Location: ANR/EBAW

Photo: collection Skystef

Description: this second hand helicopter was on May 10 1985 registered to Van Cauwelaert Helicopters (V.C. Helicopters), handed over a day earlier and in coöperation with Heli-Samu. Latter was a non-profit organisation which was established on December 5 1984 with the helicopter being based at Sint-Pieters-Leeuw (where V.C. Helicopters was based). It was used for medical flights, here depicted with their titles and the Belgian emergency health & fire brigade number "900" (which later in the eighties changed to number "100"). It carried also additional "V.C. Helicopters" titles (see also upper left inset) and was baptized "Angel 1". On January 16 1987 it was cancelled from the register but on the same day re-registered as "OO-VCY" for the same users.

Location: -/EBBT

Photo: collection Skystef

Description: in December 1987 the Belgian government refused the integration of the organisation into the "100" service compromising the future development of Heli-Samu. A dispute with V.C. Helicopters meant that the coöperation with them was terminated and above all the helicopter had to go back to Germany for much needed maintenance temporary suspending the operations of Heli-Samu from April 1988 onwards. That month it was cancelled from the register reverting to its previous German registration "D-HBND", here seen such on a demonstration for the Belgian Army still in the full outfit of Heli-Samu just before its maintenance check.

Location: -EBDT

Photo: collection Skystef

Description: a renewed agreement with the Belgian government meant operations could restart in August 1988 with other sponsors and moving its base to Brussels Airport and a hospital in Anderlecht (Belgium). On December 8 1988 the heli re-appeared in the Belgian register as "OO-XCY" on name of the German manufactor Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm in coöperation with Omni Discipline Emergency Medical Aid (ODEMA). The airframe (was meanwhile converted from version 3 to 4) was this time leased from the manufactor itself for a period of one year starting from November 24 1988 onwards, here seen such carrying New Heli-Samu titles and also Sabena titles with logo which was noted for the first time in July 1989 as the maintenance was done by Sabena Technics. In December 1989 the Belgian government decided to cease the subsidies for medical heli transports thus ending in January 1990 the story of Heli-Samu. On March 19 1990 it was cancelled from the register going back to the manufactor as "D-HBND".