Arizona Helicopters Inc was a helicopter contractor which operated in Laos in the early 1970s for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Arizona Helicopters was originally based out of
Chandler Municipal Airport in
Chandler, Arizona and then in 1968 was moved to
Scottsdale Airport
Scottsdale Airport is north of downtown Scottsdale, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Most U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, but Scottsdale Airport is SDL to the FAA and SCF to the IA ...
in
Scottsdale, Arizona. Scottsdale Airport Fixed Base Operator, Robert Wachs, owned and operated Arizona Helicopters Inc. The company assisted in fire fighting operations, flying Santa Claus to malls for the
Wallace and Ladmo Show in Phoenix, Arizona, and other charters.
Fleet
The Arizona Helicopters fleet consisted of 50 helicopters, across the following 6 aircraft types:
[Arizona Helicopters, Inc]
*
Bell 47
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Bell 205A-1
*
Bell 206
The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- and twin-engined helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec, plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter progra ...
JetRanger II
*
Bell 212
The Bell 212 (also known as the ''Twin Two-Twelve'') is a two-blade, medium helicopter that first flew in 1968. Originally manufactured by Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, production was moved to Mirabel, Quebec, Canada in ...
*
Fairchild Hiller FH-1100
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Sud Aviation SA.318C Alouette Astazou
See also
*
List of defunct airlines of the United States
References
History of Laos
Vietnam War
Defunct helicopter airlines
Defunct airlines of the United States
Central Intelligence Agency front organizations
Airlines based in Arizona
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