Originally published at: A whole lotta Airwolf | Boing Boing
…
The Air Force would never allow a helicopter to be so fast. The max speed of military helicopters is set so as to prevent them taking away traditional fixed-wing roles.
8 Likes
Imma watch this later, but I though there were limits to what the rotors could take and thus limits their top speed.
Also - great tribute video!
4 Likes
Yes there are physical limits, but military helicopters have a top speed governed well below that.
Airwolf theme is now going through my head as I walk around the house. I feel like I’m 6 years old again.
7 Likes
Who doesn’t? Thats some fancy flying so close to the ground. 14 year old me only wanted a helicopter and a secret base hewn into the solid rock if Utah, was that too much to ask?
4 Likes
Not if you speed up the footage for the action sequences.
5 Likes
The military-industrial drone at the beginning of this video does say that AirwolfTM disengages its rotor to travel at Mach 1, so I am satisfied that this show was in no way ridiculous.
9 Likes
I’m reminded of Ernie Cline’s ode to Airwolf: ERNEST CLINE AIRWOLF LYRICS | JustSomeLyrics
(You remember Ernie Cline, of “Ready Player One” fame.)
2 Likes
Was just coming to post that. Nothing is more Airwolf than Airwolf.
2 Likes
Thank goodness this wasn’t filmed digitally. Think of how stupid the rotors would look in all the scenes, either curly or stationary looking.
Of course this would all be CG today so they could make the rotors look however they want.
3 Likes
Boy I really loved this show as a kid. I was always sorry that Jan Michael Vincent had so much personal trouble.
4 Likes
The most insane thing about that show is that someone thought they could squeeze a whole extra season out of it after losing both the entire original cast and the titular helicopter itself.
Imagine if they tried that with Knight Rider. “Well, Hoff’s contract is up and none of the other cast are returning either and we sold all the stunt cars at auction but we still have that tractor-trailer set and the stock footage from previous seasons… maybe no one will notice!”
4 Likes
I mean, a helicopter with wings is kind of a loaded example. Single rotor helicopters do have an airspeed limit due to the difference in lift between the attacking edge and the retreating edge of the rotor, leading to lateral torque. The fastest wingless helicopters have counter-rotating rotors, either on separate shafts like the Chinook or on a single axis like the S-97 Raider, for just this reason.
5 Likes
I was always a bigger fan of Blue Thunder myself, but the Airwolf theme belongs in the annals of synthesizer theme history. So good!
8 Likes
You beat me to this - Airwolf was the Knight Rider of the skies. The 80’s had all sorts of movies and TV shows that focused on some loaner with a nice blank solving crime and righting wrongs:
Airwolf, Blue Thunder, Automan, Knight Rider, Tank, The Wraith, Viper, Street Hawk, The Highwayman, and even Hardcastle and McCormick.
Am I missing one?
7 Likes
I learned from someone who was tangentially involved with early production of the show that the producers originally intended to make frequent use of a r/c model helicopter to film a lot of the stunts and tricky maneuvers, but in the end found that they didn’t need to because the actual stunt pilot was more than capable of making the real helicopter do all kinds of cool stuff. I wonder why the producers of the final season didn’t resort to using the model once they lost access to the real thing? I suppose re-editing existing footage must have been even cheaper than using the model.
5 Likes
The short-lived Manimal and Misfits of Science were the same schtick except that it’s the characters themselves that are the high-tech MacGuffin.
5 Likes
I loved Airwolf.
It was sad to hear about the crash in the 90’s that destroyed the original helicopter and killed the crew.
1 Like
They did love to have a signature vehicle for shows. I’d add Stingray to your list but so many shows made sure to feature certain vehicles every episode. Riptide’s pink helicopter, Simon and Simon’s Powerwagon, Magnum’s Ferrari, The A-Team’s van, Miami Vice’s Ferrari and the Duke boys General Lee always had an important part to play in the plot week to week.
2 Likes
2 Likes
