Aérospatiale Gazelle

what is it?

The Aérospatiale Gazelle (company designations SA 340, SA 341 and SA 342) is a five-seat helicopter developed and initially produced by the French aircraft company Sud Aviation, and later by Aérospatiale. It is the first helicopter to feature a fenestron tail instead of a conventional tail rotor, as well as being the first helicopter to be adapted for single-pilot operations under instrument flight rules. The Gazelle was developed during the 1960s as a successor to the Alouette II as well as to meet a French Army requirement for a new lightweight observation helicopter.

🔎How to recognise it: 1 turboshaft engine · 10.5 m main rotor

base stats

• speed 310 km/htop speed
• range 361 kmwithout refuelling
• seats 4passengers
• size 1,800 kgmax take-off weight
• built 1,775made in total

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 59 years ago, in 1967.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.4× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Rotor of 10.5 m: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.

turboshaft: A turbine that turns a shaft, usually a helicopter rotor.

spec sheet

first flight

1967-04-07

introduced

1973

status

still flying

number built

1,775

role

utility helicopter / armed helicopter

origin

🇫🇷 France

makers

Airbus Helicopters, SOKO, Aérospatiale

engines

1× Turbomeca Astazou IIIA

crew

1

passengers

4

length

12 m

rotor diameter

10.5 m

height

3.2 m

max take-off weight

1,800 kg

top speed

310 km/h

cruise speed

264 km/h

range

361 km

ceiling

5,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.