THE UNMUTUAL PRISONER VEHICLE GUIDE

ALOUETTE II HELICOPTER

Photo: Rick Davy. Vehicle/Series Info: Rick Davy.

IN THE PRISONER: The Village helicopter, seen throughout the series.

IN REALITY: The Village Helicopter used in so many Episodes is the French-constructed SE313B Aerospatiale Alouette II. Codenamed F-BNKZ. In all, 923 were built for both civilian and military use. The helicopter used was rented by White Waltham Aerodrome-based RBA Helicopters, who purchased it from French helicopter company Heli-Union in 1966. The helicopter seen in the series was later piloted by Captain John Crewsdon, who also worked on films such as "Lawrence of Arabia" and several James Bond movies, who sadly died in an accident in 1983 whilst on a trip in an Alouette off the coast of Norfolk. The same helicopter can be seen, complete with codename, in the "Roundabout" episode of the series "The Baron".

In the episode 'The Schizoid Man', a different helicopter was used, as F-BNKZ was not available. Instead, F-BOEH was transported from France on a low loader (due to wethaer conditions, it was too precarious to fly her across the channel). The two helicopters are easy to distinguish - F-BOEH does not have floats. F-BNKZ was later re-registered G-AVEE and was used in a aborted scene from 'Many Happy Returns'. The helicopter later appeared in 'The Avengers' and 'Doctor Who - The Invasion'.

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