[500 fan]

I'm doing a little research into the colours of the Irish Helicopters fleet. Most of the helicopters I am interested in date from the sixties, seventies and eighties. So if anyone can help with the following, I would really appreciate it.

1. Can anyone confirm if the markings on the Alouette II EI-AWC and Alouette III EI-ATO in the early all-white paint scheme have their lettering in black or dark green. It is hard to tell from the picture below of the Alouette III but it looks to me like the stripes and maybe the "Irish Helicopters Ltd" text are in dark green and the registration is in black lettering.

2. Did the Bell 212 EI-BAM have its registration repeated in white lettering under the nose? EI-BFH did but I'm not sure about -BAM. Also, did the Bell 212s have an emergency raft fitted to the inside of the left front main cabin door when flying in support of off-shore installations?

This is a long shot but if anyone can answer any of these questions, it would be a big help. Thanks.



500 Fan.

[hugoj_air]

This photo was up before and I mentioned then that it was taken at the Rosepenna Hotel Downings Co Donegal. Probably late summer 1970.
I enlarged the photo and it looks to me that all the lettering and markings are dark green in colour, which would make sense. Why would Irish Helicopters use two different colours when appling the markings. The Alouette was registered to Film Flight Ltd and operated by Irish Helicopters on their behalf. They were the first and only Irish operators of EI-ATO and would have done all the painting themselves.

Hugo.

[500 fan]

Hugo, thanks for that. It is very hard to tell if the letters and stripes are green or black. The stripes certainley have a hint of green to them but the lettering is hard to decifer. They could be black but as you say, it would make more sense if they were dark green.

Thanks as well for the link to the site on Irish Aviation Sites. It has a nice photo of Jet Ranger EI-CAF. That's a machine I hadn't seen before. It looks like it was a machine owned by Irish Helicopters and was not a leased-in privately-owned helicopter. Thanks.

500 Fan.

[501]

The stripes on the Alouette III are definitely dark green. Can't remember off the top of my head about reg, but I do have a good colour photo of it. I will dig it up when I am back at home. I will also check out the reg on the Bell 212's.
Incidentally, there was at least one Bolkow that had a green and white scheme and it was black and yellow before that !

[500 fan]

The stripes on the Alouette III are definitely dark green. Can't remember off the top of my head about reg, but I do have a good colour photo of it. I will dig it up when I am back at home. I will also check out the reg on the Bell 212's.
Incidentally, there was at least one Bolkow that had a green and white scheme and it was black and yellow before that !

501, thanks for that. Any new photos of these helicopters would be appreciated. I did some more digging and Bell 212 EI-BFH did have its reg repeated in white lettering under the nose. EI-BAM probably was the same but I can't confirm this.

The yellow-and-black and green-and-white BO-105 was EI-AWB. It appears in the old Pink Panther film "The Pink Panther Strikes Again" in its green-and-white colours. It received the newer orange-and-blue colour scheme before it went back to the UK in the late seventies.

500 Fan.

[bolkow]

In all the times I saw EI-Bam I cannot swear to you it had its reg under the nose, but I'd be very surprised if it did'nt!
Did you get my e-mail regarding the logo's?

Felix