The Aérospatiale Alouette II is a French light helicopter originally manufactured by Sud Aviation and later Aérospatiale. It was the first production helicopter powered by a gas turbine engine instead of the heavier conventional piston powerplant.
Aérospatiale Alouette II
Sud Aviation SE.3130 Alouette II ZU-ALO; Private operator in South Africa
SA 318C Alouette II Astazou at the Borderland Museum Eichsfeld in Central Germany.
A West German Alouette II Astazou patrolling the border with East Germany, 1985
Sud Aviation was a French state-owned aircraft manufacturer, originating from the merger of Sud-Est and Sud-Ouest on 1 March 1957. Both companies had been formed from smaller privately owned corporations that had been nationalized into six regional design and manufacturing pools just prior to the Second World War.
Sud Aviation SE.3130 Alouette II ZU-ALO in South Africa