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Revised: June 20, 2010
Copyright © 1997-2010 by Jean Charles Barroux - jbarroux@LAMilitary.org
After the successful introduction of the MBB Bö-105 by the Policía Federal Argentina (PFA) and by the Dirección de Aeronavegacion Oficial de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (DAO), the Policía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (PBA) selected this excellent biturbine aircraft for a large number of missions, including MEDEVAC and SAR. So it was that on September 5, 1975 four brand new MBB Bö-105 C-2, with the next serials LQ-LSU (C/N S-207), LQ-LSV (C/N S-208), LQ-LSW (C/N S-209) and LQ-LSX (C/N S-210), entered service with the force.
Unfortunately, soon after their introduction into service LQ-LSX (C/N S-210) crashed on December 3, 1975 at La Plata with the two crew on board killed. To increase the fleet, on May 4, 1979 LQ-MOA (C/N S-395) was introduced into service as well as LQ-OMH (C/N S-432) on December 4, 1980. Sometime in 1980 LQ-LSW (C/N S-209) went into a major maintenance and has not returned to service for unknown reasons.
During the Falklands/Malvinas conflict at least one MBB Bö-105 was painted in a brown and green camouflage and detached to San Julian where it flew missions using an unknown serial, if any. There are conflicting reports on which helicopter was sent, with LQ-LSV and LQ-MOA being mostly cited. It is not even clear if one or both of them were drafted. In any case, they were used for patrol missions to avoid infiltrations or commandos missions from British forces and eventually advanced parties of an aggression from Chile. It is also unclear if they were detached to the Escuadrón Fenix of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina (FAA) or to the Ejército Argentino (EA). Last but not least, some reports have them piloted by personnel of the Ejército Argentino while others have them piloted by a couple of pilots of the force; José A. Forastiero and Fernando Soldan, which were sent with a couple of mechanicians; Juan V. Greco and Omar H. Bao. In January 1989 an unknown number of these helicopters assisted with the recuperation of the Regimiento de La Tablada taken by insurgents.
While participating of the Operativo Sol LQ-LSV (C/N S-208) crashed while taking-off due to a sudden wind that pushed the aircraft into a light pole, at Las Armas, next to the Ruta 2, on January 16, 1992 without major injuries for the four officers on-board. During 1993 two new CBS-4 units were put into service in the form of LQ-BLS (C/N S-862) and LQ-BLT (C/N S-863). But on June 8, 1996 LQ-BLT (C/N S-863) crashed at the Aeropuerto de La Plata due to bad weather. The aircraft was sent to Rotortech, in Cambridgeshire, UK, where it was rebuilt onto a brand new airframe, (C/N S-915) bought directly from Eurocopter Deuchtland at the end of August of the same year, with pieces of the crashed airframe, including the engines. Thus this aircraft changed C/N from S-863 to S-915 but maintained its S/N as LQ-BLT. This last helicopter (LQ-BLT) was rebuilt in a MEDEVAC configuration. When the Fabrica Militar of Río Tercero exploded in November 1995, LQ-OMH and a couple of unidentified Robinson R22 were sent to help.
Following the lead from the Policía Federal Argentina (PFA), and starting in 1999, the complete fleet is currently being standardized with the Allison 250-C20B engine in order to simplify the logistics and to improve the MBB Bö-105A C-2 performance, getting then to the Super Five standard. As part of this upgrade wiring and support for a GyroCam Skyball on the left and a searchlight in the front were installed to all aircraft, eventhough not all carry them at any given time. Also, a single aircraft was modified with specialized equipment to serve as a dedicated MEDEVAC helicopter. LQ-LSW is currently out of service pending major maintenance. This aircraft was our of service for all of the 90s but in 1999 it was sent to Germany to refurbish and was put back in service for a few years before getting out of service again due to technical issues.
Traditionally, they were painted white with the doors and upper part of the tail in black, with the badge and titles of the force on each side of the fuselage. Today, the black has been replaced with blue. As per the usage of the force these aircraft are identified with the C/N and with a PB-xx code, on top of the normal civilian serial. They operate normally from the La Plata airport, but can be seen overnight in any airport or police heliport of the province. These aircraft have flown up to date more than 13,500 hours with the Policía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (PBA) which is extremely happy with this reliable helicopter.
Designation: MBB Bö-105 C-2 Manufacturer: MBB, E.U. (Germany) Crew: 2 Passengers: 4 Construction: Light alloy structure with rigid titanium hub and all-composites blades Engine: 2 x Allison 250-C18 originally, but with Allison 250-C20B now Engine Type: Turboshaft Engine Thrust: 313 kW (420 shp) Rotors: 4 bladed main rotor and 2 bladed tail rotor Main Rotor Diameter: 9.82 m Main Rotor Disk Area: --- m2 Fuselage Length: 8.55 m Overall Length: --- m Height: 2.98 m Empty Weight: 1,068 kg Max. Weight MTOW: 2,300 kg Max. Weight with Sling: --- kg Max. Speed: --- km/h Max. Speed at Sea Level: --- km/h Max. Cruising Speed: 222 km/h Normal Cruising Speed: --- km/h Initial Rate of Climb: --- ft./min Ceiling: --- ft. Howering Ceiling: --- ft. Fuel Capacity: --- lts Range on Internal Fuel: --- km Range with Max. Fuel: 585 km Range with Max. Payload: --- km Combat Radius: --- km () Endurance: 4:15 Hrs Useful Load: 1,232 kg Radar: --- EW: --- Avionics: --- Weapons: --- Format: 1.0 Notes: S/N C/N Unit Built Bought Disposition Notes LQ-LSU S-207 DOAPBA --/---/---- 5/Sep/1975 -- CB-5, ex-D-HDFV, l/n 8/Nov/2009 LQ-LSV S-208 DOAPBA --/---/---- 5/Sep/1975 w/o 16/Jan/1992 CB-5, ex-D-HDFW, no killed, at Las Armas LQ-LSW S-209 DOAPBA --/---/---- 5/Sep/1975 wfu --/---/1980 CB-5, ex-D-HDFM, l/n 19/Aug/2005 LQ-LSX S-210 DOAPBA --/---/---- 5/Sep/1975 w/o 3/Dec/1975 CB-5, ex-D-HDGA, two killed, at La Plata
Designation: MBB Bö-105CBS Manufacturer: MBB, E.U. (Germany) Crew: 2 Passengers: 4 Construction: Light alloy structure with rigid titanium hub and all-composites blades Engine: 2 x Allison 250-C20B Engine Type: Turboshaft Engine Thrust: 313 kW (420 shp) Rotors: 4 bladed main rotor and 2 bladed tail rotor Main Rotor Diameter: 9.84 m Main Rotor Disk Area: 76.05 m2 Fuselage Length: 8.81 m Overall Length: 11.86 m Height: 3.00 m Empty Weight: 1,301 kg Max. Weight MTOW: 2,500 kg Max. Weight with Sling: --- kg Max. Speed: 240 km/h Max. Speed at Sea Level: 240 km/h Max. Cruising Speed: 240 km/h Normal Cruising Speed: 204 km/h Initial Rate of Climb: 1,457 ft./min Ceiling: 17,000 ft. Howering Ceiling: 5,000 ft. with ground effect and 1,500 ft. without ground effect Fuel Capacity: 570 lts without auxiliary tank Range on Internal Fuel: 555 km Range with Max. Fuel: 555 km without auxiliary tank and 961 km with auxiliary tank Range with Max. Payload: 555 km Combat Radius: --- km () Endurance: 3:24 Hrs Useful Load: 1,199 kg Radar: --- EW: --- Avionics: --- Weapons: --- Format: 1.0 Notes: Specifications for the CBS-4 submodel. S/N C/N Unit Built Bought Disposition Notes LQ-MOA S-395 DOAPBA --/---/---- 4/May/1979 -- CBS-2, ex-D-HDLK, l/n 24/Aug/2004 LQ-OMH S-432 DOAPBA --/---/---- 4/Dec/1980 -- CBS-2, ex-D-HDMF, l/n 29/Jul/2009 LQ-BLS S-862 DOAPBA --/---/---- --/---/1993 -- CBS-4, ex-D-HMBS, ex-N4294A, FLIR equipped, l/n 2/Dec/2001 LQ-BLT S-915 DOAPBA --/---/---- --/---/1993 -- CBS-4, ex-D-HMBT, ex-N31514, damaged 8/Jun/1996, rebuilt with new C/N, ex-S-863, MEDEVAC configuration, l/n 27/Dec/2008 LQ-ZYR S-737 DOAPBA --/---/---- --/---/---- -- CBS-5, ex-D-HDRY, ex-N967MB
Copyright © 1997-2010 by Jean Charles Barroux - jbarroux@LAMilitary.org
