Alouette III Rescue Helicopter

The Aérospatiale Alouette III is certainly one of the most known and used helicopter ever.

This French utility helicopter was developed by Sud-Aviation and manufactured by Aérospatiale of France in 1961. First used by the French military, It quickly became an essential tool for rescue missions, mainly due to its incredible stability at high altitude, its flexibility of use and that it could carry a crew + a person on a stretcher.

Generally, a civil helicopter rescue team consist of a pilot, one or two mechanics and a doctor.

My dad (now retired) was a doctor who did many years of service in the Cannes's air base Rescue Team (south of France). He struggled enormously for the democratization of this rescue system in mountains and sea, which saved the lives of many people.

Unfortunately, some of his closest friends died in a helicopter crash during a mission, which proves that the commitment of these people is total. For me, they are real heroes. That is why I had the idea to build, in their tribute, this Lego set.

The Alouette III, now slowly replaced by the EC145 (a more advanced model), is still used in many countries in diverse rescue missions. In 2011, this helicopter entered the small family of aircraft with more than fifty years of service.