One of the commonest large utility civilian helicopters, with more than 350 in the United States. Pointy-nosed; teardrop look-down windows like nostril openings; enclosed engine; up close, the tail rotor drive shaft housing lies on top of the tail cone. The "Twinstar" is similar, shows two air intakes and exhausts for its paired engines.

Current production is now "Ecureuil" and "Twinstar" worldwide, as the Lycoming-powered "Astar" has been superseded by craft with French-built Turbomeca engines. Aerospatiale builds flyable helicopters in France, where they are test flown in a "green" state, then disassembled, shipped, and reassembled in Texas, where final wiring, piping, and all avionics are installed, along with customizing details.