Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson Excerpt
From The Art of Avatar Book
Transcribed by SFMZ

"There's enough legitimacy to the way these vehicles were designed that people may actually assume they exist," reports TyRuben Ellingson, lead designer for the Samson.

Using Vietnam War-era helicopters like the 'Huey' for inspiration, Cameron wanted the Samson - and all of the low-flying vehicles - to have a very low-tech look that could be either contemporary or a not-very-distant 'Earth future.'

The interior consoles and the pilot interface enjoyed a bit more 'high touch' futuristic design, but the outside was influenced more by 1960s war-era machines built to withstand the stress of use under tough conditions. The Samson wasn't designed to travel at intergalactic light speed.

Like the Huey, it was conceived of more as a transport vehicle - deliberately utilitarian in mood. Many scenes in the film and a good deal of dialogue between the main characters take place on the Samson in flight between the more familiar, humanbased Hell's Gate and the Na'vi territory of the alien forest.

Knowing that once the audience "flies off the compound" they will be immersed in the much more forbidding, unfamiliar, and esoteric environs of floating mountains and fantastical plants, Cameron wanted this machine to be very grounded and devoid of "excess filigree."

Time to pick up the pace, grunt, I ain't got all day to play your escort. You'll get acquainted to the rest of the facilities with your remaining two assignments. So I brought you here to the Hangars area for your Assignment Two: Land/Air Craft. Military firepower, my personal favorite . . . ooooh-ahhh!

First up - the Aerospatiale SA-2 Samson, the workhorse of the RDA Army. This defensive vehicle is a twin-turbine V-TOL rotorcraft. An aerial transportation truck designed to carry out mostly non-combat missions.

Its weaponry consists of two stub- wing pods configurable for small missile launchers. These stub wing pods can fire either air-to-air or air- to-ground missiles. The Samson is also equipped with manned hydra and 30 caliber guns that are mounted on the side doors. The Samson has been in use on Earth for decades. Its various trial runs in Antarctica, the Himalayas, and Honduras proved the aircraft could fly well in thin or thick atmospheres or in extreme temperatures with minimal maintenance.

So when the R-D-A needed a reliable and sturdy aerial workhorse, they naturally chose the field-tested Samson and hardened its electrical system to prepare it for the rigors of Pandora. The cargo bay was never pressurized for use on Pandora. Should humans decide to ride in the rear bay, exopacks are required to breathe...and survive.

From the original scriptment

"Behind him they are loading up a VTOL utility vehicle about the size of a Huey helicopter. It is an AEROSPATIALE SA-2 SAMSON. The Samsons are armed only with a door gun, and are the prime- movers of air operations here. They are used by the scientists to reach their remote worksites, and by the construction and mining teams to move personnel and supplies. Hell's Gate operates ten of these workhorses, and they are under civilian command."

"IN THE SAMSON, the next day, they thunder over the treetops with a roar of turbofans. Below them the purple rainforest unrolls. The human pilot and the trooper escort sit in a sealed front cabin, while Josh/Avatar, Grace/Avatar and N'deh ride in the back compartment with the side doors open. AT HELL'S GATE there is a total mobilization. Selfridge and Quaritch have gone to a state of full emergency martial law. The Samsons are being fitted with cannons... maximum weapons payload."

Samson Analysis from Airliners.net
Real Life SA-2 Samson? by GymClassHero

The movie "Avatar" presented some interesting aircraft, some more viable in real life than others. One that caught my interest was the "SA-2 Samson," a Eurocopter-esque helicopter featuring a V-tail and twin rotors in place of the main rotor. It really caught my eye because it looked like something which might actually work in real life (barring some slight dimensional changes if necessary).

How well would a twin-ducted helicopter function in comparison to a standard single-rotor helicopter in real-world conditions?

FLY2HMO: The problem I see is that the ducts are probably doing little more than adding unnecessary weight. Otherwise it would probably be slower than a V-22 (Osprey) since it lacks any real wing to provide lift.
Starlionblue: Essentially this is the same idea as fore-and-after twin rotor (like a Chinook) except side by side. I agree that the ducts on the Samson do seem a bit unnecessary. Here's a real life helicopter with the same config: Mil Mi-12 aircraft.

Would there be much in terms of maneuverability or efficiency gains?

Mandala499: Take out the ducts... and we have the Kaman Helicopters... Put them on top of each other and we have the Kamovs... But, the ducts need dimension changes if they want it to work at all, with the purpose of eliminating the blade tips, and not directing the air, this allows smaller rotors and higher RPMs... no more "supersonic blade tip" problems.

Would it suffer much of the stability problems that the Osprey faced?

Starlionblue: Not that I'm an expert but the Osprey is a whole other animal, with an airplane mode.
BMI727: Correct. It is interesting to note that other than the tail and rotor configuration it looks a lot like a Westland Lynx. I noticed a lot of that sort of thing in Star Wars too.

Would the twin rotors remove the need for the small rotor in the tail?

FLY2HMO: As long as they counter-rotate, yes.