Original subtitles

- [Narrator] They can go anywhere and see everything.

- You can run, but you're only gonna go to jail tired.

[helicopter rumbling]

- [Narrator] They can bring death from above.

[bomb explodes] [dramatic music]

- The most devastating killer for ground force commanders.

[helicopter rumbling]

- [Narrator] Or they can be an aerial lifeline.

[helicopter whirring] [dramatic music]

- [Pilot] Roger, looks like we found our survivor.

[water sloshing]

[dramatic music] [helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] They're heavy lifters.

[helicopter whirring]

And firefighters.

[helicopter whirring]

Start your preflight checks and buckle in,

because now it's ultimate helicopters on "Modern Marvels".

[helicopter rumbling]

[upbeat music]

[gears cranking]

[water bubbling]

[gentle music]

[helicopters whirring]

Helicopters, our skies are full of them.

Unlike airplanes, they offer the unique ability

to fly in any direction or just hover in one spot.

[helicopter whirring]

And when this ability is combined with lethal firepower,

you get the Apache AH-64D Longbow.

[upbeat music]

One of the deadliest helicopters in the army's arsenal.

[upbeat music]

- The AH-64D, it's primarily an attack helicopter

or a gunship as we call it.

Its primary mission is to attack.

And what it does is it actually goes to where

the tracers are coming from and actually engages the enemy

that are engaging our friendly forces on the ground.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] With a top speed of 166 miles per hour,

the Apache gets there fast.

Ready to unload an array of deadly fire.

[missile wheezing]

- These are the 19-shot rocket pods.

Inside each we can fit 19,

2.75-inch folding fin aerial rockets.

They come in multiple configurations.

And on the inboard pylon,

you have the Hellfire missile rack.

These are laser-guided anti-tank missiles.

[missile whirring]

[missile booming]

- [Narrator] The Apache could be configured

to hold multiple rocket pods or missile racks,

depending on the mission.

[helicopter whirring] [pilot speaking indistinctly]

The last of the AH-64's weapons is located

right underneath the cockpit.

[upbeat music]

- If you ask most Apache pilots

this is their favorite weapon system on the aircraft.

This is a 30-millimeter chain cannon.

- [Pilot] And fire.

[cannon popping]

- [Narrator] Carrying up to 1,200 rounds of ammunition,

the chain cannon can fire 600 to 650

anti-personnel rounds a minute.

They explode on impact and can punch through trucks

and even light armored vehicles.

[gentle upbeat music]

To control the cannon, the pilot uses a monocular eyepiece

attached to the helmet that displays targeting information.

This connects to the chain cannon

and automatically aims where the pilot is looking.

Sensors track the movement

and direction of the pilot's helmet

and direct the cannon where to point.

[dramatic music]

- So if I happen to look at a target,

left, right, up and down,

this gun will move left and right up and down and follow it.

All you gotta do is pull the trigger.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] The Apache is also equipped

with state-of-the-art sensors located on top of the rotor

and on the bottom of the nose

that allow pilots to see any enemies that can see them.

[helicopter engine roaring]

- The part on top of that is a new site

for the Longbow radar.

It's the Fire Control Radar system.

We can look out with a millimeter wave radar,

look for tanks in the open.

Get all that data to our computers

that'll translate to a firing solution.

[pilot speaking indistinctly]

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] Night combat presents few problems

for the Apache Longbow.

- This is the Target Acquisition and Designating System,

also known as the TADS.

It's on the bottom side of this turret

and we have a night system right here

which is Forward Looking Infared.

It uses different temperatures and heat to detect targets.

This side is the day TV side for day television.

Also has a laser range finder and designator

for designating targets for laser-guided munitions.

On the top here is the pilot night vision sensor.

That's purely for flying at nighttime.

- [Narrator] These sensors allow the Apache pilots

to see everything.

Even who is friend and who is foe.

[dramatic music]

- We don't indiscriminately just shoot at people.

With this aircraft because of it's digital capability

we can zero in on just those people

that are doing bad things.

[dramatic music] [helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] The Apache's extreme lethality

also makes it a threat deterrent.

The mere presence of the Apache in the sky

is often enough to dissuade the enemy

from attacking friendly ground forces.

- [Jerry] Sometimes all takes is for us to show up

and the enemy stops shooting and they disappear.

[dramatic music] [helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] But the Apache isn't the only tool

in the military's fleet of helicopters.

Different missions required different kinds of abilities.

Like those found in the UH-60M Black Hawk.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

Unlike the Apache that's designed

for the specific purpose of attack,

the Black Hawk serves a multipurpose role.

[helicopter whirring]

- This is a UH-60 Mike model Black Hawk.

And the UH-60 is a utility helicopter.

The UH-60 is probably one of the versatile aircraft

in the army and it can conduct mission from ranges of

air assault operations in combat,

which we can take fully loaded combat soldiers

and air assault missions onto the battlefield.

And then we can turn around and pick up logistical supplies

from swing loading water, pallets or MRE pallets

or ammunition to help resupply soldiers.

We can do a medevac missions,

which is picking up casualties on the battlefield,

delivering to the medical treatment facilities,

which has drastically increased their survivability

on the battlefield.

- Number one and number two battery,

battery utility bus, circuit breakers are in.

- [Narrator] The Black Hawk helicopter crew

includes two pilots.

[helicopter whirring]

To fly it the pilots must use both hands and feet.

The helicopter's superior maneuverability

comes with complexity.

[helicopter whirring]

The key to understanding how to fly a Black Hawk

or any helicopter starts at the hub.

- The hub is the central portion of the rotor system.

It's the part where all four rotor blades hook together.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] The hub or rotor disc

tilts to give the helicopter directional flight

and it's controlled by the cyclic.

[helicopter engine roaring]

- This is the cyclic.

This provides us directional control either at a hover

or in a cruise flight mode.

With the cyclic, I'm actually tilting the rotor disc

in the direction that I'm pushing the cyclic.

So therefore, if I'm at a hover

and I move the cyclic to the right,

then the aircraft rotor disc is gonna tilt to the right

and I'm gonna drift to the right.

[helicopter whirring]

If I push the cyclic forward,

the rotor system is gonna tilt forward,

the aircraft is gonna go into the descent

and I look outside and the houses on the ground

are actually getting bigger

because I'm getting closer to the ground.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] To control the lift

or thrust of the helicopter, the pilot uses the collective.

- The flight control that I have in my left hand here

is called the collective.

And it's called the collective

because it collectively puts blade pitch angle

into all four rotor blades at the same time.

The more pitch I want in the rotor blade,

the higher up I pull the collective.

[upbeat music]

- The pitch angle determines how fast

the helicopter will lift off the ground in a hover

or how fast it will fly in flight.

[helicopter whirring]

A zero angle will produce zero lift.

As the pitch increases,

the blades will push more air downward,

resulting in greater lift.

[helicopter whirring]

Once in the air, the pilot pushes the cyclic forward

to start the helicopter in a forward direction.

[upbeat music]

[helicopter whirring]

[indistinct]

- [Pilot] Slow down you're in the orbit

and just let you catch up to us, how about that?

- [Narrator] As the pilot flies the aircraft,

he uses the tail rotor

to keep the nose of the helicopter pointing forward.

- The purpose of that tail rotor is to provide thrust

in the opposite direction of the main rotor turning

so that we can maintain our direction on flight.

[upbeat music] - Since the main rotor system

turns counter-clockwise,

there's an equal and opposite reaction

that forces the fuselage clockwise.

Tail rotor counters that.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

It works the same way as the main rotor

in that its blades increase pitch to gain thrust.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

To maintain a pitch that will keep

the helicopter moving forward,

the pilot uses his feet to control the tail rotor.

- If I push left pedal,

then that causes the nose of the helicopter to turn left.

[helicopter rumbling]

And then I use counter pressure on the opposite pedal

to stop that motion.

[helicopter rumbling]

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The Black Hawk has two crew chiefs

who are responsible for everything

that happens from the cockpit, back.

- We have two crew members

that sit in the back of the aircraft

and they're predominantly crew chiefs and door gunners.

[upbeat music]

And they assist with the loading

and unloading of the aircraft.

We're a utility helicopter

so we want to get in and get out.

And the door guns are predominantly there to assist

in the suppression of the enemy and provide area coverage.

[helicopter rumbling]

- [Narrator] The UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter

is the successor to the old UH-1 Huey from the Vietnam war.

[helicopter whirring] [dramatic music]

The Hueys became the workhorses of the military.

And much like the Black Hawks, held many different roles.

They evacuated wounded soldiers, transported troops,

dropped supplies and were even used as gunships.

[missiles whirring]

But while the Huey pilots flew

using only visual references on the ground and maps,

Black Hawk pilots fly with state-of-the-art instruments.

[helicopter engine roaring]

- This aircraft really takes the technology we have

in the civilian sector and moves army aviation

to the 21st century.

It really does two things.

It increases our situational awareness

so that when we have the moving map displays,

it's very easy for an aviator to know where he's at

and to know what's going on the battlefield,

whether it's an enemy situation that's graphically depicted

or the GPS technology of knowing his exact location

at all times.

[upbeat music]

- Along with modern navigation systems,

the Black Hawk incorporates an onboard autopilot system

known as a flight director.

[dramatic music]

It allows the helicopter to fly itself.

[dramatic music] [helicopter whirring]

- And you actually control the airspeed, altitude, heading

or course to make the aircraft fly a flight plan

with the flight director and never touch

the conventional flight controls.

That reduces the pilot workload

and allows the pilot to focus his attention in other areas.

[helicopter rumbling] [dramatic music]

- [Narrator] These Black Hawks are used

for many different operations.

But sometimes there's a mission

that even a versatile chopper

like the Black Hawk can't handle.

[dramatic music] [helicopter rumbling]

[upbeat music]- [Narrator] Helicopters, they're sleek machines

able to quickly fly in any direction

and a crucial component of our nation's arsenal

on the battlefield.

[missile explodes]

[dramatic music]

While the Army's Apache is primarily designed

to be a lethal killing machine,

and the Black Hawk, a multipurpose combat helicopter,

when it's time to do some heavy lifting,

you call in the Marines.

[dramatic music]

The workhorse of the military's helicopter fleet

is the CH-53K King Stallion.

[dramatic music]

And it's older brother, the CH-53E Super Stallion.

A Black Hawk weighs just over 10 1/2 thousand pounds

and stands 16 feet, 10 inches high.

[upbeat music]

The Apache weighs in at nearly 11,500 pounds

and stands 12 feet, seven inches high.

[upbeat music]

But the Super Stallion weighs over 33,000 pounds

and towers nearly three stories high at 28 feet.

[upbeat music]

It can carry internal loads of up to 20,000 pounds

in the cargo hold or external loads of 32,000 pounds

hung underneath the aircraft.

[dramatic music]

It can carry everything from armed troops

to armored vehicles. [helicopter whirring]

- Well, the primary mission of the helicopter

is assault support.

Carrying troops and equipment around the theater

or wherever we're operating at

to make sure that they get the supplies they need,

the equipment, the ammunition

and basically moving Marines around.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] To complete these missions,

it takes two pilots and three crew chiefs

who are responsible for loading up the inside.

[upbeat music]

- We call it beans, Band-Aids and bullets.

We can take anything in the back.

- [Narrator] Or hooking up external loads underneath.

[helicopter whirring]

- It's either a single point lift or a dual point lift.

Dual points are usually for longer, wider loads.

So that you can keep the load from spinning.

[pilot speaking indistinctly]

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] The seven rotor blades that sit on top

of this metal monster are the reason the Super Stallion

can carry so much weight.

They're so strong that the blades create downward winds

in excess of 85 miles an hour.

[helicopter rumbling] [upbeat music]

- We're up on the rotor head on the CH-53 Echo

and from here out is about 400 pounds.

To put things in perspective, there's seven of them.

That's up to 2,800 pounds.

2,800 pounds can lift 73,500 pounds.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The mechanical muscles that move these blades

come in the form of three GE engines

that produce 12,000 horsepower.

[upbeat music]

- We're not worried about how much power we have to pull

to make a turn or climb or descend.

We've got it there at our fingertips.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

When you're operating in environments

where it's very difficult to travel over roads,

especially in the environments where we've seen IEDs,

explosive devices, roadside bombs become a major issue,

we're able to move a lot of equipment over the air

without that threat to worry about.

[upbeat music] [explosion]

- [Narrator] Nevertheless, in these environments

there's a real threat of being shot down.

[upbeat music]

If the worst happens and the engines fail,

CH-53 pilots rely on an aerodynamic phenomenon

common to all helicopters called auto rotation.

As the helicopter falls,

the upward flow of air through the rotor

provides enough force to keep the blades turning,

much like a pinwheel.

The pilot will lower the collective

decreasing the angle of the blades.

This creates just enough lift

to slow the descent of the helicopter.

And in ideal conditions, allows the pilot to land safely.

[dramatic music]

- [Man] The problem with this aircraft is it's very heavy.

It falls like a rock if the engines are out.

And if you get that one shot,

it's gonna be a hard landing no matter what you do.

- [Narrator] But while the Super Stallion

carries the heaviest loads,

and the Apache can rain death on the enemy.

[missile whirring]

It's the helicopters ability to hover over a sinking ship

or a survivor floating in the ocean

that makes it an essential rescue tool

for the men and women of the US Coast Guard.

And it's this capability that sets it apart

from the planes and boats the Coast Guard uses

in conjunction with the helicopter.

- Well, the helicopter allows the Coast Guard

to do the rescue part of search and rescue.

We can always go find somebody with,

with some other kind of asset.

But the helicopter is really what lets us go out,

get somebody and bring 'em home.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] For over 75 years,

the helicopter has been an essential tool

in the Coast Guard's mission to save lives on the high seas.

[upbeat music]

At the US Coast Guard Aviation Training Center

in Mobile, Alabama,

pilots and crews learn to fly and operate

one of the most technologically advanced helicopters

in the fleet.

The MH-60T Jayhawk.

[helicopter whirring]

It's a variant of the Navy's SH-60 Seahawk.

[upbeat music]

With several key modifications

that allow it to fly in extreme weather,

to perform water rescueS.

- It's a very safe aircraft.

I know we can go out in any kind of weather,

do any kind of mission.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] These helicopters are made to take off

and fly in winds that can exceed 100 miles per hour.

[helicopter whirring]

Flying in a hurricane can be scary,

but doing it at night can be even scarier.

- We have a term, dark and stormy night,

you really have to rely on the capabilities

of the helicopter to a certain extent

because nighttime over the ocean

if there's no illumination out there, whatsoever,

it's like flying in a closet.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Pilot] Survivor is coming up.

- [Narrator] Pilots must rely on the helicopter's GPS

and infrared systems to show them where they are

and how close they are to surging waves.

The typical Jayhawk crew consists of two pilots,

a rescue swimmer.

[upbeat music]

And a flight mechanic that operates the hoist

during a rescue and maintains the rear cabin

during operations.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

The Jayhawk conducts a number of missions,

including security patrols and disaster relief.

But it's primarily responsible

for search and rescue missions.

"Modern Marvels" joined this training exercise

in the Gulf of Mexico.

- [Pilot] Guys we've been diverted to go

search for a person in the water.

We're gonna show up on scene and do a sector search

and standby to recover anybody we find in the water.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

- [Narrator] After the command center

receives a distress call, it dispatches a rescue helicopter.

Who will then either give the helicopter exact coordinates

of a ship in danger or its last known coordinates.

- The primary job of myself as a pilot

is to get the aircraft on scene.

Once we show up on scene,

the avionics system and the glass cockpit here

and this new helicopter will actually fly

the search pattern for me.

And so it me the ability to use my night vision goggles

to look out the window and actually search for the survivor

or the subject vessel that we might be looking for.

- [Pilot] Roger, looks like we found our survivor there

at two o'clock.

Let's go ahead and do rescue check part two

for free fall [indistinct] rescue swimmer.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] Once the crew spots the distressed ship

or floating survivor, the rescue swimmer gets the call.

[helicopter whirring]

- First thing that'll happen is they'll survey the scene

If the conditions are met, then the swimmer will free fall.

- [Flight Mechanic] Swimmer away.

- [Omar] Once the summer free falls

they'll go down to the victim

and based upon their evaluation,

they'll give hand signals to the flight mech.

- [Flight Mechanic] Please ready for evac two.

Recovery of the rescue swimmer and survivor.

- [Narrator] Unlike its military counterpart,

the Jayhawk is equipped with another modification,

the hoist, mounted on the right side of the aircraft

to aid in survivor rescues.

[dramatic music] [helicopter whirring]

The Coast Guard's Jayhawk also lets the flight mechanic

fine tune the rescue.

[helicopter whirring]

- This aircraft has the capability that if I need to,

I can control from the back,

small movements either left, right, forward or aft.

- [Narrator] At this point,

the flight mechanic takes control of the operation

to bring the survivor on board the helicopter.

- [Flight Mechanic] Target's at two o'clock,

beginning to hoist.

- [Pilot] Roger--

- I'm gonna hook the hoist hook to the basket

and then I'm going to send it out the door.

And I'm gonna be advising the pilot as it's going down

as to whether it's halfway down,

or holding five feet above the water.

Halfway down.

The pilot's gonna tell me to direct him to that person

and I will give commands as far as increments in feet,

where to go.

[indistinct]

Once we get to that person,

I'm going to set the basket in the water.

I'm going to advise the pilot that they're in

and ready for pickup.

- [Pilot] Survivor out of the water on the way up.

[upbeat music]

- [Jonathan] At that point I will hoist the basket.

And they'll be on their way up.

[indistinct]

[helicopter whirring]

When they get to the door,

I'll bring them inside the helicopter.

- [Narrator] The flight mechanic

will then send the basket down to retrieve the swimmer.

[dramatic music] [helicopter whirring]

Coast Guard crews are responsible

for hundreds of miles of ocean.

So fuel can be a major consideration.

- The MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter maximum load of fuel

is just over 6,000 pounds.

With 6,000 pounds of fuel,

you can probably plan on flying

for about five and a half hours.

We can go 300 miles off shore,

remain on scene for 30 minutes

and return back to where we started.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] Sometimes their missions aren't far out at sea,

but on land.

When Hurricane Ida hit the Gulf coast in 2021,

and hurricane Katrina in 2005,

the Coast Guard helicopter crews got the call.

[dramatic music] [helicopter whirring]

- And we showed up on scene in New Orleans

and we started seeing flickers of light coming from roofs

and windows and stuff.

And those were people that were trapped

in their flooded houses.

So we immediately went into a hoisting situation

where we start picking people up off their roofs.

We went to the first people we saw,

put the basket down, they even climbed in the basket,

got them in the aircraft

and then we took them to the nearest, safe place

that they weren't gonna drown.

We unloaded 'em, went right back

into the neighborhood we got 'em from

and went to the next house down the line.

We did this all night until daylight.

And in one day we would pick up over 100 people.

And I did that for the first four days straight

over New Orleans.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The Coast Guard led the way as military

and civilian helicopters saved thousands of lives.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

- [Brian] The sky was literally filled

with helicopters everywhere.

[upbeat music]

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] The US Coast Guard effectively uses helicopters

to save people from water.

But one helicopter saves people with water.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

It's called the Erickson Air Crane.

With its unique dragon fly appearance,

it's never mistaken for any other helicopter.

[upbeat music] [helicopter rumbling]

The Air Crane is built for one thing, heavy lifting.

It has two turbine engines

that provide 9,000 horsepower to the shaft.

Allowing the 19,500 pound helicopter

to carry an additional 20,000 pounds.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

This capability makes the Air Crane a perfect tool

for fighting large forest and brush fires.

[helicopter whirring]

The Air Crane can be fitted with a 2,650 gallon tank

that can be filled with a suctioning device

called the ram scoop hydrofoil

that can fill the tank in less than 40 seconds.

[upbeat music]

This tank empties over a 265,000 square foot area

and can extinguish fires that might take ground crews

precious hours to control and put out.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

- [Narrator] This is the helicopter that dominated

the civilian market for nearly four decades.

It's called the Bell Jet Ranger.

- The Bell helicopter was the first helicopter that really

was successful in the commercial market

and the ones that you see on TV, for instance,

in the old movies.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Born in 1967,

it soon became a favorite of police departments,

news stations and wealthy businessman all over the world.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

But these jet turbine driven helicopters

came with a high price tag.

By 1971, they cost nearly $115,000.

The equivalent of nearly $800,000 today.

[upbeat music]

Ex Bell engineer, Frank Robinson

decided he could make a helicopter

that would be cheaper to fly and maintain.

In 1979, Robinson Helicopters started to manufacture

the two-seat R-22.

Selling them for the same price as a high-end luxury car.

About $40,000.

[upbeat music]

Then in 1992, Robinson began selling the R-44,

a four-seat version for $235,000.

[upbeat music]

Robinson started with a cheaper, more efficient engine.

The R-22 model uses a four cylinder piston engine

instead of a jet turbine.

While the larger R-44 uses a six-cylinder engine.

[helicopter whirring]

- That is by far the most practical type of engine to use

in a small light helicopter like ours

because it burns a lot less fuels than a turbine.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] Though less powerful than a turbine engine,

the piston engine still pushes the R22

to a top speed of 117 miles per hour

and a range of almost 300 miles.

[helicopter rumbling]

The R-44 has even better performance

with a top speed of 125 miles per hour

and a range of almost 350 miles.

Finally, Robinson also introduced the R-66 in 2007.

Which seats five and has a top speed of 160 miles per hour.

[upbeat music]

- Well we've kept the design, very simple, very lightweight,

and yet very, very reliable.

The features of our helicopters are designed for efficiency,

for speed, to keep the noise level down.

And that you'd probably recognize

if you see when flying over,

it tells you that it's one of ours.

It has a tall mast.

[helicopter whirring]

The rotor is up considerably higher

than the rest of the fuselage.

And we do that because it allows us to use

a large diameter rotor,

which is more efficient than a smaller diameter rotor.

- [Narrator] The larger mast allows the blades

to extend over the aft rotor.

[helicopter whirring]

But before they fly, they all start out as nuts and bolts.

And sheet metal.

- [Frank] The raw materials come in one door

and they end up going out another door

as a finished, flying helicopter.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Nearly every part of every Robinson Helicopter

is made in house and entirely built by hand.

[upbeat music]

That process starts with cutting and shaping

the metal into specific sizes

to be sent to the sub-assemblies.

[upbeat music]

This is where all the parts are constructed

before being sent to final assembly.

[upbeat music]

Here, parts like the tail boom,

rotor blades, cabin and landing skids

are assembled into a complete helicopter shell.

[upbeat music]

- And then the helicopter is moved on its landing gear

on down the assembly line,

getting it's electrical harness installed.

Its gearbox put in and engine is installed.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] After the helicopter is

completely assembled, it's painted, flight tested

and ready for the customer to fly it home.

[upbeat music]

Of course they cost a little more now.

The R-22 sells for about $300,000.

And they R-44 for nearly $500,000.

And the R-66 will set you back over $900,000.

[helicopter whirring]

One agency that realizes the value of a Robinson Helicopter

is the El Monte California Police Department.

[upbeat music]

They maintain two R-44 helicopters

that have been converted for police use.

- You have a high candle power searchlight,

which is used to illuminate ground person at night.

We also have the FLIR,

which is the forward looking infrared,

which enables the observer to see heat signatures

on the ground at night and even during the day.

We also have a different radio package

which allows us to talk to a wide variety of police agencies

within the Los Angeles County.

And there's other equipment such as LoJack,

which has a vehicle locating device.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Even with these extra add-ons,

Robinson Helicopters operate for a 1/3 of the cost

of larger, more expensive police helicopters.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Jeff] That allows us to stay in business

and do what we do best.

[helicopter rumbling]

And that's providing a safe aerial platform

and a safe environment for the citizens we serve.

[helicopter rumbling] [upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Having that helicopter in the sky

is equivalent to having anywhere

from five to eight ground officers in the area.

It also gives the police a significant advantage.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

The police pilot relies on ground communication

to get the helicopter into the right position.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

Once he locates the fleeing suspect,

the co-pilot or tactical flight officer

directs the ground forces.

[helicopter rumbling] [upbeat music]

He will also monitor the FLIR System

and searchlight at night until the suspect is apprehended.

[helicopter whirring]

[upbeat music]

- Regardless of how much time and effort is put forth

in trying to escape from the police officers,

they already know that the helicopters is there

they're gonna go to jail eventually.

You can run, but you're only gonna go to jail tired.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

- [Narrator] The police departments

aren't the only organizations

taking advantage of Robinson Helicopters' low costs.

[helicopter whirring] [upbeat music]

- We have other versions of that same basic helicopter

which are used for TV broadcast.

So the TV stations can buy that particular model

and all the equipment for their gyro-stabilized cameras

and microwave transmissions are all built

right into the basic helicopter.

[upbeat music] [helicopter rumbling]

- [Narrator] These helicopters fly all over the world.

From Europe to Africa to New Zealand.

Look up and you just might see a Robinson buzzing overhead.

[upbeat music]

[NARRATOR] Helicopters aren't just for police forces

and the military,

some individuals and corporations

like the luxury of commuting as the crow flies.

For that, many people turn to Bell Helicopters.

- We offer any helicopter for any need.

Whether that's corporate or VIP travel

to and from the golf course and boardroom,

any of our products in our line currently

can suit any of those needs.

[upbeat music]

Once you decide on a helicopter,

Edwards and Associates is

Bell's completion house of choice.

- [Narrator] Edwards and Associates

takes a Bell helicopter like this, right off the line

and customizes it from the inside out.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

- When a customer wants to buy an aircraft

the first thing we need to know

is what kind of configuration do they need?

Is it corporate?

Is it utility, VIP?

Just what type of equipment do they need?

We figure out what would best suit

their mission requirements

and then we build the aircraft from that proposal.

- [Narrator] And that can be costly.

Up to $2 million just for customizing.

[helicopter whirring]

It starts with an 800 mile flight

from Bell's manufacturing plant.

Using only a basic instrument panel,

the helicopters make their way from Mirabel, Canada

to a facility in Piney Flats, Tennessee.

- This is what we start with when we begin our completion.

It's what we call a green aircraft.

It has no avionics, nothing installed

just the bare bone of the aircraft.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Edwards disassembled the helicopter

to start the customizing process.

The helicopter then goes into the completions hangar

where workers install the wiring and flight instruments.

- Avionics installation is done in this facility.

This aircraft is probably about 30%

into the customizing at this point.

We have begun to install all the wiring

and all the equipment.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] One piece of high-tech equipment

going into this helicopter

is what's known as a glass cockpit.

[upbeat music]

- This puts about five gauges into these two panels

and they're redundant.

So if one fails, you have the backup on the bottom.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The glass cockpit,

as opposed to the traditional analog instruments,

is just one of the avionics options

that customers can choose.

Their choices also include 3D map displays

and even an advanced warning system.

[upbeat music]

- It gives you warnings if you're getting close to aircraft

or antennas.

- [Narrator] Workers run wiring through the helicopter

to connect the instrument panel in the front

to the computer systems that control it,

placed in a rear compartment.

- After we finish the installation of the avionics

and all the wiring and we've buttoned up all the panels,

this is when we start to install the interior.

- [Narrator] Customizing the interior

starts with a plastic trim kit.

It will cover any wiring or equipment

that was previously installed.

[upbeat music]

Next comes carpet.

- And if you don't want a solid color,

we can have something such as this or this,

all we gotta do is get your design that you want,

have a computer rendering done of it

and sent to the carpet company

where they can manufacture it,

whatever your logo is, however you want it to look.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The seat covers come with the same options.

Once the customer has chosen the colors

and materials for the seats, they're handmade and installed.

- The next step is plating.

We have several examples here of some plating.

Here's some door trim,

this goes around where you open the door.

There's hundreds of colors of plating, different styles,

fresh aluminum, brush gold, whatever you would like to have.

We put reclining seats in,

add cabinets up where they could talk on the phone

or work on their laptop.

And monitors that actually would rise up.

The sky's the limit.

Anything you want to do.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] But they aren't finished yet.

The last step is the paint.

And this is where the customer

can really make the helicopter his or her own.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

In just four months, the workers at Edwards and Associates

take a helicopter straight off the line

and turn it into a hovering luxury suite.

[upbeat music]

For those who can't afford an Edwards conversion,

there's still hope.

Just do it yourself.

[helicopter whirring]

In 2021, Rotor X Aircraft Manufacturing acquired RotorWay.

Creators of an experimental helicopter

that you build on your own.

- An experimental helicopter is a helicopter

that is within easy reach of anybody to purchase

and it allows them to build the helicopter themselves.

It also allows them to invest their time

and save exponential dollars.

- [Narrator] RotorWay's innovation is a

two-seat helicopter called the A600.

[helicopter whirring]

- [Mark] It can fly as fast as 100 miles per hour.

It can reach a ceiling height of approximately 8,000

to 10,000 feet.

And it is designed to give everyone

the satisfaction of flying in a helicopter.

- [Narrator] The company makes it easy

on the garage mechanic.

They assemble some of the more complex components

for the customer, including the drive assembly,

tail boom, but most importantly, the engine.

One man who knows all about them

is helicopter flight instructor, Chris Strachan,

who built three in his hangar in Van Nuys, California.

[upbeat music]

- It's a very simple process.

They do most of the difficult stuff

and it's this 49%-51% rule.

The 49% that they do is all the difficult stuff

and then the other 51 is you just putting bolts together

and brackets and actually putting it together.

It's almost like you just need normal tools

that you have in your backyard,

that's pretty much all you need.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The idea is to carefully plan

each step of construction in advance.

All the buyer has to do is follow the instructions.

[upbeat music]

- Here are the factory we make the parts cards

where we take each part that you need,

put it on the parts card, laminate it.

[machine whirring]

Put it in your crate and you're good to go.

Each parts card has a specific label on them

with our new blueprints explain to you exactly

where each part needs to go.

- What I really like is rather than getting a box of bolts

they kind of shrink wrap them onto the card.

Each bolt with a number, exactly where it goes.

- As a first-time builder,

we supply you with construction manuals and videos

which take you step-by-step through each phrase.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The process begins with ordering

the first of four shipments of crates.

Then the customer decides when to receive the next shipment.

[upbeat music]

- When you are ready for stage two of your helicopter kit,

it will include some very high-end components,

which are the drive and main drive systems and the body.

The main drive system is a very intricate part

of the helicopter and that is the second step you will take.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The drive assembly is what links the engine

to the rotor blades.

The helicopter begins to take shape at this stage.

[upbeat music]

- Once you receive group three,

that will include your tail rotor system,

some of your main drive pulleys,

your oil system and your engine cooling system.

Four will include your engine, your rotor blades

and your ignition system.

Once you receive this final stage,

you will pretty much be able to complete your helicopter.

[indistinct]

- [Narrator] It typically takes about 400 to 650 hours

from start to finish to complete the helicopter.

- We will not allow you to go to the next stage

of your build until we feel confident

that you've reached the goal or accomplished

what we are asking you to accomplish

before the next stage is taken on.

- [Narrator] But once the helicopter is completely built,

it still can't be flown.

The customer must contact a local FAA representative

and have them look over the helicopter.

[upbeat music]

- They will take you through a sign-off procedure

where they will inspect your helicopter.

Be sure it's built correctly.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Finally, it's given an airworthiness certificate.

Then the owner is free to fly his brand new helicopter.

- Most people don't realize that

for the price of a good Corvette I can have a helicopter

that can fly pretty much anywhere.

Why even drive somewhere where you can fly?

- [Narrator] So perhaps you too

will be flying a helicopter soon.

But in this age of rapidly changing technology

flying a helicopter can also mean

you don't need a pilot at all.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Today, not all helicopters have a pilot inside.

Take the Fire Scout from Northrop Grumman.

At a length of nearly 24 feet

and a height of almost 10 feet, the Fire Scout

was developed for use by all branches of the military.

But it's the Navy that has become the primary customer.

It's linked to a ground control facility

that will give it coordinates.

Once programmed, it can fly to assigned area,

perform its mission and return home.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

It can even autonomously take off from

and land on a moving aircraft carrier.

Northrop Grumman modified a full-sized Schweizer 333

to create the Fire Scout.

It has a top speed of 145 miles per hour.

[upbeat music] [helicopter whirring]

Although the original intent was to use the Fire Scout

to provide reconnaissance,

it can be outfitted with rocket launchers

and laser-guided missiles.

But while these breakthroughs in pilotless technology

began with the military,

today, there are more than 250 companies around the world

who manufacture UAVs or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

Now anyone can own and fly these remotely operated drones,

which use that same helicopter technology.

[upbeat music]

Companies like the award-winning DraganFly Innovations

in Saskatoon, Canada are at the forefront

of this new wave of consumer drones.

[upbeat music]

The secret behind these high-tech fliers

is the carefully calibrated computer

which calculates every move the drone makes.

- It's virtually a flying computer.

There's very complicated software on board

to make it fly very stable

that typical helicopters don't have.

Flying a full size helicopter

it's like balancing a ball on a needle.

Now this is unique in that it senses acceleration and angles

and it always wants to keep level.

So right now we have full control.

We have yaw, which is this movement.

We have pitch forward, pitch backward.

And roll left and roll right.

So what I'm gonna do here is I'm going to take these sticks

and smash them around and you'll notice

how that always levels itself.

If you ever get confused or in trouble, let go of the stick.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The operator flies the DraganFlyer drone

by manipulating it six separate rotors.

- [Zenon] It changes direction by speeding

and slowing up the RPM of the individual motors.

So if you wanted to go forward,

you would speed up their rear motors to push forward.

- [Narrator] To yaw right,

he would speed up all the top motors

and slow down all the bottom motors.

On the contrary, to yaw left,

you would speed up the bottom motors and slow down the top.

- [Zenon] So just the varying RPM of the individual motors

will make this go in a different direction.

- [Narrator] A typical helicopter uses the pitch

of the rotor blades to increase speed.

This drone has a fixed pitch.

Speed is controlled by simply increasing

the power of the motors.

[drone whirring]

[upbeat music]

Drones can make anyone feel like a helicopter pilot

in a matter of hours.

It's even outfitted with safety features

that allow it to auto land if anything goes wrong.

[upbeat music]

Today, the main reason many people operate drones

is to get images from heights

that used to require a traditional helicopter.

[upbeat music]

- [Zenon] It can lift approximately 500 to 600 grams.

That's more than enough weight to carry most consumer digital

and video cameras.

- [Narrator] But the DragaFlyers size and mobility,

given many different photographic applications.

[upbeat music]

- [Zenon] The civil applications are anywhere

between aerial photography, aerial videography.

Police work, fire inspection.

Archeology.

So there's a huge range of civil applications.

We've even done studies on bird nests.

So you can actually fly it to a tree

and take photographs of birds.

- [Narrator] Drones may not have the size

of some of their helicopter big brothers,

but like them, they have the versatility

to serve in multiple roles.

From fighting in the battlefield,

to reporting traffic on city streets,

the helicopter has transformed our world.

They're a unique type of aircraft

and an indispensable tool in aviation today.

[upbeat music]