Aérospatiale Alouette III

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Aérospatiale Alouette III

South African Air Force Aérospatiale Alouette III.
Type	Light utility helicopter
Manufacturer	Sud Aviation Aérospatiale Eurocopter
Maiden flight	1959-02-28
Introduced	1960
Status	Active duty in some nations
Primary users	France Multifarious
Produced	1960s-present
Number built	2,060

The Aérospatiale Alouette III is a general purpose, single-engined light utility helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation (later Aérospatiale of France, now Eurocopter). It was mostly used for military purposes, although civilian versions also flew. It is recognised for its mountain rescue capabilities and adaptability. The Alouette III is powered by a Turbomeca Artouste 3B Turbo-Shaft. The Alouette III first flew in 1959 and entered in service with the French Armed forces in 1960.

1 History
2 Users Past and Present
3 Variants
4 Specifications (Alouette III SA-316B)
5 Related content

[edit] History

The Alouette (skylark) III is the successor to the Aérospatiale Alouette II, compared to which it is larger and has more seating. In turn, both of these helicopters can trace their ancestry back to the Sud-Est Aviation SE-3120 Alouette piston powered prototypes, the first of which flew for the first time on 31 July 1951.

The first version of the Alouette III, the SE-3160 prototype, first flew on 28 February 1959, powered by the Turboméca Artouste turboshaft. The SA-316A (SE-3160) was the first production model, it remained in production until 1969, when it was replaced by the SA-316B.

The SA-316B had a strengthened transmission and a greater maximum takeoff weight, but retained the Turboméca Artouste turboshaft.

The SA-319B entered production in 1968, powered by the Turboméca Astazou XIV turboshaft, which had a better "hot and high performance" and improved fuel economy.

Alouette III saw action in some wars, including the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 when 2 planes of the PAF were lost in the war, [1]and the Portuguese Colonial War, during 60's and 70's with large utilization in Angola, Mozambique and Guinea, where it proved its qualities.

The SA-316B and the SA-319B both remained in series production up to the early 1980s, when the main production line in France was closed down. However, HAL of India continues to licence-build Alouette IIIs as the Chetak. Versions of the Alouette III were also either licence-built or assembled by IAR in Romania (as the IAR 316), F+W Emmen in Switzerland and by Fokker and Lichtwerk in the Netherlands.

Production numbers are as follows:

France: ca. 1500
India: 300+ (Still in production.)
Romania: 200
Switzerland: 60

[edit] Users Past and Present

Albania (SA 319)
Angola
Argentina (SA 316)
Austria (SA 316)
Austria (SA 319)
Australia
Bangladesh
Belgium (SA 319)
Burkina Faso
Burma or (Myanmar)
Burundi (SA 316)
Cameroon (SA 319)
Chad (SA 316)
Chile (SA 316)
Democratic Republic of the Congo or (Zaire) (SA 316)
Republic of the Congo (SA 316)
Denmark
Dominican Republic
Ecuador (SA 316)
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Ethiopia (SA 316)
France (SA 316)
France (SA 319)
Gabon
Ghana (SA 316)
Greece (SA 319)
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau (SA 316)
Hong Kong
India (SA 319)
Indonesia (SA 316)
Iraq (SA 316)
Ireland (SA 316)
Israel
Ivory Coast
Jordan (SA 316)
Laos
Lebanon (SA 316)
Libya (SA 316)
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia (SA 316)
Malta (SA 316)
Mexico (SA 319)
Morocco
Mozambique
Nepal
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Pakistan (SA 316)
Pakistan (SA 319)
Peru (SA 319)
Portugal (SA 319)
Romania (IAR 316)
Rwanda (SA 316)
Saudi Arabia
Seychelles
Singapore
South Africa (SA 316)
Spain
Suriname (SA 316)
Switzerland (SA 316)
Tunisia (SA 316)
Venezuela (SA 316)
United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi)
Yugoslavia
Zambia
Zimbabwe (SA 316)

[edit] Variants

The SA-316A was the first production version.
The SA-316B is powered by a 425 kW (570 shp) Turboméca Artouste IIIB turboshaft engine, with strengthened main and tail rotor for greater performance.
The SA-319B was a direct development of the SA.316B, it was powered has a 649 kW (870 shp) Turboméca Astazou XIV turboshaft engine, but it was derated to 447 kW (660 hp).
The SA-316B was built under licence in India as the HAL Chetak, and again under licence in Romania as the IAR 316.
The SA-316C was powered by a Turbomeca Artouste IIID turboshaft engine. The SA-316C was only built in small numbers.
G-Car and K-Car : Helicopter gunship versions for the Rhodesian Air Force. The G-Car was armed with two side-mounted Browning machine guns. The K-Car was armed with one 20mm Mauser cannon, fitted inside the cabin, firing from the port side of the helicopter.
IAR-317 Skyfox : Romanian helicopter gunship project. Only three prototypes were ever built.
Atlas XH-1 Alpha : Two-seat attack helicopter project. It was used in the development of the Rooivalk.

When used as an aerial ambulance, the Alouette III can accommodate a pilot, two medical attendants and two stretcher patients. Sadly on June 2004, the Alouette III was retired from the French Air Force after 32 years of successful service. It will be replaced by the Eurocopter EC-155 Twin Squirrel. In the same year, the Swiss Armed Forces announced the retirement of the Alouette III, from the front line by 2006, and entirely by 2010. Venezuelan Air forces retired the Alouette III in the late 90's.