The Bell 204 is the first mass-produced turbine helicopter in the world and the parent of a family produced worldwide in over 16,000 units that have scored approximately 28 million flight hours in half a century of activity. Developed from a US Army requirement of a helicopter for transporting the wounded (“medevac”), featuring a large cargo compartment capable of accommodating an infantry squad, the Lycoming T53 turbine and the semi-rigid two-blade rotor with the characteristic whomp-whomp sound. The prototype XH-40 flew on October 22, 1956, but the series was named HU-1 (multirole helicopter, later UH-1) later nicknamed “Huey”. Used on a large scale in Vietnam, the UH-1 definitely demonstrated, also thanks to the elongated Model 205 / UH-1D version, the helicopter versatility and its usefulness on the battlefield, creating the concepts of air mobility and “air cavalry “. Entirely built under license by Agusta in more than 250 units, the AB-204 has equipped the Italian Armed Forces and some civilian operators, including SNAM, since the 1960s. Agusta developed the anti-submarine version (AS) for the Italian Navy, installing a different engine, search equipment and Mk 44 torpedoes. The helicopter on display was built by Agusta in 1966 with the S/N 3135. Has been used by the Italian Navy with MM 80369 and code 3-08, being transformed into a multirole version. In the 1980s it passed to the National Fire Brigade which used it first as I-VFMC and then as VF-31.