N975B and N238B. Mere meaningless numbers to most people, but forever burned in to my brain as the "N" FAA registration numbers painted on the sides of the two helicopters that starred in the Whirleybirds TV series of the late 50's. The Bell 47G with the bubble canopy and the Bell Ranger with the front-sitting pilot and three pax behind him became the quintissential vertical flying machines of the day. This show is such a classic black and white icon of its time, it's hard to understand why he haven't seen it since. Where are Sky King, Sea Hunt and My Favorite Martian (where Mrs. Brown baked brownies)? Yet we have been inundated with re-runs of I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners and the Dick Van Dyke Show. I grew up with Whirleybirds, salivated over every episode while eating mac-n-cheese and orange pop, and wanted to cry when it was over. I took one helicopter flying lesson and then learned how expensive these machines are to operate. If somebody would bring back a high-quality DVD series of this show, here is my credit card number...
Review of Whirlybirds
