Information
This helicopter was constructed in 1967 and imported to Sweden by Ostermans Aero for the Swedish National Police the same year. It was the second Jet Ranger to leave the factory floor at the Italian license plant Giovanni Agusta near Milano. It was flown to Sweden via Switzerland, Germany and Denmark in July, and soon entered service with the
Swedish Police Wing ("POLIS 942").
The helicopter was the first turbine engined Jet Ranger in service with the police. It was soon followed by the Italian Jet Rangers
SE-HPD and
SE-HPF, and a few years thereafter by the American Jet Rangers
SE-HPH,
SE-HPI and
SE-HPK. The helicopter was converted to a "B" model by the time the American helicopters started to arrive.
SE-HPB was retired from its police duties and sold to Ostermans Aero AB in 1980. It was operated by Ostermans for a couple of years before it was exported to Norway as
LN-OTI. It was first owned by a Norwegian maintenance shop in Drøbak, followed by the flight school Den Sivile Helikopterskole in Jarlsberg and later the helicopter company Skylift A/S.
The helicopter returned to Sweden in 1989, purchased by a private owner in Stockholm. It was occasionally operated by Helicopter Assistance from time to time, but in late 1991 it was sold to a new private owner.
The helicopter was purchased by the Borlänge based consultant company Rotorkonsult in 1994, and was soon exported to New Zealand.
SE-HPB spent its last seven years as ZK-HPB in New Zealand, before it was damaged in a roll-over landing during a snowy landing at Chancellor Shelf on 19 December 2002. The helicopter was substantially damaged, but it was salvaged from the site and transformed to a instructional airframe at the Air New Zealand Engineer Training Centre.
Gateguard in StockholmIn 2005 Patria Helicopters (the remaining parts of Ostermans Aero) converted a retired Navy helicopter (
06045) into a beautiful replica of
SE-HPB. The helicopter 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.