Richard Deacon "Mr. Singleton" refers to poncherello as Francis, Richard Deacon also played the father of a kid named Francis "lumpy" Rutherford on Leave It to Beaver, but would never use the nickname Lumpy.
The helicopter guest star was, of course, not an actual CHP aircraft. N59539 was a privately registered 1970 Bell 206B Jet Ranger II that flew up until September 2005 immediately following Hurricane Katrina. While on a charter flight to survey the damage along the Mississippi River, the pilot lost control and crashed in the water. All occupants were able to swim to shore, but the craft quickly sank. As of 2010, the registration was struck from the record. Even now, it is considered to be unrecoverable and permanently lost.
In the closing sequence while speaking to the school kids about his adventures as an officer, Ponch pantomimes having drawn and pointed his gun using his fingers. In the entire run of the series, his character never drew his gun.
The actors playing the burglars, Jerry Ayres and Bebe Kelly, were born one year apart in the same month, Ayres in September 1936 and Kelly in September 1935. Each lived to age 76, and they died 15 months apart with Ayres dying in May 2013 and Kelly in February 2012.
Unlike the usual plot formula, the first pursuit ends with the driver being captured.