nice bird. 67Q20 MOS at Ft Eustis, Va training in the 60's called the OH 13 in the Army
Most iconic chopper you know what it is as soon as you see one and yes iremember the show M*A*S*H we watched it every week and i own every season on DVD.
Spent many hours flying the bell47.. winters in Canada were especially interesting with wet wooden rotors . Kick in the butt every rotation
Pretty awesome little birds. Did they start easy in the cold?
To all the troops that served the Korean War. Thank you for your service! (salutes). Thanks for the video too. I'm The Corean Mage. I honestly wouldn't be here today in the USA if it wasn't for the US army and their allies.
The Bell 47 is a good old helicopter. I have more hours in them than many. The G3B1 and the G3B2 are good for flying in higher altitudes. I prefer the G2A1 because I didn’t have mountains greater than 6000 feet where I did most of my flying. The utility of the old 47 is what is so remarkable. I owned an overhaul facility and we specialized in the 47. We would build them for spraying crops and sightseeing/ photography, but most were for spotting tuna off shore. They lived on top of the tuna seiners and had a mechanic and pilot. I did that for six months and said that was enough of that nonsense. Anyway I did enjoy watching another 47 flying again.
There was a show in the 60’s called Whirlybirds, which featured a Bell 47, among others. When I was about 10 a hotel near my house, Northpark Inn in Dallas, had a helipad where a 47 was often parked. I loved riding my bike up there to peer into the cockpit and study the engine and tail boom. What an awesome machine.
i remember that show 😀
I remember that show from when I was a kid! All I remember about it was that the men flying the helicopters were forest rangers or something similar, but the aircraft were definitely Bell 47's. While I was watching this video, I had the theme music from M.A.S.H. playing in my head - that was another TV show where the Bell 47 was a co-star.
Best part of the Bell 47 is that you kinda just sit there and do nothing lol. It’s controls, maybe with a touch of friction, are so stable. One of my instructors had me fly it with only my left hand, didn’t even touch the pedals.
I was amazed how little input the pilot put in to control it. Such a cool little bird.
@@SirDrifto first time I used to climb in one helicopter was in a bell 47 ! Fabulous experience ! The pilot was old and was a second war world veteran
So what about the cyclic..must have two hands on one arm..ha..
..until auto rotation practice. Then things are much different in today’s pedigree
As a kid in the 1980s I remember some of the police departments in southern California using these for their air support. You never forget those massive windows and the sound of that machine. So cool.
No other aircraft has that beautiful sound. You know from startup what it is. Thank you for letting us listen to this beauty.
Either than pilot is extremely skilled or that helicopter design is very stable. Most videos of helicopters hovering have a wobble.
When I was a kid back in the 70s in south Florida the Broward county sheriffs dept used these to search for the bad guys. They had that unmistakable sound and when I would hear it I always went outside to watch them. They had bright spot lights on them for night searches. Miss seeing these things.
When I was a young man living in a desert community, the Los Angeles county sheriff’s department used this helicopter to patrol the large open deserts. I know this helicopter well. They would chase me down and land when I was riding my dirt bike and usually gave me a warning. They have a very distinctive sound. LASD was still using this helicopter in the late 80’s. I miss seeing it flying/patrolling my home town. Thank you for sharing such a cool video.
The Bell47 and the similar Hiller... The mainstay of the deer business in New Zealand - low over the mountains, the ice crystals twinkling like diamonds in the early dawn...the bubble was exceptional, albeit a bugger to keep clean... A great memory for an old bloke.
man that visibility is just insane.
One of Indonesia legendary pilot name Yum Soemarsono. Bell 47 is one of his favorite helicopter. He was lost his left arm in an accident, so to control throtle and collective,he made a "bionic arm" to replace his left arm.
I got my Commercial Helicopter license 40 years ago in a Bell 47G 5A . I love that helicopter. Yes it’s underpowered compared to today’s turbine helos,but the visibility is by far the best of any helo.
The OH-13 was my Army flight school primary trainer. Learned lessons in them that kept me alive later flying Cobra's in the 'Nam. They were Korean war vintage only about 20 years old, but looked twice that.
I learned on the OH 23 at Ft. Wolters. Talk about a slow to respond helicopter. Thankful you made it back to the world.
That's the cleanest helicopter I have ever seen!!! Kudos to the pilot/maintainer, so smooth, clearly treated with full respect!
I have always loved these helicopter since I saw MASH as a kid.
Had a fly in a 47.
Just don't look behind you at the rotor shaft assembly.
It flexes disturbingly, obviously well engineered though
Visibility is superb.
It's like driving an old classic car.❤
In the 1970s I was lucky enough to get a flight in a British Army version of this which we called the Westland Sioux A.H.1. A distinctive memory of this aircraft was a line of yellow electrical tape stretched right across the bubble which the pilots used as an artificial horizon. I also had a very smooth and awesome flight
Known as a Sioux in the UK.. first aircraft I ever flew in! Brilliant!
Got a few hours in these, in combat and civilian life many years a go. Great memories thanks....
Nice video of the Bell 47 at Jeffco (yes, I know it is Rocky Mountain Metropolitan), but to me it will always be JEFFCO!! All the hours and flights to/from there in airplanes and helicopters was quite an experience I will never forget. There were 40 knot crosswinds, ice on runways, high D.A. and the ATC was always great. My Bell-47 time was in the D1, G5 AG, B1 and B2, TH-13T (both as Student and Instrument Instructor). Great little birds that served many different roles. Thanks BELL, you put out a great product.
I have 40 hours in helicopter from the same era, a Hiller 12-E. Stanley Hiller designed his first flyable helicopter at 17.
That helicopter is the same age as I am.
I have a thing for the 47 because when I was a kid in the 70's that's what the local police used as their helicopter plus I've taken a few rides in the 47, the visibility is unreal.
After watching the police fly over many times I was thrilled when one day they landed in a field at the High School behind our house.
They were there for a charity pancake breakfast and we were all allowed to check out the chopper up close.
Years ago Warbird Adventures in Kissimmee Florida had two G47s. I had a lesson and got to take a brief flight at the controls. DVD shot from behind. It was an amazing aircraft and the experience of a lifetime. Thom was a great pilot and gave me exactly what I needed to do my test flight.
Love the way the engine sounds when a bell 47 starts and then the blades start
turning. Great video! Thanks!
We had one straight piped for a while and it sounded SOOOO good. The FAA came by and told us we had to have baffles in the exhaust 😢
I had a '44 Army ambulance just like the one at 1:12. Fun vehicle. I also got my commercial helo certificate in the Bell 47. Good memories.
I received my helicopter license in 97 in a UH12c Hiller and later on did my biennials in a D model 47. Both had a Franklin engine and wooden blades. Depending on humidity they would shake like hell. Both machines used a rod link from the collective to the carburetor to act as a sort of correlater with minimal success. Throttle control was a constant, much like a dirt bike and if you dipped on the low side of your rotor speed you had to work to get it back. I remember flying my first Jet Ranger, I thought I was in a magic elevator lol. Today all the rotor speed correlation is performed by the computer. Collective and throttle are set and locked and forgotten about most of the flight. Most guys that learned in R22s had great difficulty mastering the throttle on these older machines.
In 1969 I flew this in Army flivht shcool for instrument training at Ft. RUCKER. Then later got my helicopter instructors rating in Fl. In one just like this one. Was a great helicopter.
The camera makes it lock huge. In reality it’s tiny bubble. .. nice piece. I’ll get me one some day.
My first encounter with 47s was in a TV programme called Whirlybirds, aired over here in the UK in the 1970s.
Beautiful bit of kit and that’s the sound you no longer get from modern choppers. You are one lucky man riding in that 👍 Great vid cheers Quinny.
Yep, it was Whirlybirds that started my appreciation of the 47 too.
Love the -47. Similar in some respects to the Lama, at least in appearance. True utilitarian workhorse!
It sure is 🤙
what a cute little birdy🐦
Whirlybirds program actually ran in the mid-late 50's. Tan until early 60's. Watched by it Saturday mornings with favorite cartoons.
When I went to AME school in the 80s, we had a TXed one in the hangar. Obviously, being a huge fan of MASH, I was all over it for the 16 months I was there. A while after I got into the industry, an incident with one of them ended the career of a really good friend, but that's the nature of aviation work....and I changed careers.
If it wasn't for the Robinson (like the R-44 at 7:50 lol), 47s would still be working today.
For a good read, check out Helicopters: the British Columbia Story. The idea of flying piston helicopters hot and high in the mountains was pioneered in BC by the likes of Alf Stringer, Barney Bent, and Carl Agar (now CHC). They would take off from pads on cliff sides where they would "hop" the machines to the edge of the pad, launch it off the edge and build up enough rotor speed to fly on the way down the cliff.
Balls.
Of.
Steel.
I'd gladly get into the 60yo Bell 47, I wouldn't go anywhere near a Robinson. I'm sure if Bell decided to put the type 47 back into production, it would be a winner for sales.
The Bell 47 Are my favorite helicopters that I’ve flown in. The view is unbelievable and like most helicopters the flight speed is slow enough to really be able to see things on the ground.
Such a unique engine and rotor sound. Great video. Thanks heaps mate for sharing!!
Never been able to get into a helo after having a Bell 47 crash at the end of our street after the tail rotor failed. Pilot was an American Airlines Captain. Very nice video and looks like an extremely well taken care of example.
"One hour done passed. Done watched two episodes of MASH". I bet no one knows where that's from
Congratulations to the pilot, he is so gentle on takeoff.. I am really impressed how precious the experience is 😍
Yeah, Eric, that guy's smooth as glass.
Got my rating in a 47D1, Franklin engine, wood rotor blades. Very capable at doing good auto rotations. Great fun.
Very cool
In flight school, we learned instrument flying in a TH13T, the military designation of the 47. Very stable and forgiving after learning the basics in TH55s and OH23s.
Very cool
TH13T had a supercharger which gave more power. I don't think the 47G does. I flew both, but it's been a while.
Awesome helicopter 🚁❤️
There plenty of other helicopter designs that have a lot of great features be it capacity, avionics and load capability but, the Bell 47 is so classic and all you need to just enjoy the country side while flying. And yes, it looks to be so smooth.
I likewise noticed how smooth this aircraft is, no wonder it’s a gem of engineering
Even if it is the result of crossbreeding a goldfish bowl and Meccano set. Smashing little chopper to fly in.
@@mothmagic1my first travel on helicopter was in a bell 47 like this one 😊! Fabulous helicopter ! It was 30 years ago 😊
Anybody remember 'Whirlybirds' back in the early 60s with Chuck Martin and 'P.T' Moore? First time I saw 47G.
Neat, thanks for the video! I always liked the looks of the Bell 47, probably because it was in MASH. When I first saw the field elevation on the altimeter in the 47, I thought, look! That's exactly the elevation of KBJC. Then once you were airborne and I saw the runway number and other surroundings, it became obvious where you were.
It's just a plain cool helicopter 🚁
I think their next design was the Jet Ranger, what a cool design also. It seems to me Jet Rangers are getting scarce now too. Thanks for sharing that experience.
🙏👍I love old planes and helicopters.
bro MASH I recognized it instantly, it was always on in the 90s wow man.
It was amazing, thank you for sharing the experience with all of us
Glad you enjoyed it!
Did my Commercial rating on 47-G3 many decades ago. Frankly no more enjoyable and somewhat challenging helicopter to fly. My IP used to say “if you can fly this you can fly any helicopter”. He was right.
Still have a very soft spot for the B-47.
That’s so cool
Enjoyed!
I got to ride in a 47 from a fellow giving rides from Denver City Park in 1955. It seemed like a spaceship at the time. A few years later a Cessna 310 crashed in a snowfield near the peaks west of Denver with everyone surviving. They were ferried out in a Bell 47 owned, I believe, by Colorado Power. Not too many helicopters around in those days.
When I went to the Kimberley region in WA Australia in the early ‘80 these were the helicopter of choice for mustering, there was even one up there with an Allison 250 (turbine) Soley Conversion which I was lucky enough to go for a run in
Prety cool video love it !
Now that folks is how you fly a helicopter - look at how little control inputs the pilot was making. So smooth and delicate on the cyclic, collective and pedals, just how it should be.
With smooth control inputs you ‘think’ a helicopter around a corner, or climbing and descending, and it will respond. No over controlling needed 😊
My first 100 hours of rotary time were on the 47, such a great machine. Flat out at about 75 knots, cruise at 65 and climb at 45, most of the time the road traffic moves faster!
With a six cylinder vertically mounted Lycoming screaming away just inches behind you, operating permanently at only 100rpm below redline.
Throttle control fully manual, or with a little help from a very rudimentary correlator, eventually the rpm gauge becomes superfluous and one learned to keep the revs in the green by ear alone! Happy days 👍
Nice Video!!!
What an absolute lovely collection of minimal.
Un crack el piloto!!! Total dominio del helicóptero, ,...
I use to watch Whirlybirds and then when I went back to school I would daydream about Chuck and Pt.
Now that's a proper piston-engine helicopter. Not that other very popular thingy that seems like it came straight from Disney comics.
Great sound
Pretty cool!
friggin awesome!
What a beauty.
BELLISSIMO!
Love these the style and simplicity is awsome. Not a pilot but sure would love to learn to fly one. Sense I was a kid and watched mash always wanted to ride in one.
They’re awesome helicopters
a classic sound!
such a unmistakeable sound
One of my favorite ships. Flown a few times in this one, but haven't flown it as PIC.
57 years ago age 12 that summer hustled tickets sales upon tourist at $5 dollar for a 15 minute or so flight over and around the St Lawrence Seaway locks, two Dams and park up in Massena New York "restrooms stalls at the locks were 10 cents then if you wouldn't crawl under for free to use them Ha" . Got to fly back and forth every day that summer to Dwight D. Eisenhower locks parking lot from Massena Airport where it stayed nights. Jack ? and Ben Kent came from Buffalo N.Y. that flew this Bell 47 both were great guys. Ben while also up in it one time going back to the airport for the day took time to show me some of what this Bell 47 could do by performing one thing he called a torque turn. This was a war time escape move which he took it up higher than any other time with me then brought to level gaining forward speed faster than usual then he drew back the stick until it lifted the nose straight up and you felt being onto your back to the ground then what seemed as a moment of stall it happens she just torques over nose and your looking straight forward to the ground and then it goes into this several turn cork screw all while dropping hundreds of feet in seconds and leveling to ground before I knew it we were only just a few hundred feet above the ground and perfectly level again , wow ! He also did level slip sliding in all different directions just 10-15 feet over this tall hay field of grass with out even having to direct the nose into the direction even backwards as well doing the nose pointing. Seeing that grass bend down waving below us was so cool. Both these men flew these Bell 47 in the war but did not talk about the war to me other than to say they were. I say R.I.P. these two great men and will always be ever so grateful for some of the best ever memories I be blessed than as a kid.
Great video. Thanks. But I have to say, as someone with Bell 47G-3B time and having restored/flown an H-12C (true M*A*S*H ship), these are two totally different aircraft. They do look related. One being the "great grandpa" of the other. But that's about it. For starters, the 120hp difference is huge!! Of the vintage ships. I'd say the Bell 47 should be on every fling-wing jockey's list of must fly ships. Along with my primary trainer, the H12.
In the 60s during the Holiday season Santa Claus would fly into our small town with his pilot and a Bell 47. They'd land at a big roped off grass area by the shopping center. And man to use kids back then it was a big deal. Every kid and parents in town was out for it. All ya got was a small candy cane. Later I figured one big fat Santa, 500 candy canes and fuel might be pushing the useful load on a 47. Lol
Hi good aftrnoon greetings and have a good time,,, thanks of share your video, amazing to see near the Unit of Power the chasis, the cabin, the panel of control,,, greetings and congrautlations,,, your friend Oscar de Playa del Carmen Q R México.
Very nice. Do know if the Bell 47 helicopter was the model helicopter used in the TV series "The Whirlybirds"?
Very good. It sure was!
@@SirDrifto Thank you much. When I was a child, I couldn't wait for Saturdays so that I could watch the Whirlybirds.
@@davidknight6981 G, G-2, & J models used in "The Whirlybirds".
I grew up watching “Whirlybirds “.
I have never flown in the bell 47, but one of those r44 ravens in background I have.
I flew in one once and did all the basic manoeuvres while lost in the moment. A week later it was grounded because of main rotor concerns and 25 years later has never moved from its hanger. I'm not sure anything would tempt me back in one.
I have flown in two of these. One In Vietnam. And one in Miami. I did fly a Bell 206 but I really didn't understand the controls. Cyclic and collective. But Now I Do.
There is nothing like the BELL Bubble.
My dad owned 3 Bell 47s. I so wish I could fly with him again. What a great Helicopter. The pilot was flying from the Right seat?
I caught that too. In our's PIC was in the left seat.
Before Mash was The Whirly Birds, 1957--59. They used a Bell 47 and a 47J. Can be seen on U-tube.
Goddamn, that pilot is cool as a cucumber! Smooth as glass flight!
Pity you missed the opportunity to ask some questions of the pilot.
I'm sure he's got lots of experience with the 47, it would have been nice to hear him n talking about them too.
Like using the throttle all the time when changing the collective.
As it was, it was all rather clinical.
NO! The show is famous because of the helicopter
Perfeito
The R22 and R44 Jet Ranger? O K you're not a helicopter guy so we forgive you.
Anyone who is into the 47 should watch "Whirlybirds", the 50's TV series which showcases not only the 47 but the G model as well. The 47G is the most beautiful helicopter ever, in my opinion.
Love these, on a hot day with a fat pilot you gotta throw them up in the air to take off 😅🤠🤟
What are those stubby wind vane looking things that stick out perpendicular to the main rotor blades? They have little pods on the ends and are visible during the video while you're flying.
Road as an observer many times on patrol in Daddy Papa 1 (Denver Police) in Denver back in the 70s
They sound, look, and fly so right (/^v^)/! ❤️🥇🏆🚁
Wonder why the pilot is on the right side? Those 47’s are normally flown with the pilot on the left, unlike modern copters.
I got my Commercial rotorcraft license after ALL my hours were in a Bell 47. Dick Hill International Flight School, Ozark MO. class of 1989, ha!!
Got many hours LEO patrolling in the 47 and wouldn’t trade a tenth of an hour for turbine time!
The R-22, & R-44, are made by Robinson, The 206 is built by Bell.
But the basic design is my the same man, Frank Robinson designed both ! The main rotor head look very similar in design.
In the late 1950's there was a TV show called Whilybirds that "starred" a Bell 47G.
What is that long lever with the square on the end of it for?