Hughes in the hills

For many Italian military helicopter pilots, the first rotorcraft they flew was a small, bubble-nosed machine known in service as the NH-500. It looked like the American Hughes 500 because it was one, assembled not in California but at Monteprandone, in the hills of Ascoli Piceno. The company behind it, Breda Nardi Costruzioni Aeronautiche, was established on 15 February 1971 as a 50:50 venture between Breda, part of the state-owned EFIM group, and Nardi S.A. per Costruzioni Aeronautiche, with the southern-development agency Insud also party to the agreement.

From fighter trainers to helicopters

The Nardi name carried history. Before the war the brothers Nardi had designed the FN.305, a nimble monoplane fighter trainer first flown in 1935, but their Milan works was so small that series production went to Piaggio and others. By 1970 Nardi had a licence agreement with Hughes for the two-seat Model 300C; the first Italian-built machines followed the next year, and assembly of the turbine Model 500 began in 1972. Continuous helicopter assembly at Monteprandone settled in from 1976, and the range grew to the NH-300C, NH-500C, NH-500D and a TOW-armed military NH-500M-D.

Fifty for the air force

The Guardia di Finanza became the first Italian operator, followed by the Forestry Corps and the air force. In 1988 the Aeronautica Militare ordered fifty NH-500E for basic and advanced helicopter training; renamed TH-500 under the 2002 designation system, they taught a generation of military helicopter pilots. One NH-500MC built in 1977 and delivered to the Guardia di Finanza in April 1978 flew more than 3,000 hours before retirement in 2009 and now stands at the Volandia museum. Breda Nardi itself was eventually absorbed by Agusta, folding Italian light-helicopter production into the national champion.

Továrny

• Monteprandone works · Monteprandone, Ascoli Piceno, Marche — Helicopter assembly continuously from 1976