HENK WADMAN COLLECTION
No. 12723. Aérospatiale SA 360 C Dauphin (D-HAAL c/n 1030) Ambulanzflugdienst Köln
Photographed at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, by Henk Wadman

Aérospatiale SA 360 C Dauphin

01/31/2015. Remarks by Johan Visschedijk: "With the Puma and Gazelle in production, the French helicopter company Aérospatiale found itself with a gap in the six to ten seat helicopter category. Design work started in 1970 on the SA.360 Dauphin which was, initially, derived from the Alouette III and used the rotor blades from that helicopter. In its early form, the SA 360 had a fixed tail wheel landing gear, a fenestron tail similar to that of the Gazelle and a single Astazou XVI turboshaft engine. Eventually, the engine power was upgraded and Aérospatiale decided to offer both single- (SA 360) and twin-engined (SA 365) versions of the Dauphin equipped with new composite main blades. The single-engined version was awarded its Type Certificate on December 18, 1975, subsequently only 36 machines were built.

Created January 31, 2015