Man finally gets his abandoned helicopter to fly for the first time in 10 years

After ten years, this abandoned helicopter has come back to life as one man has finally restored it and taken it airborne.

This MD500E helicopter was abandoned in Venezuela and was bought by YouTube restoration documentary maker Cleetus McFarland.

Having been stationary in the South American country for a decade, McFarland and his mechanic squad shipped it to Miami to begin its second life.

After months of grafting, this chopper has finally been given the all-clear and has taken off.

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Abandoned helicopter undergoes restoration build after ten years stationary

Abandoned planes are becoming the level 100 boss for car mechanics and restoration pages on YouTube as the motor world appears to be nearing completion. Many grease monkeys have traded car doors for plane wings, such as the 81-part Cessna 401A challenge.

But helicopters? Few motorheads have ever crossed wires with a chopper.

That is until McFarland rescued this abandoned helicopter and pledged to get it in the air again.

The heli was bought nine months ago and was riddled with mechanical faults despite looking too good to be true on the exterior.

At first glance, one heli specialist noted obvious flaws in the landing gear and a lot of wear-and-tear problems.

However, the team continued to find more faults.

Corrosion under the floor and hat channels made for some expensive replacements, while a rusty gearbox and tail boom also made for quite heavy labor to repair.

A new rotor head was added alongside a blade overhaul and a cargo hook kit installation, rounded off by a neat new paint job.

Restored helicopter gets first flight in ten years

In a recent upload to McFarland’s channel, the abandoned helicopter was revealed to be fully restored and painted with a clean sky-blue body and a white-on-grey American flag accent.

The chopper was reportedly fixed and upgraded and the team filmed the first attempts at getting it in the air since it was discarded a decade ago.

After an abundance of checks, the pilot and Cleetus both strapped in for a flight.

The heli went for a flight for over 15 minutes and all seemed to be right.

“That was so sick. Everything went perfect,” McFarland said.

The team intends to continue modifying the helicopter, now named Consuela (presumably a play on words between Friends’ Princess Consuela Banana Hammock and its home country of Venezuela), with some interior upgrades being at the top of their list.

After mastering cars and now making headway on aircraft, it appears there are plenty more abandoned helicopters knocking around…