Aircraft Information
> Aircraft Make: Eurocopter (now Airbus) Model: AS350 Nickname: Écureuil (Squirrel)
> Aircraft Mil Civ Description: Helicopter
> FAA Category and Class: Rotorcraft/Helicopter
> Engine Description: singe or twin turbine
Aircraft Experience
> As of: 7/26/2026
> Number of Hours Flown: 13
> Number of Times Flown: 10
> Other Aircraft Models Associated: AS-350, AS-355
First Flown Information
> Sequence First Flown: 102
> Date First Flown: 3/2/2000
> Location First Flown: Boscombe Down, UK
> Who and/or What Organization First Flown With: ETPS, pilot not recorded
Recollections: In researching the “official nickname” for this writeup, I found “Ecureuil” and wondered “what does that mean?” The answer: it’s french for “Squirrel”. I KNEW that the aircraft was called the Squirrel but I THOUGHT that was because it was squirrelly to fly. More research to date doesn’t reveal why it got that name, or if Squirrel (and the associated verb) means the same thing in french.
It’s not really that the helo is that squirrelly, but it does move around quite a bit, particularly in the hover, and it very light on the controls. This means its very maneuverable but also (for a relatively new helo guy at the time) is perceived as somewhat difficult to precisely control.
My first flight in the squirrel was in an AS-355 “Twin Squirrel” at the Empire Test Pilot School (during a DT-II visit).
As an FAA test pilot, I flew three projects on the AS350, an engine monitoring system, an autopilot, and an external load monitoring system. Learned a lot about helicopter autopilots and other avionics.
(c) Bob Stoney
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