Airwolf Description
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
