Sud Aviation SE 3130 Alouette II

SE 3130 Alouette II, as seen in Arrival (1967).

The Sud Aviation SE 3130 Alouette II (French pronunciation: ​[alwɛt], Lark) is a light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale, both of France. An Alouette II owned by The Village with registration number F-BNKZ appears in the first episode "Arrival" of the 1967-68 British television series The Prisoner.

Overview

The Alouette II was the first production helicopter to use a gas turbine engine instead of the conventional heavier piston powerplant. The Alouette II was mostly used for military purposes in observation, photography, air-sea rescue, liaison and training, but it has also carried anti-tank missiles and homing torpedoes. As a civilian helicopter it was used for casualty evacuation (with two external stretcher panniers), crop-spraying and as a flying crane, with a 500-kilogram (1,100 lb) external under-slung load.

On the side of the helicopter, on the engine compartment, the Village penny-farthing symbol appears to be covering up another emblem painted on the helicopter. In January 1967, the F-BNKZ helicopter was sold to a new owner and received the new registration number, G-AVEE. The new registration number is visible on the cockpit control panel later in the same episode when Number 6 steals it; it would seem this shot was borrowed from a later episode and inserted here in editing.

Trivia

• F-BNKZ also appeared in other productions, including the 1961-1969 TV series The Avengers, in the episode "Murdersville".