[High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

In my Caribbean by Night campaign, set in a modern world with emerging secret magic, conceptualized by some occultists in terms of 'Vile Vortices' where Mana is higher, powerful paranormal phenomena correlates with interference with technological devices.

Cutting-edge electronics from late TL8 tend to malfunction at the first hint of the supernatural and the less electronics a machine uses, the more reliable it will be around the supernatural. Early TL8 vehicles usually have electronic injectors and sometime computer chips, but these are not as fundamental to their function as they are in the latest designs.

Rugged and simple TL7 vehicles are often the best solution for those who want to go into Places of Power inside Vile Vortices, when Mana is flaring up and causing dangerous supernatural threats. As the campaign is set at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019, it can be difficult to keep vehicles that old in working order. Especially helicopters, of course.

I'm trying to make some decisions for the helicopters available to come to pluck 'Night Riders' (Monster Hunters) from dangerous areas.

What are some TL7 or early TL8 helicopters that are still flying in 2018 and have parts available?

And which would be useful as SAR/CSAR/TRAP/Medevac/Casevac aircraft?

I know it's hard to get some former Soviet aircraft licensed in the US, but I get the feeling that for a few years after 1991, wealthy and well-connected people could obtain all sorts of Soviet war materiel extremely cheaply.

And almost everything made before 1990 in the Soviet Union could fly even if the electronics went to hell because of powerful magical fields.

What common helicopters could do the same that could be used for SAR in United States or Caribbean islands?

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Early model Sea Kings seem to fit your bill rather well. They were developed in the early 1960s, making them firmly TL7, were widely used for SAR and quite a few are still flying. You do want a version with the original GE T58 engines, rather than the Rolls-Royce Gnomes found on British-built models, because the Gnomes have an electronic engine controller. It's analogue rather than digital, but probably won't like magical environments.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Excellent.

I could even find that one of Kessler's companies that provides logistics to offshore oil rigs owns several Sikorsky S-61 helicopters, so having at least one of crews be read-in on the supernatural should be possible.

Does anyone know how difficult it would be to obtain several UH-1 Hueys in the modern US and keep them flying?

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

According to wikipedia:

I know the Bell models have been flying for a long time, and the ones flying med-evac locally are based on the Sikorsky frame.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

The civilian versions are the Bell 204 and 205. They aren't in production any more, but they seem to be quite widely used.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

History, symbolic significance and emotional correspondence make it easier for an occultist to protect a mechanical device from the chaotic effects of paranormal phenomena. So, does anyone know if an interested buyer in the 1987 to 2018 era could have obtained Hueys used in Vietnam for a reasonable price?

And what happened to the former Israeli Hueys that Rhodesia bought?

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Early on, the organization may have acquired a couple of flying bananas (Piasecki H-21). They could carry up to 20 troops but had a rather short 425 km range. Worth noting it used a radial engine rather than a gas turbine.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Sounds interesting.

Would they have been sold as surplus from France or the US at any point between 1987-2018?

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Probably at least a decade before the start date in that time frame. That is, your organization would probably be getting them second-hand from a civilian owner.

Re: [High-Tech/Vehicles] Rugged, Simple SAR/Medevac Helicopters
 

Depends on your value for reasonable. I found several from the right time period for $500-750k, so I reckon you could get yhem a few years back for the same rates. I can't imagine they get less available the further back you go, but I can't find specific info easily.