Italian Helio Courier

[Catbird]

Good evening, I'm researching the Helio Courier MM 91001 of the Italian Air Force. According to an FAA document, it appears that it was sold to Italy in 1965 but in 1964 it had had a serious accident in a parking lot at Ciampino. Before the accident it had code SM-24 after the accident SM-19. The construction number of the aircraft on the FAA file is 529. The plate on the aircraft undergoing restoration in Latina Museum says H 391 and not H 395. I am sure there were two aircraft in charge of the Italian SIOS (Military Secret Service), which arrived in two different periods. Do you have any news? As soon as the restoration is finished, I will send you some photos.

Guglielmo Guglielmi

[Foster]

The information from this site has been compiled by Doug Johnson, one of the finest researchers I have come across.

https://flyhelio.com/smf/index.php?topic=784.msg5209#msg5209

https://flyhelio.com/smf/index.php?topic=637.msg3531#msg3531

[Catbird]

Good morning everyone, from recent official documents I can add some corrections to the story being told. The Italian Helio initially operated with aluminum coloring and in the final part of its career with camouflage. The aircraft was not scrapped but remained in various warehouses until 2020 and is now expected to be restored. The aircraft Doug is talking about is certainly the one that flew to the USA with civilian registration and turned over to Italy in 1965, but in 1964 another Courier was crashed at Ciampino (during an engine test the aircraft passed the heels and collided under a Convair, suffering serious damage, probably written off). It had SM-24 codes and could not have been the SM-19 (still flying in the USA). Are you sure it came from the AIR AMERICA fleet? Any other information you can give me will be very useful for my research. Thank you
Guglielmo