When Is A Huey Not A Huey?

...when it's a Westland Scout!

Reader Tony from Glasgow, Scotland pointed out a glaring error in a post I made back on 3 Aug 2017 when I referred to the Everlast Toys No. 501 Air Force Helicopter as a 'Huey caricature'. He stated the box art made it look much more like a Westland Scout:

Being retired USAF and a collector of Air Force toys my biased American eyes immediately jumped to an inaccurate conclusion, that this toy was a Huey. Huey's are well known helicopters and have seen service all over the world but that doesn't mean every toy helicopter out there has to be one. This is something I've pointed this out in other posts - the proclivity collector's have towards mis-identifying toys. Just because we collect toys doesn't necessarily make us experts, but it is our responsibility to admit when we're wrong and correct the misinformation. What does throw me off however is the bulbous front nose on the toy. That nose gives it a Huey-ish look.

I was wrong! :-)

Okay, so what is a Westland Scout? It was developed by Westland Helicopters and first flew in 1959. Primarily operated by the British Army's Army Air Corps it operated in several conflicts including the Falkland Island War. It was never terribly successful and couldn't get certified for civilian service, eventually being replaced by the Westland Gazelle.

It is not a Huey!

But tha's okay cuz now I have something etirely new and unexpected in the collection by sheer serendipity! I like! Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Photo courtesy of:

By Airwolfhound from Hertfordshire, UK - Westland Scout - RIAT 2015, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47016375