Helicopter Toys from Italy

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Here's a post that will focus on helicopter and rotorcraft toys made in Italy.

A number of Italian toy manufacturers released helicopter toys... I'm sure there are many more makers out there, but here's a partial list: Aerogiocattoli Brevettato, Aurelio Marchesini Bologna (A.M.Bo), Bell, Ellegi, Ingap, Lima, Mercury, Pocher - Torino, Sirio Ferrari (F.S.C.)... How many more can you add?

Here is a nice toy I recently acquired made by Bell. It's the Giostra (carousel) #280:

Bell Giostra (carousel) #280

The earliest Aerogiocattoli Brevettato (I believe) Icaro flying helicopter that I'm aware of:

Aerogiocattoli Brevettato Icaro

This is a really nice toy. I've seen it attributed to Ingap and also F.S.C.(Sirio Ferrari). I've never seen any definitive documentation...

Ingap and F.S.C.(Sirio Ferrari)?

[alas]

I have the Dux-like Icaro II MIB, in this case a beautiful box indeed:

icaro italia.jpg (23.83 KiB) Viewed 10723 times

And how about the nice little Marchesini heli's:

marchesini italia.jpg (1.88 KiB) Viewed 10723 times

and then there are very expensive ones from the Industria Nazionale di Giocci Automatici Padova Ingap, like the one below which is (march 2011) for sale for € 450:

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Here's another hard-to-find helicopter, this one is most likely made by F. S. C. (Siro Ferrari) based on the SFC-229 livery:

Sirio Ferrari SFC-229 helicopter

[Tone]

Adds a new meaning to the phrase "toy Ferrari." I have never heard of that brand before and that's a nice-looking, colorful 'copter.

[grwebster]

Great helicopter toys, most of them I have never seen.
Say, perhaps someone knows the answer to this question. Why do most modern single rotor helicopters turn counterclockwise {American- Bell, Sikorsky, MD and German, UK, Italy} while most French, Chinese, Indian, Polish and Russian turn clockwise ?

[alas]

GR, check out this site:
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/he ... 212b.shtml

[grwebster]

Excellent site, and thanks. So there is no one reason. Licensing played a major role.
But I know Sikorsky's first prototype {the one with multiple rotors for vertical control on the tail in addition to the anti torque one} was counterclockwise but changed to clockwise.
Cierva, the 'father' of rotary flight had all his counterclockwise.
A mystery.

[hovermd]

I've flown examples of both - the tricky part is remembering which pedal to push when you add power!!

Here's me in an AH-1F circa 1994 - rotor rotates counter-clockwise:

AH-1F circa 1994

And, me in a HH-65C in 2007 - rotor rotates clockwise:

HH-65C in 2007

[grwebster]

Mark, and which one to push during an autorotation!
here is me in a Bell Uh-1 C 'Charlie' model Gunship, Plain of Reeds, Vietnam, August 1968
Counterclockwise! Good times!

[hovermd]

Mark, and which one to push during an autorotation!
here is me in a Bell Uh-1 C 'Charlie' model Gunship, Plain of Reeds, Vietnam, August 1968
Counterclockwise! Good times!

This photo of GR is FANTASTIC!!!