Former Dutch Alouette III returns home

The Alouette Museum located in Barneveld, the Netherlands, has received another exhibit for its growing collection. The helicopter concerned, a Sud Aviation SE-3160 Alouette III with construction number 1390, was unloaded from a truck at the museum on 11 March 2022.

The machine faithfully served the Royal Netherlands Air Force as A-390, not only in military livery, but also as one of the helicopters in the famous ‘Grasshopper’ display team.

After a long service life, A-390 was decommissioned in and sold to France as F-GPAH.

From 2000 to 2008 the helicopter was used by the Protezione Civile in the Regione Marche, Italy as I-AIRU. Parts of this former identity can still be discerned on the fuselage of the new exhibit.

The truck also revealed the tail section of another Alouette III, SA316B YR-ELC (c/n 1909). Without any doubt the ‘cosmetic surgeons’ of the Alouette Museum will be able to perform a successful tail transplantation on A-390!

Photos: Alouette Museum and Riccardo Zanoli