06045

Information

This aircraft was constructed at the Italian Giovanni Agusta plant near Milano in 1970. It was the second Jet Ranger in a batch of 10 helicopters ordered by the Swedish Navy. The helicopter was delivered to Sweden in July 1970, together with 06046.

Y-45 served with the Swedish Navy for 28 years before it adopted by the new joint fleet of the united helicopter command "Swedish Armed Forces Helicopter Wing" (Försvarsmaktens Helikopterflottilj). The unit merged the helicopter operations of the Navy, Army and Air Force into one combined force. The structural change had no substantial impact on the Naval Jet Ranger fleet other than welcoming new crew members from other military branches and adding a slightly wider range of operations, like tactical land-based missions.

The Naval Jet Rangers (HKP6 "B" models) were mainly used for reconnaissance operations, lighter transport flights and crew training towards the end of their career. The fleet of HKP6Bs was retired in 2003. Y-45 was placed in storage at Berga Heliport in Stockholm.

Gateguard in Stockholm
In 2005 Y-45 was transported to Patria Helicopters maintenance facility at Arlanda Airport in Stockholm. It was put through an extensive make-over process, were it was converted into a beautiful replica of a police Jet Ranger. The police helicopter in question (SE-HPB) was the first Jet Ranger to serve with the Swedish Police Wing, but it was later retired and sold to New Zealand, where it crashed in 2002. Y-45 was painted identical to HPB, and it was mounted on a pedestal in front of the police museum in downtown Stockholm (opened in 2007). It is a common misunderstanding that this aircraft is SE-HPB, but that is not true - SE-HPB still remains in New Zealand.