The Enstrom F-28 and 280 are a family of small, light

piston engine A reciprocating engine, also often known as a piston engine, is typically a heat engine that uses one or more reciprocating pistons to convert high temperature and high pressure into a rotating motion. This article describes the common featu ...

powered

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s produced by the

Enstrom Helicopter Corporation The Enstrom Helicopter Corporation is an American helicopter aerospace manufacturer, based at the Menominee–Marinette Twin County Airport in Michigan, United States. The company was founded in 1959 by mining engineer Rudolph J. "Rudy" Ens ...

.Apostolo, Giorgio: ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Helicopters'', pages 64-65. Bonanza Books, New York, 1984.

Design and development

Since delivering their first helicopter shortly after

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

type certification of the F-28 model in April 1965, Enstrom helicopter has produced, , approximately 1,200 aircraft. The company produces three models, the F-28, the more aerodynamic 280 and the turbine-powered 480, each with their own variants. The F-28 and 280 both use Lycoming piston engines, virtually identical to those found in general aviation fixed-wing aircraft.

Variants

F-28

;F-28 :Certified April 1965.FAA Type Certificate ;F-28A :Initial production version. Certified May 1968. ;T-28 :Turbine powered. ;F-28B :Turbocharged version. ;F-28C :Fitted with an upgraded engine with turbocharger, and a two piece windscreen. Certified 1975 ;F-28F Falcon :Similar to F-28C with more powerful engine, improved turbocharger and addition of a throttle corellator. Certified December 1980 ;F-27F-P :Police patrol version developed for the

Pasadena Police Department (California) The Pasadena Police Department is the police department serving Pasadena, California. The headquarters of the Pasadena Police Department is located at 207 North Garfield Avenue in Pasadena, just a block from the Pasadena City Hall and Paseo Color ...

. It is equipped with searchlights, FLIR and a

public address system A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...

. ; Spitfire Mark I :A turbine powered conversion by Spitfire Helicopters Inc. ; Spitfire Mark II Tigershark :A turbine powered conversion by Spitfire Helicopters Inc.

280

;280 Shark :Certified September 1975. ;280C Shark :Aerodynamically refined version of the F28C-2, equipped with an upgraded engine, fitted with a turbocharger. Certified 1975 ;280L Hawk :Stretched cabin four-seat version, first flying in December 1968. Development halted due to lack of funds. ;280F :Similar to 280C with more powerful engine, improved turbocharger and addition of a throttle correlator. Certified December 1980 ;280FX :Based on the 280F with landing gear fairings, redesigned air intakes on top of the cabin and a redesigned and relocated horizontal stabilizer with vertical end plates. Certified in January 1985

Operators

Civil operators

The aircraft is operated by a large number of small commercial and

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

operators, most operating one or two aircraft.

Military and government operators

;

Chilean Army The Chilean Army ( es, Ejército de Chile) is the land arm of the Military of Chile. This 80,000-person army (9,200 of which are conscripts) is organized into six divisions, a special operations brigade and an air brigade. In recent years, and ...

; *

Colombian Air Force , "We are the Force" , colours = , colours_label = , march = Colombian Air Force Hymn , mascot = Capitan Paz , anniversaries = 8 November , ...

- 12 F-28F trainers delivered 1994. ; *

Peruvian Air Force The Peruvian Air Force ( es, link=no, Fuerza Aérea del Perú, FAP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with defending the nation and its interests through the use of air power. Additional missions include assistance in safeguardin ...

Peruvian Army The Peruvian Army ( es, Ejército del Perú, abbreviated EP) is the branch of the Peruvian Armed Forces tasked with safeguarding the independence, sovereignty and integrity of national territory on land through military force. Additional missi ...

* Peruvian Navy ; * Pasadena Police Department ; *

Venezuelan Air Force , colours = Bleu celeste , colours_label = , march = , "Hymn of the National Military Aviation" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 December (Air Force Day) , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = , decorations = , battle_honou ...

Accidents and incidents

* On 22 October 1986, an Enstrom F-28F Falcon suffered a mechanical failure at an altitude of 75 feet (23 meters) over

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

due to the installation of an improper

clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts). ...

, struck a fence, and crashed into the

Hudson River The Hudson River is a river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York and flows southward through the Hudson Valley to the New York Harbor between N ...

during a traffic report by WNBC 660 AM radio flying traffic reporter

Jane Dornacker Jane Carroll Dornacker (October 1, 1947 – October 22, 1986) was an American rock musician, actress, comedian and traffic reporter. She gained fame as a comedian, actor, dancer and as an associate and songwriter for the San Francisco rock band ...

. The broadcast captured her shouting "Hit the water! Hit the water! Hit the water!" as the helicopter went down. The pilot survived with serious injuries, but Dornacker died on the way to the hospital.planecrashinfo.com Famous People Who Died in Aviation Accidents: 1980s
/ref> * On 26 January 2015 an Enstrom 280FX crashed at

Erie, Colorado The Town of Erie is a Statutory Town located in Weld and Boulder counties, Colorado, United States. The town population was 30,038 at the 2020 United States Census, a +65.64% increase since the 2010 United States Census. At the 2020 census, 17,3 ...

, following the separation of its main rotor blades, killing both the student and instructor on board. The accident was caused by a failure of the main rotor spindle as a result of a crack. The accident resulted in the issuance of an Emergency

Airworthiness Directive An Airworthiness Directive (commonly abbreviated as AD) is a notification to owners and operators of certified aircraft that a known safety deficiency with a particular model of aircraft, engine, avionics or other system exists and must be correct ...

(AD) by the United States

on 12 February 2015 grounding more than 300 helicopters. The AD requires a magnetic particle inspection to detect cracks in the main rotor spindle in aircraft with more than 5,000 hours and requires replacing the spindle if cracked.

Specifications (F28F)

References

Bibliography

Federal Aviation Administration Type Certificate No.H1CE
* *

External links

Enstrom page on The Helicopter History site
{{Enstrom aircraft Enstrom aircraft 1960s United States civil utility aircraft 1960s United States helicopters Single-engined piston helicopters Aircraft first flown in 1965