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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/budgie_the_little_helicopter_post_2.jpg]]
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3''Budgie the Little Helicopter'' is a British animated TV series based on books written by Sarah, Duchess of York. It focuses on the adventures of Budgie and his friends Pippa, Chuck, and Lionel, all sentient aircraft, at and around the fictional Harefield Airfield. The show aired on Creator/{{CITV}} from 1994 to 1996, and in the US, a North American dub aired on "The Fox Clubhouse" and later on [[Creator/{{Freeform}} Fox Family]]'s preschool compilation series "It's Itsy Bitsy Time".
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6!Budgie the Little Helicopter provides examples of:
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8* TheBigRace: The first episode centers on a race between Budgie and Pippa.
9* BraggingThemeTune: The theme is ([[ThemeTuneRollCall mostly]]) about how brave and hardworking Budgie is.
10* CatchPhrase:
11** "Rocketing Rotors!" for Budgie.
12** "Juddering Joysticks!" for Lionel.
13* DisappearedDad: Mr. Kitchen is never seen nor mentioned.
14* DontCallMeSir: Lionel takes none too kindly to being called "Captain", a title Chuck habitually calls him, even when Lionel tells him this is not his name. Budgie even called Lionel this once.
15* ExpositoryThemeSong: "Budgie is a little helicopter..."
16* GladIThoughtOfIt: In the second episode, Chuck wants to take part in the fete but Lionel shoots down all of his ideas because of the downdraft his rotors would cause. Then Budgie pitches in an idea:
17-->'''Budgie:''' He could fly around the ''outside'' of the field Lionel, then the, uh, folks could see him?
18-->'''Pippa:''' Yes, good idea!
19-->'''Lionel:''' Yes, thank you Budgie, I'll decide what he can do: you can... you can, uh, fly around the outside of the field.
20* HelpImStuck: In one episode, Pippa gets stuck in a snow drift when delivering fuel to Budgie.
21* ImADoctorNotAPlaceholder: In one episode, Dell is complaining about the snow. Smokey says that it's more like icing sugar than snow, to which Dell replies "I don't want to be covered in icing sugar either. I'm a baggage truck, not a Christmas cake.".
22* JustPlaneWrong: A number episodes have played with aircraft physics throughout the show's run, but a common example is Budgie being able to move while on the ground... despite having skids instead of wheels like Lionel or Chuck.
23* TheKiddieRide: Mitchells spawned a ride in 1995 based on Budgie, the titular helicopter himself. The ride also featured lights inside the cockpit, that flash along to the theme tune. There is also the Black Rock Lighthouse with an interactive memory game, also made by Mitchells and introduced in 1996. This ride is very rare, although Elias Flinter found a Black Rock Lighthouse ride in Olympia Leisure, Scarborough, UK. Kidzstuff (the company that bought out OMC Electronics) have spawned one-seater and two-seater versions of Budgie in 1997. There does exist a ripoff Budgie ride called "Buzzie the Little Helicopter" which is actually a repainted Twirlybird ride by Kiddie Rides America with the Budgie theme tune.
24* LastMinuteBabyNaming: Mrs. Fairweather's baby gets named Jack B (Budgie) Fairweather.
25* TheMovie: One was released in 1996 on VHS.
26* PanickyExpectantFather: One episode features the Fairweathers, who are [[MeaningfulName trapped by a blizzard]] waiting for rescue from Budgie so he can take them to the hospital, where Mrs. Fairweather will give birth. Mr. Fairweather is portrayed as extremely nervous and constantly worried.
27* RailroadTracksOfDoom: In one episode, Budgie is following a railway to find his destination. He decides to go through a tunnel... just as a train is coming through. Luckily he manages to dodge the train.
28* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Lionel.
29* SentientVehicle: Many of the main cast:
30** Budgie is a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin little blue helicopter]]. Lionel, the "aircraft in charge", is a slightly larger brown helicopter with a four-blade rotor.
31** Pippa is a green "single-engined monoplane"[[note]]a 'monoplane' is one with only one set of wings, as opposed to a 'biplane'[[/note]], although it's not evident where her engine is.
32** Chuck is a large twin-engined helicopter (a Boeing CH-47 Chinook, to be precise).
33** There's also Dell, a baggage truck, and Smokey, a fire-engine.
34* ShownTheirWork: Sarah, Duchess of York is a registered pilot herself and served in the Royal Navy, and a number of episodes incorporate obscure historical aircraft.
35* SergeantRock: Lionel is often stern to the other aircraft, but he does care about them.
36* ThemeTuneRollCall: Though the theme song is mainly about Budgie, it briefly goes over the other main characters.

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