#2196
Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin
🇫🇷 France ·first flew 1980· search and rescue helicopter
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6 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. USCG MH-65C Helicopter 6608 photo Don Ramey Logan: Don Ramey Logan· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 2. HH-65C Cutter Dolphin (3): Stingray, the Helicopter Guy· Public domain
- 3. HH-65C Cutter Dolphin (4): Stingray, the Helicopter Guy· Public domain
- 4. HH-65C Dolphin: Master Sergeant Rick Cowan, United States Coast Guard (USCG)· Public domain
- 5. MH65E Hover: RotoHead1790· CC BY-SA 4.0
- 6. Two coast guard HH-65C Dolphin helicopters: PAC Dana Warr.· Public domain
what is it?
The Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin is a twin-engined helicopter operated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) for medevac-capable search and rescue (SAR) and armed Airborne Use of Force missions. It is a variant of the French-built Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin (SA366).
How to recognise it: 2 turboshaft engines · 11.9 m main rotor
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 46 years ago, in 1980.
- Top speed is 2.6× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Rotor of 11.9 m: about 3 cars parked nose to tail.
turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1980
- introduced
- 1985
- status
- still flying
- number built
- 102
- role
- search and rescue helicopter
- origin
- 🇫🇷 France
- makers
- Aérospatiale
- engines
- 2× Turbomeca Arriel 2C2-CG
- crew
- 2
- length
- 11.6 m
- rotor diameter
- 11.9 m
- height
- 4 m
- max take-off weight
- 4,300 kg
- top speed
- 333 km/h
- cruise speed
- 241 km/h
- range
- 658 km
- ceiling
- 5,486 m
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q972242, Wikipedia: Eurocopter MH-65 Dolphin (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.