Strange looking Cessna

Bill Watson

Bill Watson

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Dec 5, 2007
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Durham NC
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MauleDriver
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You would know immediately know what this is if one thing we’re different. What?


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I immediately knew what it was without anything being different.
 
Well, you guys are good. A Helio looks right with a tailwheel though I can just barely recall seeing a pic in Flying of the trike version... looks too much like a Cessna on Hormones.


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You could’ve upped the difficulty a few levels by blurring out the tail number. Just sayin’ ;)
 
Helios are cool airplanes but are a handful in the wind according to the guys I know who've owned them, and I'm talking about really experienced pilots.. The trike makes a lot of sense. With a good Helio pilot and assuming the nose strut is tough? That plane should be a great STOL performer.
 
I did a photo shoot of 5 Helios (all tailwheel) at Oshkosh. There should be a story coming soon! Cool planes and each one had a different configuration... smaller doors, larger doors, doors on one side, doors on both, etc.
 
Air America (CIA's little airline) used them during the Vietnam war. Army owned some. Air Force too. I remember flying into Spartanburg SC once in the 70s and there were 4-5 parked there, may have been a dealer, I dunno. Looked like Helios, may have been something else.

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Brother in law has had a 250 and 395. Fun airplanes. I came close to buying the 250 but chose my 180 instead.

Leading edge slats, big flaps, and short, deep chord ailerons. Those guys at MIT were onto something. Those same mods have found their way onto my new Cub!
 
Ryanb said:
You could’ve upped the difficulty a few levels by blurring out the tail number. Just sayin’ ;)
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Didn't need it. Recognized it easily enough. My favorite was the Helio Stallion, built for Vietnam service, I believe. Turboprop, very sharp-looking airplane.

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Y'all remember the movie "Air America" w/ Mel Gibson? There's Helio planes in it.

 
mscard88 said:
Air America used them during the Vietnam war. Army owned some. Air Force too. I remember flying into Spartanburg SC once in the 70s and there were 4-5 parked there, may have been a dealer, I dunno. Looked like Helios, may have been something else.


There is/was an airport near there that is the home of an international missionary group. When I was racing sailplanes out of Chester, people would occasionally land out there and would come back with tales of multiple STOL craft and Helios in particular. Can’t recall the name or find it on the Sectional but it has been profiled in the mags back in the 80s - 90s. Anybody know?

BTW, though I love tail draggers especially on something like a Helio, the trike configuration makes more sense.... and less badassedness.


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Missionary group? Sounds like a good cover for military and/or CIA lol. There is a few old WW2 airfields in the Carolinas that the military uses for uh, hush hush stuff. Look at North Field on google, south of Columbia SC for instance.
 
mscard88 said:
Missionary group? Sounds like a good cover for military and/or CIA lol. There is a few old WW2 airfields in the Carolinas that the military uses for uh, hush hush stuff. Look at North Field on google, south of Columbia SC for instance.
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Nope. Bona fide missions and humanitarian people. JAARS International, Waxhaw, NC.
 
skier said:
Reminds me a bit of the Champion Lancer. Neither aircraft looks quite right, though I would happily fly either of them.

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I'm guessing if you need to do any engine out work in that beast you'd want to start with a lot of altitude.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Didn't need it. Recognized it easily enough. My favorite was the Helio Stallion, built for Vietnam service, I believe. Turboprop, very sharp-looking airplane.

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Looks like a plagiarized turbine Beaver, right down to the overhead eyebrow glass and faired gear legs. But which one came first, the Helio or the factory turbine DHC-2?
 
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