...I’d say one of their aircraft is missing…
SPECTRE Hiller UH-12 Helicopter G-ARUF – From Russia with Love (1963)
When 007 escapes from the Orient Express with the Soviet defector Tatiana Romanova and the invaluable Lektor decoder, he is soon dogged by a SPECTRE helicopter dropping grenades.
He puts himself at risk by running on foot with the decoder to lure them away from killing Tatiana.
While set in the Balkans, the sequence was filmed along the coast near Crinan, Scotland in July 1963. This Hiller UH-12 performed the precision low-clearance flying chasing after Bond, with Sean Connery performing many of his own stunts. Not all the action was onscreen. Well into shooting, this helicopter with director Terence Young aboard, crashed into Loch Craignish, sinking in about three meters of water. Young broke open the canopy to escape drowning and suffered cuts to his hand and arm.
After the accident, British authorities decertified the helicopter, G-ARUF, which was then sold to a U.S. buyer. In 1965 the engine was rebuilt and in 2004 it was totally refurbished and recertified by the FAA to fly in the U.S. It was later sold to a buyer in the UK who was able to get it certified to fly again.
IFF members reached out to the owner in 2008, and upon verification that this Hiller UH-12 was indeed the helicopter used in From Russia with Love, it was added to our collection in 2011.
It is not currently authorized/registered to fly in the U.S. but is regularly “started up” to make sure it remains in working order and is regularly maintained.
More information and some action photos can be found here.