HORNET
Helicopter: Observe, RecoN, Evac, Transport

The Joes were under-equipped in 1982. Sure, they had a tank, a jeep, a motorcycle and some field artillery, but they couldn't fly anywhere, and the water was out of reach as well. To remedy this, I have three custom vehicles planned to fill in the gaps: a transport plane, a landing craft and a utility helicopter. I envision these as being part of series 1.5, released after the original 1982 figures but before the 1983 run was available. The helicopter is the first one to be completed, using a World Peacekeepers MH-6 Little Bird, a helicopter frequently used by US special operations units. The original is in black, so I gave the fuselage a few coats of green drab paint, and used reproduction stickers from a variety of Joe vehicles (mostly the Retaliator). I used some waterslide decals intended to be for the Green Hornet as a vehicle logo. A custom pilot completes the set, named Slick. The HORNET would have had the same price point as the Dragonfly, and would have been worth the same number of Flag Points (4).

All parts – World Peacekeepers Combat Helicopter

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Slick
Rotary Wing Pilot

Slick is the pilot of the HORNET utility helicopter, a custom designed to fill out the ranks of the 1982 Joes, given them some much-needed equipment. Since he would have been released before the second series of figures in 1983, he's made only from parts that were already available. His filecard information is below. I took the file name from the Dragonfly sticker, which in turn was based on the designer of the Dragonfly as I understand it.

File Name: Culbert, William C.
Service Branch: Army
Rank (Grade): WO1 (W-1)
Primary MOS: Rotary Wing Aviator
Secondary MOS: Aviation Maintenance Technician
Birthplace: Hopkinsville, KY

As a teenager, Slick was a daredevil pilot of radio-controlled helicopters, buzzing other enthusiasts and generally making a nuisance of himself. He joined the Army specifically to fly choppers, and was one of the original members of the 160th Aviation Battalion, sometimes known as the “Night Stalkers”, a unit which specializes in low-altitude, high-speed night flying, an invaluable skill for a special operations unit. So when the G.I. Joe team came calling, Slick was ready to go.

Graduated: Aviation School, Ordnance Mechanical Maintenance School, Warrant Officer Basic Coutse (Aviation), Green Platoon Course. Qualified Expert: M1911A1 pistol, M16 rifle. Qualified Pilot: MH-6 Little Bird, UH-1 Iroquois (“Huey”), CH-47 Chinook, XH-6 HORNET.

“I know a lot of guys like to grab some quick chow in the air, on the way to a mission. But with Slick at the stick you're not going to be eating – you'll be flying nap-of-the-earth (NOE) at a speed you seriously question the wisdom of. Slick gets you where you need to be when you need to be there, just with knuckles a little whiter than usual.”

Head – Flash
Arms – Grunt (reproduction)
Torso – Cobra Trooper v2
Waist, legs – Clutch v2

Helmet – Breaker
Headset – Breaker (accessory pack version, modified)

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exactly what a joe toy should look like! it's both new and old at the same time in a very good way! do you have another you could tiger force

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Nicely done.

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It's hard to believe how effective the Cobra solider chest/back work to create a new character.

Amazing work.

I had one of these with pontoons on it. I’ve been looking for another one forever.

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It is a design that really fits it well with the era and fills a needed specialty.

Definitely gonna look at this one a few more times.

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Outstanding customs... I really like your pilot alot.

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