The Dauphin helicopter was developed in the early 1970s to fill the gap between the Gazelle and Puma. Originally, it was a single turbine engine helicopter, but this proved not a success. Only after Aérospatiale added a second engine, it became more popular. Over the years many variants were developed, with fixed tail wheel gears, skids and retractable nose wheel gears. However, the main characteristics remained. Like the Gazelle, the Dauphin has a so-called fenestron, or shrouded tail rotor, at the end of the tail boom. On top is a large, tall vertical fin. The Dauphin also has horizontal stabilisers, with end plates, of which the shape depends on the version. Another feature that remained over all versions is the cockpit and cabin window arrangement. The helicopter has three upper cabin windows with narrow frames, with a single lower window in the cockpit door.

The Dauphin was license built in China under designation Harbin Z-9. The final generation was the Eurocopter EC155. At Airbus Helicopters, it was succeeded by the H160. The EC155 was further developed in Korea as KAI Light Civil Helicopter (LCH) and Light Armed Helicopter (LAH).

To distinguish the different versions of the Dauphin and EC155 versions you'll have to look at

• the shape of the gear box/engine housing, together with intakes and exhaust
• the shape of the end plates on the horizontal stabilisers
• the type of gear, tail gear, nose gear or skids
• the shape of the nose
• the number of main rotor blades
• the number of blades on the fenestron, and their spacing
• the cabin window configuration

Details will be added later.