The Hughes 369D Cayuse helicopters of the 'Magnum' series and their imitators

December 11, 1980, was the day the first episode of a successful television series set in Hawaii aired in the United States.

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The series was titled "Magnum, P.I." and starred Tom Selleck as Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV, a Vietnam veteran, former Navy SEAL, and private detective who lived in a house belonging to an enigmatic millionaire named Robin Masters (whose face was never seen), accompanied by his butler Jonathan Quayle Higgins III (played by John Hillerman) and his Dobermans Zeus and Apollo. The series first aired on Televisión de Galicia on July 25, 1985 (soon to be 40 years ago). It was on that channel that I watched it for years, in Galician. In fact, I never got used to the Spanish dubbing of the series after that.

As an aviation enthusiast, one of my favorite details about the show was the frequent appearance of a Hughes 369D Cayuse helicopter, owned by Theodore TC Calvin, a former comrade of Magnum's in the Vietnam War, played by the late actor Roger E. Mosley. TC owned a company called Island Hoppers, which rented out the helicopter for tourist purposes. This Cayuse had a very original livery, with a dark brown fuselage interspersed with orange and yellow stripes.

In the title of this article, I've used the word "helicopters," plural, since there wasn't just one. According to Heliopsmag.com, three different helicopters were actually used in the series during the filming, which aired its last episode on May 1, 1988, after almost eight years on the air. The first of these was Hughes 369D cn 1080349D, registered N58243. This helicopter had long skids and floats and appeared in the credits, as noted by Sierra Hotel Aeronautics, but it met a tragic end. It appeared in the first six episodes of the first season.

A few weeks before the series premiered in the US, on November 19, 1980, N58243 crashed into the Pacific Ocean during the filming of episode 6 of the series. The helicopter was operating in an area outside of its authorized speed and altitude parameters, according to Flightsafety.org. Camera technician Robert Van Der Kar died in the accident, which injured the pilot, Robert Sanders. The investigation determined that the pilot miscalculated the altitude, leading the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to suspend his flight license for 90 days. N58243 was owned by Paradise Helicopters Ltd., based in Honolulu.

According to airport-data.com, currently, another Hughes 369D bears the exact same registration N58243, 410934D, owned by K & S Helicopters Incorporated. It is operated in Hawaii by Paradise Helicopters and bears the same livery as the series helicopter, but with the registration in larger white type. This company operates a second Hughes 369D, N8366F, with cn 270082D.

The second helicopter in the series was the Hughes 369D N1095A (cn 500701D). This helicopter was the one that appeared the most times in the series: it was the Island Hoppers aircraft from the seventh episode of the first season until the sixth season. N1095A, manufactured in 1980, is the only surviving helicopter of the three used in the series. According to Rotorspot.nl, it has changed registration several times, and is currently N716CB. It is operated by CBH Aviation in Virginia in a livery similar to the series but in black, blue, and gray.

The third helicopter in the series was N4943T, cn 1190614D, built in 1979. It appeared in the seventh and eighth seasons. This helicopter had a turbulent history. A few days after the series finale aired, on May 13, 1988, it crashed in which pilot Steve Kux was seriously injured after becoming trapped in the cockpit after falling into a ditch in Waialua. A brave Hawaiian, "Tiny" Amarel, was able to lift the front of the helicopter high enough for the pilot to be rescued. Kux lost the use of his left arm and was never able to fly again.

N4943T was recovered and had a second serious accident on June 6, 1994, while lifting construction materials for a power line tower in a mountainous area. The tail rotor became entangled in the net carrying the construction materials and the helicopter began to spin, descending in autorotation until it made a rough landing. Fortunately, there were no injuries. I don't know what happened to this helicopter after that; I have found little information by searching for its construction number.

In addition to Paradise Helicopters, there is another Hawaiian company that operates two Hughes 369Ds painted like those in the series: Magnum Helicopters. Specifically, it operates the N357MH (1171D, from 1982) and the N556MH (570143D, from 1977), as well as a van painted like the one in the series.

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Main photo: Magnum Helicopters. The Hughes 369D N357MH operated by Magnum Helicopters in Hawaii.