The Aérospatiale Alouette III is a light utility helicopter originally manufactured by Aérospatiale of France. It was mostly used for military purposes, although civilian versions also flew. South African Air Force Aérospatiale Alouette III Fair use photograph from South African government website. ... A helicopter is an aircraft which is lifted and propelled by one or more large horizontal rotors (propellers). ... The Aérospatiale Corvette first flew in 1970 and went into service in 1974. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ...

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. For other uses see Skylark (disambiguation). ... The Alouette II is a light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale of France. ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining, as the final day of July. ... 1951 was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...

The first version of the Alouette III, the SE-3160, first flew on 28 February 1959, powered by the Turboméca Artouste turboshaft. The SE-3160 remained in production until 1969, when it was replaced by the SA-316B. February 28 is the 59th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1969 was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ...

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. 1968 was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ...

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 ICA in Romania, F+W Emmen in Switzerland and by Fokker and Lichtwerk in the Netherlands. HAL 9000 was the fictional computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey HAL/S is the computer language used to program the space Shuttles computers HAL is the hardware abstraction layer used in Windows NT and in Linux to encapsulate hardware-dependent details from the rest of the operating system. ... Fokker 100 of British Midland Airways Fokker was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer named after its founder, Anthony Fokker. ... The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden). ...

Production numbers are as follows:

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

Users

• Albania (SA 319)
• Argentina (SA 316)
• Austria (SA 316)
• Austria (SA 319)
• Belgium (SA 319)
• Burundi (SA 316)
• Cameroon (SA 319)
• Chad (SA 316)
• Congo, Democratic Republic of the (SA 316)
• Congo, Republic of the (SA 316)
• Ecuador (SA 316)
• Ethiopia (SA 316)
• France (SA 316)
• France (SA 319)
• Ghana (SA 316)
• Greece (SA 319)
• Guinea-Bissau (SA 316)
• India (SA 319)
• Indonesia (SA 316)
• Iraq (SA 316)
• Ireland (SA 316)
• Jordan (SA 316)
• Lebanon (SA 316)
• Libya (SA 316)
• Malaysia (SA 316)
• Malta (SA 316)
• Mexico (SA 319)
• Pakistan (SA 316)
• Pakistan (SA 319)
• Peru (SA 319)
• Portugal (SA 319)
• Romania (SA 319)
• Rwanda (SA 316)
• South Africa (SA 316)
• Suriname (SA 316)
• Switzerland (SA 316)
• Tunisia (SA 316)
• Venezuela (SA 316)
• Zimbabwe (SA 316)

Versions

While the SA-316B has a 425 kW (570 shp) Turboméca Artouste IIIB turboshaft driving a three blade main rotor and three blade tail rotor, the SA-319B has a 450 kW (600 shp) derated Turboméca Astazou XIV turboshaft.

When used as an aerial ambulance, the Alouette III can accommodate a pilot, two medical attendants and two stretcher patients.

See also

• List of civil aircraft