Certainly a classic helicopter, then 4 year later with the next "spaceport" Town theme, LEGO started using 1 piece helicopter landing skids : 6461 : Surveillance Chopper , which are even in use now :

https://brickset.com/parts/6259802/undercarriage-12x6x1-1-3

Maybe it's a news copter for responding to launch events, or a surveillance helicopter for responding to unexpected intrusions or events around a launch area (or, given the ease with which rockets can be built out of LEGO, for responding to unsanctioned surprise launches).

I had to look it up, but it seems the 1x2 tile with the tape reels was retired last year. RIP.

@Sandinista:
Do a search for "helicopter trailer" and you'll see _TONS_ of different designs. Some are long flatbeds with twin blades restrained parallel to the tail. Some are hard enclosed trailers with blades removed. I'm seeing a few where a soft-sided enclosure is pulled over a flatbed after the helicopter is secured. A few even look like the sort of trailer you'd use for lawn tractors, and is just barely big enough for the skids to fit, with the tail hanging well behind. One insane shot shows _two_ helicopters on a triple-axle trailer. Granted, both have had their rotors and tails removed, and there can't be even a foot of distance between the tail stump on the large one and the bubble canopy on the small one.

On the other end of the spectrum, I found one shot that showed the aftermath of someone trying to land a helicopter at a trucking terminal, and clipped a standard box-style semi trailer with the rotors. It didn't end well for the helicopter or the trailer. The pilot suffered minor injuries (I'm guessing from kickback on the control yoke when the impact transferred back through it), but the two passengers were fine.

Man, 1995 Launch Command was the best.

Has there been some photoshopping with that helicopter? Feels like the rotors are at a different angle to the body and skids, like the whole things been turned concave

A rare 6 wide truck!
... for town. In City they're not exactly rare anymore.

I like how it also has radar equipment that can fold up when not in use.

@Binnekamp said:
"A rare 6 wide truck!
... for town. In City they're not exactly rare anymore.

I like how it also has radar equipment that can fold up when not in use."

The truck is 4-wide, 'only' the trailer is 6-wide ;)

@thor96 said:
" @Binnekamp said:
"A rare 6 wide truck!
... for town. In City they're not exactly rare anymore.

I like how it also has radar equipment that can fold up when not in use."

The truck is 4-wide, 'only' the trailer is 6-wide ;)"

Look closer: the truck is 6-wide. The headlights are two 1x1 trans-yellow plates each, with a grey 2x(something) grey plate in between.

Possibly the idea comes from when the Apollo moon capsules crash landed in the sea they would send out a Sea King helicopter 66 to rescue the astronauts, although that was from a boat rather than a trailer so guessing looking for astronauts from aborted take-offs.

@TheBrickshipyard said:
"By far one of the coolest Lego city trailer trucks of the 90s! Low profile, 6 studs wide, roomy cabin, and a helicopter to boot! 2X tech like figures. Plus you got the awesome hinged monitor and keyboard pieces.

You can easily make a trailer "box" if you want to remove the helicopter and use extra pieces. What a good value back then at $16 and a similar set today, Rescue Helicopter Transport 60343 for example, costs $30. Yes, a better shaped copter, but the truck is bland and the colors don't match well. "

To be fair, 16.50 USD from 1995 is 32.13 USD today. That said... this is the better looking set, although the modern helicopter clearly is more advanced.

My first lego set!

@560heliport:
You can also count the studs inside the bottom edge of the windshield, though the studs on the roof don’t stand out enough to count.

This is not the color scheme I'ld choose for the chopper but overall it's a good looking set. Nice functions, too.

Love that little laptop!

@MCLegoboy said:
"Is this for if something goes wrong during a launch? That's a bit dark for child's play, never heard of anyone surviving something going wrong with a launch that actually launched.
And if not, what are they in response to? Rocket launches aren't just spontaneous things that happen, and you can't get that helicopter anywhere near one around the time of launch.
Someone help me out here because it's not news crew, but I fail to see what their purpose is as part of the launch team.
I could see this being after the landing of a shuttle, that's what's in the background, but that's not a Launch Response Unit, that's a recovery team to assist the astronauts after being in space for extended periods of time and they can't just easily walk out."

Soyuz 7K-ST No.16L. Russian rocket blew up on pad, and they activated rockets in the crew capsule to blast the to safety. All wikipedia say is that they were met with recovery teams-usually in helicopters. The only time it ever happened though.

@MeisterDad said:
"I had to look it up, but it seems the 1x2 tile with the tape reels was retired last year. RIP."

I loved how that print persisted a good 15 years beyond the point where most kids would have the foggiest notion what it was. It made me smile every time I saw it.

@Brickalili said:
"Has there been some photoshopping with that helicopter? Feels like the rotors are at a different angle to the body and skids, like the whole things been turned concave "

I would guess that’s actual lens distortion.

It just a typo. It is a LUNCH Response Unit in case the astronauts forget theirs.

@iwybs said:
"Man, 1995 Launch Command was the best. "

It really was--Town was peaking and no one knew it. Town Jr. would be there in two years--that "Octan" "tow truck" (6423 from two days ago) is a rather representative sample of how it would fall. Divers and Outback, Res-Q and Xtreme Team, and even Spaceport would have higher standards, but the shining new world of 1995 was not to last.

@NITRO_J:
Hey, it’s hard enough walking in those outfits, plus you’re strapped in to the seat, the countdown clock is running, and it takes a while to call the elevator up to the top, ride it back down, shuffle to your car and back, ride up to the top, and figure out all the straps and buckles while the guy in the next seat looks for a place to stow your lunch (which, frankly, we know they’ll actually just hold it until you’re done belting up, slap it against your chest to let you know it’s your job to find someplace to put it, and them glowering at you the whole time). By that time the launch has started and you drop your sandwich all over the deck. You know how much you have to stall on the Five Second Rule when you’ve got ten G’s pressing you into the seat for the next several minutes?

@Sandinista said:
"For the dozens and dozens of helicopter and tractor-trailer sets Lego has released, I can confidently say I’ve never seen such a setup in real life "

Several toymakers (i.e Matchbox and Siku) have done the same, but I can't say I've ever seen a helicopter on a trailer. From what I've been able to find, they tend to disassemble the helicopter first.

Even more hilarious is when the helicopter is obviously a MUCH smaller scale than the truck. Siku uses a model of the Airbus/Eurocopter 135 that is around N scale, with roughly HO scale trucks.