Aerospatiale AS-350 Broward County Sherriff: The AS-350 was developed by French Aerospatiale in the early 1970s with an Avco Lycoming powered prototype first flying on June 27, 1974 and this was followed by a Turbomeca Arriel powered version on February 14, 1975. The Aerospatiale AS-350 is a single-engine helicopter manufactured by French Aerospatiale in 1970. Its maiden flight was in June of 1974 and it was designed for the civilian market. The AS-350 Aerospatiale uses a lot of automobile parts such as the cooling fan that was used in a Citroen car and an oil radiator from another automobile manufacturer. In 1978, deliveries of the AS-350 began. At the end of the year, 459 orders have been made for this type of machine. Six of this type was for the military version. It was called "Astar" in the United States. There are a many versions of the AS-350 and such of its current versions are the AS 350B2 Ecureuil, AS 350B3 Ecureuil, and many others. The AS 350B2 Ecureuil has an upgraded engine and transmission and it is known in North America as SuperStar. In January 1998, the first delivery of AS 350B3 was made to Osterman Helicopter.