VH-UTL  Bell 47D-1                                          (c/n  35)

                              

                                  No doubt you have concluded by now that rotary wing craft are not my favorite beasts.  Nevether-
                                  less they are civilly registered aircraft and hence I must include them     These two shots were taken
                                  by Greg Banfield at Mascot in October 1964 and depict the first -UTL in the service of Helicopter
                                  Utilities both on the ground and in the air.   Like its sister ship VH-UTK, this chopper came in from
                                  New Zealand where it had been the first rotary wing machine registered, ZK-HAA,    It was originally
                                  built at Buffalo as NC181B in 1947 (long before the Helicopter Division of Bell Aircraft moved to
                                  Fort Worth).      No longer current, the active VH-UTL is another Bell, but is now a sleek 206L-1
                                  LongRanger.