AW119 Koala
ICAO A119A single-engine Leonardo helicopter now training every US Navy pilot as the TH-73A Thrasher. Live AW119 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30sAirframe
- Manufacturer
- Leonardo
- Role
- Light utility and training helicopter
- Class
- H1T — Helicopter, 1 turboshaft engine
- Crew
- 1 to 2
- First flight
- 1995
- In service
- 2000
Operators airborne
About the AW119 Koala
The Koala is the single-engine member of the AW109 family, and for most of its life it was a modest commercial helicopter for utility and air ambulance work. Then the United States Navy chose it to replace the TH-57 Sea Ranger, and it became one of the most numerous new military helicopters in service.
As the TH-73A Thrasher it teaches every American naval aviator, marine and coastguard pilot to fly rotary wing. More than a hundred and thirty have been delivered to Milton, Florida, and they generate the same relentless pattern of short training sorties that makes the T-6 so visible on this feed.
Elsewhere it remains a civil and light state aircraft, and it appears here in police and air ambulance colours as well.
Callsign prefixes
- NAVY
- US Navy training flights
- POLICE
- State and police operators
How to recognise it
- —A single-engine helicopter with a four-blade rotor and skids rather than wheels.
- —A slim, pointed nose and a tailboom that tapers sharply to a small fin.
- —US Navy trainers wear orange and white; expect them in dense clusters over the Florida panhandle.
Common questions
+ What is the TH-73A Thrasher?
The US Navy training version of the AW119. It replaced the TH-57 Sea Ranger and is now the aircraft every American naval, marine and coastguard helicopter pilot learns on.
+ How is the AW119 different from the AW109?
One engine instead of two, and fixed skids instead of retractable wheels. They share a great deal of design, but the 109 is the faster, more expensive twin.
+ Why are there so many airborne at once?
Training. A single training base flies dozens of short sorties a day, and the same airframes reappear repeatedly, which inflates the count relative to the fleet size.