Airwolf: American Way April 1985

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Whirlybird Heroes

The latest gimmick of TV adventure dramas is to add a little action — with helicopters.

By Norman Sklarewitz

In the beginning — of television action shows, that is — there was the horse. As in western movies, in these shows the bad guys rode into town. Then the good guys formed a posse and galloped away to "head 'em off at the pass."
In time, though, the TV western fell victim to sagging ratings. The horses were put out to video pasture.
Then came the automobile, with high-speed getaways, chases with screeching tires, and spectacular stunts.
Scriptwriters still lean heavily on autos for action. But these days the people who create adventure dramas for TV have a new gimmick: the helicopter. It's a rare television action series these days that doesn't include a helicopter for an aerial chase, a daring rescue, or just to inject a sense of high drama when the story line gets a bit thin.
Helicopters are used frequently in such shows as "The Fall Guy," "Matt Houston," 'The A-Team," "Magnum. P.I.” and others. Says Soren Jensen, a helicopter pilot and air coordinator:
"To the viewing public, a helicopter looks scary and more mysterious than an airplane does. Besides, it's a much more exciting vehicle. Bringing in a helicopter adds life and excitement to a show:"
The helicopter trend was previewed back in 1957, when a syndicated series called "The Whirlybirds" went on the air. The 30-minute program presented the adventures of a couple of California pilots for Whirlybirds, Incorporated, a fictional helicopter charter service. The series ran for 39 episodes, then flew into the sunset of reruns.
With the increasing role of helicopters in the Korean War, in the Vietnam War, and in law enforcement, writers of feature films and TV shows wrote more parts for the machines. But it wasn't until "Blue Thunder" that a helicopter won star status. "Blue Thunder" was an hour-long action series produced for ABC Television. Premiering in January, 1984, it featured Blue Thunder, described as a "super-surveillance helicopter to combat crime with the most sophisticated aerial technology, weaponry, and surveillance systems available."
In the show. Blue Thunder was able to fly at 250 mph, and it had inch-thick belly armor. In real life Blue Thunder was a 1973-model, French-made Aerospatiale Gazelle executive helicopter.

On TV the aircraft was capable of doing great things in the war on international terrorism and crime, but it failed to win the ratings war. After only 10 episodes. ABC dropped the show.
Whatever its failings, the potential of the "Blue Thunder" series wasn't lost on others in Hollywood. One who took the same basic concept of a "supercopter" and turned it into his own success was Donald P. Bellisario.
He came up with the idea for "Airwolf," the name of a helicopter and a series. Airing Saturday evenings on CBS, the hour-long adventure drama now is in its second season.
"Airwolf" goes far beyond 'Blue Thunder." For starters. Airwolf can fly at supersonic speeds in the show — something no real helicopter can do. That feat is made possible by the use of two "jet engines” that supplement the conventional helicopter twin turbines — again a feature of Bellisario's fertile imagination. Airwolf has four 30-mm chain guns, two 40-mm cannons, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles, and all kinds of electronic gear to locate and identify hidden targets. And if enemies try to shoot it down with missiles, the helicopter has a decoy flare system.
That's the make-believe aircraft. In reality Airwolf is a $1.2-million Bell 222 Executive Twin aircraft made by Bell Helicopter Textron and owned by Jetcopters, Incorporated, a California air-taxi and charter service with a fleet of 17 helicopters used by the film industry.
Peter J. McKernan, Sr., president of Jetcopters, bought the Bell 222 in 1983 for conventional executive charter work. Around that same time McKernan ran into another film veteran helicopter pilot, David Jones, who was working with a new show called "Magnum, P.I." The show, which had a regular part for a helicopter pilot, needed a ship. So McKernan bought a Hughes 500 chopper and has operated it for "Magnum, P.I." ever since.
When Bellisario began work on "Airwolf," he turned to Jetcopters with its Bell 222 already on hand. But the Bell 222 needed some cosmetic touches to convert it into a mean-looking bird of vengeance.
The job took three months and cost more than $250,000. Technicians from Universal, Jetcopters, and Patterson Enterprises fabricated the make-believe jet engines, machine guns, and rocket pods. When so modified and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, the once-plush executive copter became Airwolf.
Airwolf's missions in the show are on behalf of a shadowy CIA-type organization Each episode generally begins with a slam-bang action sequence involving Airwolf, then backs off to development of the plot, which leads, in the final act, to more airborne action.
Special-effects experts can take credit for all the simulated rocket and cannon attacks on secret hideouts. But when Airwolf is seen streaking though the skies at jet-plane speeds or climbing nose up, almost vertically, credit goes to teamwork between McKernan and Jones, now a helicopter plot for the show and its second-unit director.
The second unit handles all the scenes that show Airwolf in dogfights, streaking cross-country at low altitudes or homing in — guns blazing — on the lair of terrorists. During such scenes McKernan generally is at the controls of Airwolf, doubling for co-star Jan-Michael Vincent, while Jones directs the filming from the ground or from a camera-carrying helicopter.
There are times, though, when some cinematic trickery is employed. as in making Airwolf appear to be flying beyond Mach 1. Explains Bellisario:
"We simply shoot footage of the chopper at 4 frames a second compared with the normal 24. When projected at the full 24 frames a second, the aircraft appears to be flying many times its real speed — exactly the desired effect."

	Above: With its sophisticated technology, weaponry, and surveillance systems, Blue Thunder battled crime from the skies on ABC, and launched the television career of the helicopter. Below: In the NBC-TV series 'Riptide,' The Screaming Mimi provides a touch of action and a lot of comic relief.

While Airwolf each Saturday evening is carrying out its missions, a helicopter in another TV series has an entirely different role. This is an aging S-58 helicopter, long since out of production at Sikorsky Aircraft of Stratford, Connecticut.
It's featured in the series "Riptide," seen on NBC-TV each Tuesday. The story involves three private detectives, former army buddies from Vietnam, who live and work aboard a boat berthed in the Southern California marina community of King Harbor.
These detectives have The Screaming Mimi, a helicopter that couldn't be more different from Blue Thunder or Airwolf. For example, The Screaming Mimi is painted pink with thick red lips on its bulbous forward engine housing. It often wheezes and coughs, and it has a hard time starting. Such touches were deliberate. Says Babs Greyhosky, an executive producer and head writer of the show:
"We're not into high-tech and a chrome existence. Our characters are regular old run-of-the-mill guys so our aircraft had to be the same.
"The aircraft provides us with both action and a source of comedy relief. We can do funny things with it, and it's awfully convenient. When we want to go after the bad guys, the principals just hop into their chopper and take off."
As with the other celebrity helicopters, Screaming Mimi isn't the property of the TV producer but is under lease for its regular appearances. John Gamble, president of G&H Helicopters, Incorporated, at Burbank Airport, owns the 24-year-old S-58 and does the flying in the show, doubling for one of the three co-stars in the series.
An aerial consultant, Gamble originally was approached by executive producer Stephen J. Cannell, who was looking for a "really ugly helicopter." The ungainly Sikorsky filled the bill.
Unlike Airwolf, which is so modified that it can’t serve any other commercial purpose, Screaming Mimi brings in other income to Gamble. G&H Helicopters, for example, leases it out at construction sites to lift heavy components, such as air-conditioning units, to rooftops. And every afternoon the funny-looking pink aircraft shuttles packages between Burbank Airport and Los Angeles International Airport.
That's really the mark of a show-business professional. As most performers know, it's always good to have a trade to fall back on, just in case your show is canceled.