Airwolf is an American television series that ran from 1984 through 1987. The program concerned a supersonic military helicopter, code named Airwolf, and her crew as they undertook various missions, many involving espionage, with a Cold War theme.
The show was devised by Donald Bellisario, who had also created Magnum, P.I., and would go on to produce Quantum Leap, JAG, and NCIS. The first three seasons starred Jan-Michael Vincent, Ernest Borgnine, Alex Cord, and Jean Bruce Scott. The final season, for the USA Network, was recast.
The show had a musical score (orchestral-based in the first and early second season episodes; synthesizer-based thereafter) composed and performed by Sylvester Levay.
The series's protagonist is Stringfellow Hawke (played by Jan-Michael Vincent), a loner who lives in a cabin in the mountains, only accompanied by his Bluetick Coonhound, "Tet", and the surrounding wildlife. Hawke is a recluse, spending most of his time alone with his priceless collection of paintings, and serenading eagles with his equally priceless Stradivarius cello. His only real friend and mentor is the older, eternally cheerful Dominic Santini (Ernest Borgnine).
Earlier, Hawke was a testpilot for Airwolf, an advanced supersonic helicopter with stealth capabilities and a formidable arsenal. Hawke is called upon by a man code named Archangel – the leader of "the F.I.R.M." that built Airwolf – to steal Airwolf back from her twisted creator, Doctor Charles Henry Moffet, who had taken her to Libya.
Hawke, with Santini, finds the aircraft, but does not return it. Instead, they hide it, booby trapped, in an extinct volcano (the Lair) in the remote "Valley of the Gods" (visually modeled on Monument Valley) and occasionally fly it to carry out undercover missions for Uncle Sam, in exchange for assistance from the Firm in locating Hawke’s lost brother, Saint John Hawke (Sin Jin), missing in action since the Vietnam War.
Jean Bruce Scott was introduced as Caitlin O'Shannessy in the second season, a feisty former Texas Highway Patrol helicopter pilot
