The Whirlybirds Comprehensive Episode Guide
Welcome to the Whirlybirds Comprehensive Episode Guide. At least as comprehensive as we can make it. The information included here has been taken from various fan sites as well as from personally viewing as many of the episodes as are available. The summaries have been written from that information by Rob Whitehurst, a retired 26+ year veteran of the film industry and fan of the Whirlybirds show. The summaries that he wrote also appeared at TV.com when it was still online, where Rob was an editor and contributor since its inception. They have also appeared on other sites.
The Whirlybirds flew into our television sets from 1957 to 1960. Featuring Bell 47 helicopters, Chuck Martin (Kenneth Tobey) and Pete "P.T." Moore (Craig Hill) are the owners of Whirlybirds, Incorporated, a chopper-for-hire company based in southern California. Each week, Chuck and P.T. would find themselves called on to help the local authorities in search and rescue, or fly a rich big-wig around. And of course, let's not forget the coolest of helicopters, the Bell 47, tail number N975B.
The Whirlybirds was another hit series produced by Desilu Studios and ran three seasons in syndication. The show was filmed at the San Fernando airport and at Whitman Field in and around Van Nuys, California and was conceived after a show idea from an I Love Lucy episode. Nancy Hale played Helen Carter, the firm's secretary, replacing Sandra Spence after only five on-camera appearances during the 1st season.
The Whirlybirds was the first television series to feature helicopters as it's main focus and inspired hundreds of young people to become chopper pilots in the same way that Adam 12 and COPS have inspired thousands to become police officers. The Whirlybirds was also the place of introduction for Bell's improved model helicopter, the Bell 47J Ranger, supplied for the show by Bell through California's National Helicopter Service.
© 2009-2024 Rob Whitehurst All Rights Reserved
Note
The information in this fan page has been gathered from various sources including other Whirlybirds fan sites that no longer exist. Other sources include the watching of episodes (denoted by a ✓), Wikipedia, CTVA, etc. Another defunct site is TV.com which I wrote all of the Whirlybirds summaries for and are duplicated here. All source material has been rewritten by me. RW
Special Note
"The Whirlybirds", "Chuck Martin", "P. T. Moore", and all their associated character names, episode titles, episode content and related indicia are trademarked and copyright property of Viacom Entertainment Inc. and are protected against commercial exploitation and related infringement by international law and copyright regulations. All episodes are now in the public doman.