Irwin Helicopter #35 - Sikorsky H-5 (S-48, S-51)

I haven't posted a helicopter in quite a while because, well, because I haven't bought any! Some months back this Irwin helicopter became available for a price quite below the king's ransom these usually go for so I picked it up. Every so often I see vintage ads for these and I simply don't recall seeing one where this particular version was listed - maybe I did see it and just forgot. The outline definitely suggests the Sikorsky H-5 (also referred to as S-48 or S-51) and was used by the Army Air Force, then the U.S. Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard. It appears as if the Air Force versions were generally left with their natural metal fuselage while Navy's and Marines were blue and dark blue, and Army OD. That's a very broad statement though and from what I've seen on-line there were a bunch of different schemes. It appears these were in use by the UK's Royal Navy as well as in a number of other countries. Again, generally speaking, the toy world likes to use blue as Air Force - just cuz. Navy works too. But for my purposes, if I ever get to set up my Little Green Army Men again I'll probably draft it for Air Force use. We shall see, we shall see.

Courtesy: Flugzeug.info.net

(https://www.flugzeuginfo.net/galleryphoto_en.php?photoid=5580)

Okay, so after getting this in I was actually quite surprised at how big it was having always thought it a bit smaller than it is. That was a good surprise - I like! The fuselage measures 15" (38.1cm) L x 2" (5.08cm) W. The wheelbase is 4 3/4" (12.06cm) wide and the rotor span is 16 1/2" (41.91cm) with an overall height of 6 1/8" (15.55cm). The rotor is connected to the wheels via gearing and is supposed to move when you push the helo forward, however my sample is jacked-up and doesn't work as it should. There's a pilot inside as well as a 'searchlight' over the cockpit. Still, it's a very nice displayable/playable piece. Enjoy! Opa Fritz

I've posed it here with a vintage Lido 60mm figure for size comparison

Lido figure with Eldon tank

Birds, Moon, and Air Power Over Da Hood by Bettina

It was unfortunate that we had to have our two remaining trees cut down a year so ago because they played host to many a species of bird over the years, many of which Bettina had caught on camera. She still manages to get some nice shot but not like it was back in the day. Here's some shots of birds, a couple of aircraft and even October's Hunter Moon. Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

A Female Great Tailed Grackle

A Male Great Tailed Grackle

Can't quite tell what this one is - Sparrow, Finch? But the shot is really nice

HH-60 Pave Hawk right over the house!

"Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see what spring is like
On Jupiter and Mars..." Frank Sinatra 

This month's Hunter Moon

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

Blomer & Schuler Tin-litho USAF Helicopter

Here's a terrific small USAF helicopter from Blomer & Schuler (West Germany). I had never heard of Blomer & Schuler until a bunch of these came up for sale on fleaBay, most of which I couldn't afford. I was able to latch on to this little fella though and it is in great shape with the exception of one missing tail rotor blade. It has a friction motor which makes the rotor spin as the wheels turn. The fuselage is 5 3/8" (13.65cm) L x 1" (2.54cm) W (2"/5.08cm W at wheels) x 2 5/8" (6.55cm) H overall. The rotor span is 5 1/2" (13.97cm). Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina

Hong Kong - Everlast Toys No. 501 Air Force Wind-up Helicopter

Well, I did it again. This makes like the sixth time this year I got on fleaBay, saw something I liked, was okay with the price and the shipping and bought it. Then I waited. And waited. Then I think, "Where the heck is this thing coming from? Why is it taking so long?" I look at the listing - Jeruselem! hahahaha alrighty then, that explains it :-) Yup. Just recently got toys from Israel, the Czech Republic, England, the Ukraine, Argentina, Russia. Truly toy collecting has become international. 

What attracted me to this toy was it was a blue Air Force helicopter - simple. It resembles the much larger Marx Huey but is a bit more of a caricature in its form - more Huey-ish than straight up Huey. The blades, which detach from the rotor hub, are kind of a funky color but when they're spinning it's quite a nice effect. The wind-up key is integral to the body and cannot be removed. One side of the key is just a tad longer so that as the plane rolls along on the ground as the longer edge of the key comes in contact with the surface it lifts the copter just ever so slightly causing it to make a 90 degree turn. In so doing the copter will continue to traverse a square pattern as it rolls around. Nice! The fuselage measures  7" (17.78cm) L x 1 3/4" (4.44cm) W. It is 3" (7.62cm) High to the top of the rotor and the rotor span is 5" (12.7cm). Enjoy! Opa Fritz and Oma Bettina