Whirlybirds - Episode Guide

After finishing up an aerial photography assignment which involved documenting a forest fire, Chuck and P.T. get hired to look for a store owner's missing father-in-law, who as a "weekend" uranium prospector had previously found some high level ore. Upon landing in the area, the pilots are met first with verbal resistance from two shady characters and once back in the air, gun fire.

The circus has come to town, but their resident gorilla, Congo, is ailing and not able to perform. When his trainer tries to give him a shot of penicillin, the ape escapes and runs into town, causing terror among the residents. Chuck and P.T. take to the skies to track the sick animal.

Dave Williams is angry at the way his older brother has been treated by the law. To draw attention to this situation, he climbs to the top of a local building with a rifle. He gets a lot of attention quickly, including that of a newspaper journalist who smells a good story. The reporter gets P.T. to fly him up to the roof so that he can interview the troubled young man and at first, it looks like the boy is ready to give up. Only the newsman knows that the longer he keeps the kid on the roof, the better the story becomes. Will this help the youth, or lead to disaster?

In what seems like a routine day, the Whirlybirds' radio suddenly crackles with an SOS call. Three mountain climbers are being hemmed in by an out-of-control forest fire, with one man seriously injured and the other two in bad condition. Chuck and P.T. first try to find the men, and then must decide if they are even able to attempt a rescue.

A mining company contacts Whirlybirds, Inc. with a desperate need. There is a child in their construction office up in the mountains who is very ill and in need of a negative pressure ventilator known as an iron lung. In route to the remote location, a fierce storm buffets the Bell 47G and threatens to bash the respirator against the side of the mountain.

One of the Whirlybirds, Inc. most popular hires is during hunting season, when they will typically fly a sportsman into a remote area to hunt wild game. One such trip involved a classy dressing man by the name of Malloy, who hires P.T. and Chuck to fly him up into the mountains for the weekend. The pilots soon meet another man named Sandy who approaches them for help. He tells them that Malloy is not there to hunt game, but the prey is a man.

On a routine flight as couriers of serum to a hospital, Chuck and P.T. fly over a young boy all alone way up in the foothills of a mountain range. As they watch the young man from the air, he appears to be disoriented so they land to see if he is okay. When they discover that he is delirious, they load him in the Bell 47G and take him to the hospital. After he is treated for shock and heat exhaustion, only then do the pilots learn from him that he was part of a threesome who were camping. Chuck and P.T. now must rush back into the air to see if they can learn the fate of the other two.

Three escaped prisoners force the pilots' secretary, Janet Culver, to hand over the keys to an aircraft, knock her unconscious, and make their airborne escape. The prison warden arrives and fills Chuck and P.T., just back from a mission, in on the situation. Chuck and P.T. go after the prisoners while the warden awaits news back at the office. Meanwhile, the convicts are forced to come back to the airfield because they are running low on fuel! After replenishing, they discover the warden alone in the Whirlybirds office, take him hostage, and try their escape once again.

Chuck and P.T. are accused of smuggling diamonds into Mexico. A helicopter marked with their registration number, N975B, was seen there on the same day the diamonds were smuggled across the border. The pilots have an alibi and give the agents a client's address, confident the client will vouch that they had taken him on a fishing trip. Unfortunately, the address turns out to be a vacant lot! Now it's up to Chuck and P.T. to clear their name as they proceed to search for their missing "client".

A man takes the law into his own hands and shoots a deputy who has come to evict him and his wife from their cabin. The man who wants the couple evicted starts a mob riot in the name of vengeance for the shooting. A newspaper man hires Chuck and P.T. to take him to the place of action. The pilots, along with the reporter, try to convince the hunter to surrender. He does surrender and the pilots start to take him to the authorities, but are spotted by the lynch mob and become objects of the crowd's fury.

Ben Carling hires the pilots to take him on a hunting trip. Ben claims he wants to kill some predators stalking local sheep herds. Chuck and P.T. sense there is more to the story though, as the man is too tense, too focused on the hunt. As the adventure unfolds they learn that, Ahab-like, Carling is intent on killing a certain mountain lion because he lost one of his hands in an earlier encounter with the animal.

The pilots have a new pupil, Linda Watson. She is attractive and very charming, and soon learns enough about their Bell 47 to be able to fly solo. Departing on her solo flight, she starts flying the wrong way! Ignoring all orders on the radio to come back to the airport, Linda heads for a nearby prison to help her boyfriend escape. P.T. and Chuck must chase down the woman and her boyfriend.

The pilots are hired by a wealthy businessman to fly through some rough weather and bring "medical supplies" to his mountain retreat. P.T. and Chuck are not happy when the so-called "medical supplies" turn out to be a box of cigars! With the weather closing in, they decide to stay overnight and return to Longwood Field the next morning. In the meantime, they befriend the businessman's seven year old son and promise to take him flying in better weather. But next morning they wake to discover that the boy has set out to climb a dangerous mountain top on his own.

Chuck and P.T. agree to deliver a solid fuel bomb into a canyon, where it will be tested. But there are complications. Chuck soon discovers that the scientist involved with the testing, David Davis, is an old rival: Davis is married to the lady who was once Chuck's fiancé! Chuck must come to terms with both the complexities of the mission and the pain of facing his ex-betrothed.

Driving through town, Chuck and P.T. pick-up a new client at a street corner. Before they can get to the airport, their client, Mr. Garvey, has them stop at a bank. Garvey then proceeds to rob the place, threatening that he has a bomb in a small black box he carries. Mr. Garvey threatens the pilots with the bomb and forces them to fly him to a mountain, where he is meeting an accomplice. After tying up the pilots, Garvey gets away but ends up holding a family hostage in their home. It is up to P.T. and Chuck, along with the police, to save the family.

While flying, Chuck and P.T. notice a couple's car being forced off the road. A hot pursuit takes place and has the couple trying to escape from some gangsters. The pilots call the police and proceed to land and try to save the couple. They learn that the couple, Virginia and Jerry Clark, are supposed to testify against the head of a crime ring, but were frightened into fleeing the day before the trial.

Chuck and P.T. are hired by the United States Army to help in air reconnaissance. They are instructed to look for anything or anybody that looks suspicious near some installations. The pilots soon discover a ring of people who are sending coded messages in a very clever manner.

Chuck and P.T. are hired by three prospectors to fly gold out from a mountain and bring in supplies. The mountain has a bad reputation, though: legend has it that if anyone tries to take gold away from the mountain (which is sacred to an Apache community), they will meet a most unseemly end. The pilots soon discover that the three prospectors have no trust for each other. Before the gold can be hauled away, two prospectors lie dead and the other is the prime suspect.

Chuck and P.T. discover a man, who claims to be a writer, living in a camouflaged dwelling in the middle of a desert. Chuck is suspicious of the man's story and is convinced that he has seen this man somewhere before. Upon returning to town, Chuck plows through back issues from the newspaper office and discovers that the man looks a lot like a missing financier sought by the police.

Jeff Simmons becomes fearful of flying after a bad plane accident and gives up any hope of remaining a pilot. But he is miserable with his new job as an insurance salesman. His family, with the help of Chuck and P.T., try to talk Jeff into the pilot's seat again, but to no avail. Yet when a crisis develops, Jeff must forget his fear of flying.

Chuck and P.T. are hired by a diver to help him recover pearls from an oyster bed. The trio must hurry: the pearl hunter's former partner, Hank Maples, is also racing towards the site. The helicopter and crew beat Hank there and begin the dive. But before long, the former partner shows up with his brother, weapons in hand and ready for a confrontation.

Chuck and P.T. answer an S.O.S. call coming from a yacht. They agree to transport a passenger covered in bandages to a hospital. But they are suspicious of the incident and report the transfer of the patient to the immigration authorities. The pilots decide to investigate further and find themselves in the middle of a power struggle between gangsters.

The pilots are hired to fly a client to Las Vegas. The client suddenly decides to leave and hot on his tail are some gamblers who then kill him! The criminals take P.T. as their hostage as they begin their search for $150,000 which they say was taken from them. Chuck must lead police to the killers and rescue P.T.

Chuck and P.T. frantically search for their secretary's nephew, who has hidden in the trunk of a rusted car. The car has been removed from a vacant lot and is now en route to the junkyard. The boy, unable to yell loud enough for help, is now unconscious, and running out of air. After an aerial search, the pilots finally locate the car in the junkyard, but find they don't have the equipment to shift the pile of metal scrap resting atop the vehicle.

Chuck and P.T. are hired to transport film from a location site for a motion picture company. P.T. happens to photograph a recluse rescuing the film's star. The photo creates a sensation in the newspapers. The recluse decides to sue P.T. for invasion of privacy, and even tries to shoot him! The pilots redeem themselves when they suddenly have to fly the recluse to a hospital after he has a heart attack.

A depressed woman hires Chuck and P.T. to fly her to her sister's home in the mountains. Unexpectedly, she insists on being let go into the wilderness. The pilots comply, but then the lady's husband appears and gets Chuck and P.T. to help him search for his wife. They find her stranded on a cliffside and swing into action, but she hinders their efforts to rescue her.

A stranger lures millionaire archaeologist Carter Jameson into helping him search for pre-Aztec ruins. Evidently a secret map will lead them all to wealth. The treasure seekers hire Chuck and P.T. to provide two helicopters and scout for the ancient site. Aided by the Whirlybirds, Jameson discovers the treasure trove, but before he can publicize his success, the stranger takes the loot and pushes him over the edge of a cliff!

Chuck and P.T. are hired by circus aerial performers to teach them how to fly a Bell 47G they have bought for a new act. After one of the performer's solo flights, he returns with the helicopter pontoon floats damaged. Chuck and P.T. are suspicious as earlier an armored car had been forced off the highway and $200,000 stolen. When confronted, the aerialist threatens an aerial slugfest, ramming their 47G with his, should they try to move in on him.

A lone gunman is going around town taking potshots at people from his motorcycle. Chuck and P.T.'s secretary, Helen, is out for a motorcycle ride with her boyfriend when they are forced off the road by two hoodlums, who then harass the couple with knives. Luckily, Chuck and P.T. spot the assault from the air and land to help. The assault is thwarted, but as the helicopter lifts off to get back to business, a sniper's bullet hits the 47, damaging the throttle control. 

Chuck and P.T. help out the local newspaperman in his search for a family that has disappeared from their trailer in the Mojave Desert. The pilots discover the trailer abandoned, as if the family had been suddenly forced to flee. The pilots begin their search, fearful for the family as nearby is a pack of wild horses that could endanger the people with a stampede.

Chuck and P.T. are hired by the local cattle ranchers association to find some cattle rustlers. The pilots soon discover that the rustlers are equipped mechanically too!

Chuck, P.T., and a railroad detective receive an anonymous phone tip that there might be a bomb planted in a chemical plant. The caller is the brother of an ex-employee let go for being a trouble-maker. Is revenge in the works? The ex-employee becomes irate when he learns that his brother has tipped off authorities and in his frenzy tries to hunt down the judge who once sentenced him.

A local rancher comes to Chuck and P.T. for help with a UFO. A strange object has been flying over his ranch at night, emitting loud, high-pitched shrieks and terrorizing his staff. The pilots too have a close encounter with this strange object. They soon discover that a nearby weapons arsenal has been raided the same nights this object and its noise make an appearance.

Chuck and P.T. are busy photographing shore development when they intercept a SOS signal sent from a nearby lighthouse to the Coast Guard. Three men have been thrown against the rocks during a storm, and the lighthouse keeper has sprained his ankle. The Coast Guard is at least two hours away, so the pilots race to help.

Chuck and P.T. are hired by a wealthy sportsman's wife to find her husband, who has not returned from a trip up the coast in his cabin cruiser. The pilots finally find the boat stranded in an isolated cove surrounded by sheer cliffs. No one, however, is on the boat or in the area. The pilots fly home and are met by two insurance investigators. The agents are curious about the sportsman's whereabouts too, since he has recently taken out a hefty life insurance policy.

Chuck and P.T. are hired to deliver a payroll to a construction camp, but bad weather forces them to abort the flight. They secure the money in their office safe, but tranquility does not last long! A professional safecracker, tipped off about the cash by someone at the construction site, breaks into the safe and steals the money --- but not all of it --- making it look like an inside job involving the Whirlybirds. It is now up to Chuck and P.T. to prove their innocence.

Dan Long, a melon farmer, hires Chuck and P.T. to help look over his fields, which straddle the Mexican border. Unbeknownst to Chuck and P.T., however, the farmer is actually using their Bell 47 to ferry gold bars across the border! An informant tips his hand and the authorities are called in --- but not before some of Long's double-dealing henchmen grab the gold and make off. Now Chuck and P.T. must head after the crooks and recover the stolen loot.

A government agent hires Chuck and P.T. to take him to see an old man who is refusing to give up his land in the name of progress. The fellow owns the last piece of mountain property the government needs to begin mining iron ore. No one is able to convince the old man to sign the papers, and he sets out with a young boy he has befriended to go berry picking. News filters back to Chuck and P.T. that two land speculators have meddled with a rope bridge the old man and the boy must cross. The pilots fly to the rescue, but can see from the air that the hikers have already begun their walk across the bridge.

Careening down a mountain road, a man crashes his car during a storm and is saved by Chuck and P.T. when they spot the wrecked car from the air. Once they arrive at the hospital with the injured man, the pilots learn that his wife, still back at their secluded mountain cabin, is in mortal danger from untreated appendicitis. Chuck and P.T., along with a doctor, fly back through the storm to bring the woman some medical help. They land safely, only to find that the electricity has been knocked out and the doctor needs light for the operation!