The Harbin Z-19 is a Chinese reconnaissance/attack helicopter developed by HAMC for the People's Liberation Army Air Force and the Ground Force Air Force. It is an improved variant of the Harbin Z-9 and hence a distant cousin of the Eurocopter Dauphin.

The Z-19 is an updated modified version of the Harbin Z-9W (similar to the development of Bell AH-1 Cobra from UH-1). It is a twin-seat tandem helicopter with a similar mechanical layout to the Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin series as the Z-9 series are licence-built versions of the Dauphin.

The Z-19 features a fenestron tail, damping its sound and therefore allows it to achieve some level of acoustic stealthiness. The exhausts also protect the helicopter from infrared threats. The helicopter is installed with a millimeter wave (MMW) fire control radar.

The Z-19 also features armor platings, crash resistant seats, and a turret with FLIR, TV, and laser range finder. Z-19 is also equipped with advanced helmet mounted sight (HMS), which looks different from that of WZ-10.

Pictured here is a 1:48 scale replica of a Peoples Liberation Army Air Force Harbin Z-19 "Black Whirlwind" attack helicopter. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Rotorspan: 8-inches

Release Date: December 2014

Historical Account: "Chinese Literature" - General designer of the WZ-19 was Wu Ximing of the 602nd Research Institute, one of the Chinese top scientists involved in the 863 Program, after graduating from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 1984. Wu had earlier participated in the designs of the armed version of transport helicopters Z-8A, Z-11 and WZ-9, and he is also the general designer of another Chinese attack helicopter CAIC WZ-10. At the 9th Zhuhai Airshow held in November 2012, Aviation Industry Corporation of China formally announced the official names of WZ-10 and WZ-19 at a televised news release conference, with both attack helicopters named after the nicknames of fictional characters in the Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. WZ-10 is named as Fierce Thunderbolt (Pi Li Huo), the nickname of Qin Ming, while WZ-19 is named as Black Whirlwind (Hei Xuan Feng), the nickname of Li Kui,