Airwolf is a 1980s American television movie and series about a supersonic military helicopter.

The fictitious character Stringfellow Hawke (Jan-Michael Vincent ), one of Airwolf's original test pilots, is hired by "The Firm", the CIA agency that built Airwolf, to steal back Airwolf from its creator, who has taken it to Libya. However, he fails to return it, flying it from time to time to carry out undercover missions for Uncle Sam, in exchange for help from "The Firm" in finding his lost brother Saint John, a Vietnam War MIA. The series covers how the US government tries to find Hawke as he lords his new found toy over them. The series also starred Ernest Borgnine as Hawke's best friend and copilot Dominic Santini, and Alex Cord as the enigmatic director of The Firm, Michael "Archangel" Coldsmith Briggs III.

Airwolf was created by Donald Bellisario, who also created Battlestar Galactica, Magnum, P.I., Quantum Leap and JAG. It was initially a 1984 television movie that was turned into a series that ran from 1984 to 1987. It had a driving, synthesizer-based musical score penned and performed by Sylvester Levay .

The fourth season (1987) is largely regarded by series fans as subpar, as the original cast was quickly killed off, Saint John Hawke (now played by Barry Van Dyke) is mysteriously revealed to be alive and well, replacing Stringfellow Hawke as the central character, and the show's production was moved to British Columbia and its budget slashed. The crew no longer had access to the original Airwolf helicopter, and all in-flight shots are recycled from seasons 1-3. A full-size mockup was used for static shots.

The Airwolf helicopter was in actuality a Bell 222 (serial number 47085, registration number N3176S), painted black and fitted with various prop modifications, such as "turbo" jet engines and engine intakes, "chain guns" that are hidden in the wingtips, and a rocket launcher on her belly. After the first season, the producers were advised that "chain guns" is a registered trademark of McDonnell Douglas, and they would not be referred to as "chain guns" again. Other modifications were implied with foley and sets; the interior sets were of a fantastical high-tech nature, and there were implied "stealth" noise-reducing capabilities with creative use of sound effects.

After the show was cancelled the modifications were removed. The aircraft was repainted and eventually sold to the German helicopter charter company, Hubschrauber-Sonder-Dienst (aka HSD Luftrettung and Blue Helicopter Alliance), and given the registration number D-HHSD. Airwolf, as a plain Bell 222 air ambulance, crashed in a thunderstorm on June 9, 1991, killing her three passengers.

There were a number of video games created using the Airwolf name, Airwolf for the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad computers were all very popular in Europe. There were plans afoot to rename the European produced Airwolf C64 game to "Fort Apocalypse 2" but this never saw the light of day. Airwolf for the C64 was written and designed by Neil A. Bate and Chris Harvey, with graphics by Chris Harvey and Rory Green, and music by Mark Cooksey.

The first season of the series is scheduled to be released for commercial sale on DVD format on May 24, 2005.

See also

• Blue Thunder

External links

• Airwolf.org
• Airwolf Theme Tune
• German Helicopters On-line: helicopter registry (find: 47085)
• Airwolf as a German business helicopter
• Crash details
• Original episodic soundtracks, re-recorded from scratch in stereo
• "The Wolf's Lair" - quarterly fan magazine, established January 2005. Features exclusive photos and interviews.
• Blue Helicopter Alliance