4222 medical helicopter

[playmofire]

I finally had the opportunity tonight to photograph the medical helicopter.

To start with, the box front and back.  As you'll notice, the set comes with fewer accessories than the previous yellow SAR helicopter.  There are no medical items (first aid case, oxygen cylinder and blood transfusion unit), no patient with plaster casts and bandages, and no third (medical) crew member.  However, on the bright side, the helicopter has some features not found on the previous model, is more realistic in some areas and only costs the same as the previous version.

One thing that struck me as very good were the two stickers for the control panels.  I must say that the photos probably don't do them justice as the "chequer" pattern doesn't show up in real life.

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A new piece, however, is the card helipad which is a nice point of detail and is itself nicely detailed.  I can imagine that in time the printing is going to wear off on the fold, and so maybe it would be a good idea to either scan or photograph the original when new and use a print of the photo or scan for play purposes.

The helicopter has been completely upgraded and is now a twin jet-engined model with a rear horizontal and vertical stabilisers.  The tail rotor is held on by a red pin, but I have misplaced it so it's not shown on the photo.  (Must remember to put one on this month's DS order!)

A pic of the East Anglian air ambulance is shown as a comparison between the model and the real.

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Unlike the fuselage of the previous helicopter which was virtually impossible to disassemble, the new version has a fuselage which is screwed together.  This is because a new feature is a gear system which causes the main rotors to rotate by pressing a lever on the body.

The jet exhausts are roof mounted, and an additional detail touch is the shaping on the ends of the rotor blades.

I'll leave it there for now as it's late.  More to come tomorrow.  Thanks for your time so far.

[playmofire]

Underneath the fuselage is a hook (as on the previous helicopter) for carrying loads.  You can also see the undercarriage skids which I found extremely difficult to attach.  Also under the fuselage is a spotlight which can be traversed and pivoted vertically.

The winch attachment has some new features.  The bracket which attaches to the helicopter body has a hole pierced in it to take the hook on the winch line when the winch isn't in use.  The winch itself has a small warning sticker to attach warning that no more than two persons should be lifted at a time.  The rope and hook on the winch come ready attached with a curved "sleeve" in place to prevent the rope unwinding.  This curved "sleeve" has to be removed before using the winch.  It is useful to keep it for when the helicopter is stored away.

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The cockpit cover opens forward for access to the crew area and is fully glazed.  The side doors open to the rear (on the real helicopter, they slide open to the rear, and the rear opening on the Playmobil version is a neat and effective representation of this).

At the rear there is a rear door which folds down and which also provides a stowage point for a fire extinguisher.  This strikes me as an odd place for the piece of equipment, but some compromises have to be made in what is, after all, designed as child's toy.

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Two crew come with the helicopter.  They are both the same apart from their hair colour -  one has brown hair and one black.  The front of the uniform has nice detailing, with the back being plain.  The helmet is a new design and at first I thought that the raised ridge represented a sun visor and so should be smoked in colour.  However, finding some pictures of helicopter pilot helmets on the web showed Playmobil's detailing accurate.

There is room in the rear compartment for a third (medical) crew member, and I was planning to buy the doctor from the 4223 medical car for this purpose, together with a helmet and radio headset.  However, he is wearing a separate orange waistcoat and this may prevent the winch harness fitting, so a bit of experimenting with one of the ambulance crew is necessary first.  I'll give feedback on the results and my final choice of figure.

In front of the medic's seat there is an area with a raised edge, and this is just the right size to take the medical equipment unit from the 4223 ambulance car.  It's a bit of a job to maneouvre it in, but it fits fine and presumably the two models were designed with this in mind.

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With still more careful finger work, it is possible to set the gear from the ambulance car up so that a blood drip or a saline drip can be operated.

The stretcher which comes with the helicopter is the rescue basket type, but the stretcher from the ambulance can also be used in its place (for example, when the helicopter attends an RTA and lands on or near the motorway so no rescue role is involved), while with again more careful finger work the incubator can be fitted in the space for the stretcher.

I have made one slight change to the set by adding a hand grip to the winch rope so that the stretcher and a crew member can be winched together.  The hand grip can also be used by a crew member in the doorway to hold the stretcher clear of the helicopter body during the winching process.

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Overall, I'm very pleased with this new addition to the range.  The downside is the lack of smaller medical items such as medical cases and other equipment.  The gear from 4223 fills this gap to some degree, although a small hand case would also be useful.  Maybe a couple of these could be stowed in the rescue stretcher; I'll look into it.

Thanks for your time and interest in reading this thread.  I hope to post a short photostory next week showing the helicopter and ambulance and incubator in use, together with one of the custom LF8 fire engines.

[Tim_w]

Another wonderfull and very thorough review Gordon. I really appreciate the time you take photographing all the details and especially the way you offered some alternative load outs towards the end. You answered a couple of the burning questions that i had about this helicopter: 1) Will the ambulance stretcher fit and 2) Is there room for more equipment. Thanks to your review i have discovered the answers to my questions and more. A substantial amount of this years budget has been set aside for investment in klickie health care Thanks to your wonderfull review a manufacturer for our new fleet of Ambulances and Air Ambulance has been chosen

Kindest Regards  Tim 

[Richard]

Thank you for a very thorough review, Gordon ...

Seems like the subject matter of your reviews are bringing back lots of old memories for me. This one took me back to my SAR days with the Us Coast Guard.

Thanks again and all the best,
Richard