HH-65 Dolphin

The U.S. Coast Guard's Dolphin is a search-and-rescue (SAR) helicopter with a French-designed rotor system and airframe and a U.S.-designed and -built engine. It is based on the French SA 365/AS 565 Dauphin 2 utility helicopter (see separate database entry).

The Dolphin features a four-blade Starflex composite, hingeless rotor head; a ball joint on the hub end of each fiberglass rotor blade substitutes for the traditional hinges.

The tail configuration is the relatively unusual...