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| The last and only SA 319B Alouette III of the French Gendarmerie Nationale seen coming in at Le Bourget airport on June 2, 2007, for her final rest at the Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace © H. Cariou |
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Alouette III “JBL”
of French Gendarmerie
becomes history
By Jean-Michel Guhl
in Le Bourget, France
The simple story of a famous helicopter of the French Gendarmerie Nationale became history on June 2, 2007, when Alouette III F-MJBL or simply "Juliette-Bravo-Lima" landed in front of the old Paris-Le Bourget airport terminal, a building which nowadays houses the French Air and Space Museum.
Baked by the early afternoon sun, the old Alouette III, still in very pristine condition, made a perfect lanfing on a diminutive patch of grass in front of a mixed crowd of friends, veterans, journalists and onlookers cheering the venue behind a makeshift barrier.
Having flown for over 35 years under the blue and white colours of the Gendarmerie Nationale, the SA 319B c/n 2009 is not just any rotorcraft. During her long career in metropolitan France "she" contributed to the rescue of 16,083 human lives in over 13,400 flight hours logged mostly in the French Alps, around Megève and Chamonix nearby the Mont Blanc, western Europe's highest mountain (4,808 m). During her long term of service, "JBL“ used no less than 20 successive Turbomeca Astazou XIV turbines!
Flown from Villacoublay AB south-west of Paris by a two-man crew composed of Capitaine Hervé Fabry and Adjudant-chef Didier Méraux, the machine let the whine of her Astazou engine heard for the last time when she landed for her final rest at Le Bourget where she will be preserved in the collections of the French Air and Space Museum,
Many veterans joined with current personnel of the Formations Aériennes de la Gendarmerie Nationale at Le Bourget to attend the retirement of Alouette III coded "JBL", including her very first pilot of 35 years ago, Gendarme Jean Leuvet who is now retired and could not hide his joy at seeing an old companion again, especially since this helicopter will be saved from destruction and kept for everyone to see as a testimony of service rendered to the French people by an exceptional machine flown by so many years by a small group of dedicated men, just ordinary heroes whose job is to serve or perish. Actually, "Juliette-Bravo-Lima" had 14 successive assigned pilots during her lifetime.
Alouette III c/n 2009 was originally handed over to the Gendarmerie Nationale at the Marignane production plant of SNIAS (today Eurocopter) on May 18, 1972. Her first pilot was a young gendarme, Sergent Jean Leuvet, who went on to fly some 10,000 hours with the Gendarmerie Nationale before retirement Jean Leuvet logged over 3,000 f/h on Alouette IIIIs and 800 f/h at the control of SA 319 B "Juliette-Bravo-Lima". He also flew before that Nord 3400 Norvigie and Cessna 206, as well as Alouette II, and before continuing to the ubiquitous AS 350 B Écureuil.
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| Gendarme Jean Leuvet poses in front of Alouette III c/n 2009 at Le Bourget on June 2, 2007. Just over 35 years ago he became the first pilot of this machine when he ferried it from Marignane to Megève on May 18, 1972 to serve as a mountain rescue helicopter within the Peloton de Gendarmerie de Haute Montagne © J.-M. Guhl |
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| Gérard Feldzer, director of the MAE, holds the good luck cudly toy associated for years with Alouette III c/n 2009 © J.-M. Guhl |
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| The Alouette III c/n 2009 after landing in front of the old Le Bourget airport building. The crew of this famous aircraft poses along "JBL" with former pilots and mechanics assigned to this machine since her first flight back in 1972 © author |
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| Alouette III "Juliette-Bravo-Lima" seen taking to the air again for a short hop to the reserve shop of the MAE at Le Bourget. This machine shall be preserved in working order with her engine and all avionics on © J.-M. Guhl |
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| As Colonel Jean-Thierry Daumont, head of the flying units of the French
Gendarmerie, pointed out to Gérard Feldzer, the Director of the Musée
de l'Air et de l'Espace, upon handing him the old helicopter: " What
you are now given responsability for is not just an ordinary machine,
it is a faithful old rescue helicopter which never in her 35-year time
let anybody down, nor people in need, nor her crew. In nearly 13,500
f/h "Juliette-Bravo-Lima" never had any mechanical failure while in
action. She remained a dependable helicopter up to her final flight.
This is a brilliant testimony to the design of the SA 319 B and to the
quality of the maintenance job performed by the Gendarmerie Nationale".
Amazingly enough, except for a winch change in the eighties, this
Alouette remained the same during her long career, with the addition of
a VOR, also in the eighties, and of a Garmin 100 GPS kit in 1992.
While
the days of the Astazou-powered SA 319 B Alouette III are now over with
the Gendarmerie, four Artouste-powered (SA 316 B) remain however in active service,
three in Metropolitan France and one overseas. They will continue to
soldier on in the deep blue and white livery of the Gendarmerie
Nationale until more Eurocopter EC 145s become available, as the French
Gendarmerie fleet is being standardized on two types of rotary wings, with AS 350 B Écureuil and EC
145s only. [Le Bourget - 06-02-2007]
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