Whirlybirds

American TV series

Whirlybirds (sometimes called The Whirlybirds or Copter Patrol) is a syndicated American drama/adventure television series, which aired for 111 episodes — broadcast from February 4, 1957, through January 18, 1960. It was produced by Desilu Studios.

The program features the exploits of Chuck Martin (Kenneth Tobey) and Pete "P. T." Moore (Craig Hill), owners of a fictitious helicopter chartering company, Whirlybirds, Inc., in the Western United States. Martin and Moore sell their services to various clients at the fictional airport Longwood Field. The Whirlybirds series was, like I Love Lucy, The Untouchables, and later Star Trek, a product of Desilu Studios. One particular episode of I Love Lucy, Number 140, became pivotal to the Bell 47's public image as the definitive light helicopter of the 1950s. In No. 140, titled "Bon Voyage" and first aired on CBS on January 16, 1956, Lucy Ricardo misses the sailing of her trans Atlantic ocean liner and commandeers a friendly pilot of a Bell 47G to fly her to the ship; Jack Albertson guest stars in this episode. Down she goes on the hoist, in a studio sequence carefully staged using a 47G cabin mockup. Desilu Studios, intrigued by the Bell 47 and its manufacturer, began discussions with Bell Aircraft about how the entertainment potential of the Bell 47 might be further developed for a television audience. The result of this collaboration became The Whirlybirds. Tobey and Hill did not fly the helicopters on the show. That task was handled by professional helicopter pilots Ed Fuderich, Bob Gilbreath, and Harry Hauss of National Helicopter Service, Inc.

After production of the series ended, Kenneth Tobey reprised his role as Chuck Martin in episode #223 of the long running television series, Lassie. Titled "The Rescue", the Lassie episode was broadcast on October 2, 1960. Chuck Martin uses a Bell 47G to rescue a trapped Timmy Martin (Jon Provost).

The series was originally supposed to air on CBS, but was instead put into syndication by CBS Films. Series filming started in 1956. The first four episodes were titled The Whirlybirds and the rest simply Whirlybirds. Many episodes were directed by Harve Foster and Robert Altman. The creators were Art Napoleon and Jo Napoleon. Assistant Directors Bruce Bilson and Sid Sidman handle 2nd unit filming. The series was filmed on location in California. The production first used the Santa Susanna Airport in Simi Valley. The airport, no longer in existence, was near the Iverson Movie Ranch, a dude ranch used to film westerns. Later episodes were filmed at the San Fernando Airport, which is also now closed. Much of the open area seen around both airports in the series has since been developed.

The two helicopter types used were Bell models, a 47G and a 47J Ranger; the tail numbers were N975B and N2838B (and N1538B as back up), respectively. In reality, many helicopters played the role of N975B. Other Bell 47Gs owned by National Helicopter Service were used in the filming with "N975B" decals covering their actual registrations.

CBS Television Film Sales spent more than $1 million to promote Whirlybirds. Promotions ran in 100 markets. Related events included a Miss Whirlybirds beauty pageant, a helicopter air show, and premier parties in some cities.

No officially authorized DVD sets are available. The U. S. National Archives possesses a complete set of original 16 mm prints. The original 35mm film prints of the series are no longer available; unfortunately, extant video copies are inferior with poor contrast/low resolution images, some emulsion scratches, and with 16mm projector film gate dirt visible in the frame corners. Considering the many generations of dubs made of this series, the soundtracks of most episodes remain in relative high fidelity.

After production of Whirlybirds ended, CBS returned 39 of the 111 episodes to syndication and retitled the series, Copter Patrol.

In the United Kingdom, it was shown by the BBC in the late 1950s and early 1960s and repeated in the 1970s and 1980s. In Italy, RAI dubbed many episodes in the early 1960s with the title Avventure in elicottero. It was broadcast in Japan in the early 1960s sponsored by Sony electronics and featured a Japanese registered Bell 47J with "Sony" on the doors in a special introduction.

A review of the premiere episode in the trade publication Variety complimented Tobey and Hill as "a couple of appealing heroes" and said that except for the use of a helicopter it seemed to be "a routine adventure series".