Aérospatiale Gazelle

Originally developed as a replacement to Aérospatiale’s Alouette helicopter, some aspects of the Gazelle such as its purpose and layout were based on the previous model.

The Gazelle featured several important innovations.

It was the first helicopter with a fenestron or fantail, this is a shrouded multi-blade anti-torque device housed in the vertical surface of the Gazelle’s tail, where it replaces a conventional tail rotor.

Specifications

Crew

1 or 2

Capacity

Up to 3 or 4 passengers

Length

11.97 m (39 ft 3 in) including rotor

Height

3.15 m (10 ft 4 in) overall

2.72 m (8 ft 11 in) to top of rotor hub

Empty weight

917 kg (2,022 lb)

Max take off weight

1,800 kg (3,968 lb)

Fuel capacity

735 l (194 US gal; 162 imp gal)

Oil

13 l (3.4 US gal; 2.9 imp gal) for engine

3.5 l (0.92 US gal; 0.77 imp gal) for gearbox

Powerplant

1 × Turbomeca Astazou IIIA turboshaft, 440 kW (590 hp)

Main rotor diameter

10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)

Main rotor area

86.5 m2 (931 sq ft)

NACA

0012 section

Performance

Maximum speed

310 km/h (190 mph, 170 kn) at sea level

Cruise speed

264 km/h (164 mph, 143 kn) max cruise at sea level

Economical cruise speed

233 km/h (145 mph; 126 kn)

Range

361 km (224 mi, 195 nmi) at sea level with maximum fuel

Range with pilot and 500 kg (1,100 lb)

233 km (145 mi; 126 nmi)

Service ceiling

5,000 m (16,000 ft)

Hover ceiling IGE

2,850 m (9,350 ft)

Hover ceiling OGE

2,000 m (6,600 ft)

Rate of climb

9 m/s (1,800 ft/min) max at sea level

Disk loading

19.5 kg/m2 (4.0 lb/sq ft)

Armament

Guns

2x forward-firing 7.62 mm (0.300 in) machine-guns (optional)

Rockets

Matra or Brandt 2.75 in (70 mm)

Or

68 mm (2.7 in) rocket pods (optional)

Missiles

4x AS.11 or 2x AS.12 wire-guided missiles

4x or 6x Euromissile HOT (optional)

Avionics

UHF, VHF, and HF radios; navigation equipment such as VOR and TACAN; Standard blind flying instruments.