A most excellent post, and thanks for sharing. Wondering about the current owner of the chopper and where it's at if on regular display year-round by chance
That helicopter doesn't have windows above the rear doors like TC's did:
I don't know how many different helicopters were used on the show to
portray TC's helicopter, and I don't know if they all had windows above the
rear doors. I wonder if those windows were simply optional, or if they
indicate a different variant.
ROGER E. MOSLEY IN LAS VEGAS TUES MARCH 5TH!!
Roger will be at Heli-Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center THIS TUESDAY! Come to the Phoenix Heliparts booth at 11:30 AM for an exciting unveiling of a Magnum PI helicopter replica. There will be photo ops and autograph signings throughout the day! Roger will be with Magnum co-star Larry Manetti! Don't miss this one!
This chopper will be used for tours based out of Turtle Bay Resort run by Paradise Helicopters the quote below is taken from Turtle Bay Resorts facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/turtlebayresort
Magnum, P.I. alumni Rick (Larry Manetti) and T.C. (Roger E. Mosley) had over the keys to "The Chopper" to Paradise Helicopters CEO Calvin Dorn. Also present are Darin and Tina Cannon from Phoenix Heliparts who built the helicopter. "The Chopper" is slated to return home to the North Shore of Oahu and is scheduled to be available for departures from the Turtle Bay Resort sometime in April.
There were predominantly only 3 helicopters that depicted T. C.’s Island Hopper, helicopter on Magnum P.I.'s eight seasons.
N58243
N1095A
N4943T
With the oddball being a 500C with the fake N58243 registration number.
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N58243 with the emergency floats on its skids, crashed during S1, then N1095A, replaced it.
N1095A was THE most used helicopter in the series, appearing in Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
In season 5, in a memory sequence T. C. is shown flying for another company, Ken Enderlin Charters, (which had a rainbow in its emblem; hence T. C.’s rainbow suspenders.)
The Enderlin helicopter was a light blue and white, a Hughes 500C (369HS), with the registration of N9267F.
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Also. During filming of “Birds of a Feather” for filming aerial sequences, in California, of the bi-plane, N58428 May have been used as a camera ship.
Therefore; N58428 has the notation “film work, Magnum P. I.” in its logbook, which had been miscontrued by a lot of people over the years.
N58428 which was owned by JetCopters in Van Nuys, California may have been used as a camera ship in other episodes.