I had the pleasure of transporting a lot of celebs at Alton, and I can confirm that Noel is indeed an affable chap - as is Terry Wogan and many others, of course. However, the one that really sticks in my mind, though I never met her, was somebody that all the other celebs going into Hold Tight (a Granada TV program that was broadcast from there) said was a thoroughly professional and nice person - Toyah Wilcox.
Phil I have haunting memeories of that jet, poor old Lansen, being put down the intake with rope round my feet, paint brush and WD40 to clean the first stage, deep joy, only to discover that Rod had disapeared for lunch in the club house and I was stuck in there. I remember G-NOEL later to be G-RODS being delivered to Lillybrook when Rod purchased her, lovely Jet Ranger in her day, complete with a bar in the back, huge white leather seats and floats! heavy girl
Before we entirely depart the subject of Alouettes ..
Commandant Henry Tessier congratulates test pilot Jean Boulet after he successfully broke the world altitiude record on 6 June 1955 achieving a height of 27,000ft in this Alouette II (Serial No. 2).
The previous record was held by a Sikorsky S-59 which achieved a height of 24,500ft on 6 October 1954.
Was Thamesdown operating from near Swindon towards the end ?I seem to recall the heli Museum collecting some battered JetRanger fuselages from a field near there a few years ago.
Last edited by heli1; 10th Sep 2010 at 12:47.
Reason: spelling
Thamesdown were always based at Lyneham, I think Rod Crook has sinced move on, G-ROGR became G-WLLY and G-RODS is stil flying, not sure what happened to G-NORM, but Rod always had bits of Jet Rangers laying around, like the tail boom from Gaddaffis Jet Ranger that ended up on ROGR! so it is very likely
G-WLLY crashed when the vertical fin detached in flight, sadly killing it's 2 occupants. The AAIB report states :
"The aircraft was constructed in 1969 and had experienced
a chequered history, being involved in a number of
incidents and two major rebuilds. At some stage it had
gained a tail boom of uncertain provenance, which served
to highlight a potentially confusing situation with the
Maintenance Manual, in that the method used to attach
the vertical fin varied according to the serial number of
the airframe, as opposed to that of the tail boom."
It makes a worrying read.
on G-INFO as canx as destroyed, date 26/11/84, if you go to www.eglb.org.uk, gives info on Helicopter operations at Brooklands, and give details of the history of NORM and the accident, and also details of other JR's, LR's etc.
And ... while still withdrawing from the Alouette, Lama, Air Glaciers topic; this clip: Extreme Flight with Lama - Video involving the skills of ex-Air Glaciers pilot Bernd van Doornick who has logged over 22,000 hours and is credited with being involved in the rescue of more than 5,000 people.
It's hard not to appreciate the 315's 'grunt' when you see Bernd introducing power for the vertical assent!
The Lama still holds (I think) the world altitude record when, in 1972, a 315 took over the title from its younger brother, the Alouette II, by reaching a height of 41,000ft
Forgive me if I didn't read your post correctly but .. didn't G-SARO make the air display circuit across the UK for a bit?
Yes she did. Francis taught me to fly the Skeeter and I solo'd in G-SARO (XL-812) in 1995. We flew the Skeeters all over the country, Francis' last air display was in G-SARO at the Lowestoft Air Show in 1995, the year before he died. I have his last flight on video, he was flying G-APOI (the only civilian registered Skeeter) which we had restored over a 13 year period. I continued to fly his Skeeters for several years after his death.
. The history of G-AWGU is to be detailed in the Ferranti Helicopters tribute site (due 2011) but until then ..
G-AWGU 30th August 1969 at Wootton, Isle of Wight, on charter to Track Records delivering musician Roger Daltrey of 'The Who' to the Isle of Wight Festival.
King Housein of Jordan reviews this Alouette III at the Rayak Air Base in Lebanon on 12th September 1962. Seated in the back (with moustache) is the Lebanese Defence Minister Majed Arslan.
The decline of Belgium's national flag carrier Sabena was another sorry chapter in European aviation - given the company's long and interesting background which included, to a modest degree, helicopter operations:
Bell 47-D1 OO-UBA landing in downtown Brussels in the early 1950's.
S-51 1B OO-CWA operating in the Belgian Congo between 1951-1955. The aircraft was thereafter bought by Westland.
S-55 OO-SHA at Mesbroek in the mid 1950's.
S-55 OO-SHB departing Melsbroek. SHB flew with Sabena from August 1953 to October 1956.
Alouette II OO-SHV bought by Sabena in 1957 and operated in the Belgian Congo as OO-CWH returning to Belgium in June 1959 as OO-SHV and leaving the Sabena helicopter fleet in 1968. The aircraft was used for trials and service in medical rescue operations.
[Also .. because IFR hoods were not available in those days and in order to familiarise pilots with basic IFR conditions (for purposes of preparing crews for inadvertant entry to IMC) the helicopter was left out overnight and then used for early morning sorties while the condensation was still intact! (Not! )]
OO-SHV departing Brussels 'Allee Verte' heliport in 1962.
Boeing Vertol V-44 N74057 leased from Boeing for operations during the Brussels Exposition between April and October 1958.
S-62A N976 leased from United Aircraft and used by Sabena as an evaluation aircraft between May 1960 and February 1961.
Boeing 707-329 OO-SJB at Zaventem 1960. Sadly, this aircraft was to be involved in a nasty incident at Berg on 15th February 1961 killing 61 passengers and 11 crew. Sliced in this shot is, I think, an S-58.
MBB BK117-A3 OO-XCY sponsored by Sabena in 1989 for air medical rescue operations and operated by Heli Samu.
The caption reads: "A big airlift goes on in the West. Hay is loaded onto one of the RAF Rescue Services helicopters which have already flown more than 500 journeys to 200 farms in Devon and Somerset, delivering groceries, fuel and fodder and ferrying snow-plough operators".
I am especially curious to discover the identity of the Sycamore pilot in the grey coveralls with the tache (moustache) at 1:16 in the clip. There is something vaguely familiar about him!
It might be Pete Wilson - evidently Bristol, then Westland.
Quote:
Of Charles Hughesdon...........did meet his pilot however, on several occasions at Brooklands. I recall he was a slightly tall and slender chap, politely spoken and in the early 80's was starting to grey.
That was probably Geoff Cocks.
To vfr440 -
Quote:
I was CE at Manns
Do I know you? Does 'Chip Bath' mean anything to you?
Re. G-NOEL, I had the pleasure of conducting the 1200hr inspection that turned 'WN into 'EL. Complete with painting the instrument panel and circuit breaker panel a light beige to match the new interior (and having all the edge-lit and breaker panels re-engraved) what a nightmare.
Last edited by TRC; 14th Oct 2010 at 02:43.
Reason: Tryping error
When I saw the pilot exiting the Sycamore in this clip HELICOPTER PARTY - British Pathe I instantly knew he looked familiar and, lo and behold, thanks to TRC we've identified it was Pete Wilson, ex-Bristol test pilot.
Pete Wilson
"Peter Wilson served in India and Burma during WWII. He was an Army pilot, one of six to be selected to be trained on helicopters in November 1946 on Sikorsky Hoverfly 1’s. An Experimental Flight for trials with the Army was formed using Hoverfly 2’s in April 1947, ceasing Operations in January 1948.
In December 1948, Peter Wilson was appointed the Army Test Pilot at the Airborne Forces Experimental Establishment (AFEE) at RAF Beaulieu in Hampshire. In September 1950 he became the first Army Helicopter Test Pilot at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down.
He voluntarily retired from the Army and joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company as a Test Pilot at Filton, Bristol. He was involved in Testing all the Bristol Helicopters, and was heavily involved with the Sycamore and Belvedere.
In 1960 Bristol Helicopters were taken over by Westland Aircraft. During his time with Westland, he flew the SA330 Puma, SA341 Gazelle and the Seaking. He continued to fly at Yeovil until 26th August 1974. In all 25 years as a Military and Civil Helicopter Test Pilot. He was awarded the Queen’s Award for Valuable Services in the Air on January 1st 1974".
While looking up about Pete, who visited my home together with my godfather on numerous occasions during my childhood, I also came across details of a certain Charles Hosegood aka 'Sox' who was another good friend of my godfather. If memory serves .. Sox, Pete and my godfather regularly got up to no good!
Sox Hosegood
"During the war Charles “Sox” Hosegood served in the Fleet Air Arm,being appointed to the first armed merchant cruiser to be fitted with a catapult. He was among the first British helicopter pilots during the latter stages of World War 2 to be sent for helicopter training in the USA.
On his return to the UK in mid-1944, he served with various experimental units and on loan to the RAF at Beaulieu,where the Experimental Unit originated.
He joined the Bristol Aeroplane Co in 1948,to assist in helicopter test and development. “Sox” became the Chief Helicopter Test Pilot soon after the start of the development of the Sycamore.
After perfecting the Sycamore as the first British certified helicopter,he flew many hours in the company’s Mk.3 demonstrator (popularly known by its last two registration letters “SX” before going on to test the tandem-rotor Type 173 (the first British twin-engine helicopter) and the Type 192 Belvedere.
The Belvedere, a forerunner of the modern Chinook tandem rotor helicopter, was designed after the BAC Helicopter Division relocated to Weston-super-Mare and was first flown at the local airfield in 1957 by ’ Sox’. He displayed XG447 at the Farnborough show in 1958".
My godfather flew as a test pilot with both Bristol and Westlands on a wide variety of aircraft including the Sycamore and type 192 Belvedere.
There is a photo (Aug 2004) of Pete and Sox at the Helicopter Museum checking up on a Belvedere restoration project but the image has refused to load but can be seen here: Restoration of Bristol 192 Belvedere, XG452, Page 2
It seems Pete Wilson passed away earlier this year. RIP dear friend. He was always very kind to me as a young boy taking considerable time to explain in 'childspeak' the novelty of helicopters.
Also ... 1953 in Switzerland ...
"19 September - The Bristol Sycamore Mk. 4 G-AMWI piloted by Peter Wilson arrives in Switzerland from England for a series of de-monstrations. During the trials, organized in the period between the 21th and the 27th of September, the helicopter flies people and goods, and takes part in an exercise organized by the Swiss life-saving society on the lake of Thun. The last day of the de-monstration Wilson lands on the Sanetschpass at an height of 2'000 meters, where a power line is being built".
ps: Tried posting images of both Pete and Sox but they failed - PPRuNe's forum software seems to be deleting anything with the words ' 'I have a low IQ and haven't figured this out yet''.
However, for those who are keen, re-type the following link into your url: http://thetartanterror.********.com/...1_archive.html .. but substituting the asterisks for the word 'I have a low IQ and haven't figured this out yet' (without the spaces of course)
Last edited by Savoia; 14th Oct 2010 at 07:36.
Reason: trying to give assistance to those wanting to view photos of historical information and which involves circumventing PPRuNe's forum software security devices
Great to have you aboard this thread, together with VFR you will no doubt have knowledge of G-TALY and be able to tell us a couple of tales of your own.
From the photos of TALY's delivery (page 7) we can see she was sent to Eaton Hall with pop-outs but from post #1 it is evident that she ended up wearing 'shorts' as Savoia would say! How long after her delivery was it before you installed the short skids?
Quote:
Re. G-NOEL, I had the pleasure of conducting the 1200hr inspection that turned 'WN into 'EL. Complete with painting the instrument panel and circuit breaker panel a light beige to match the new interior (and having all the edge-lit and breaker panels re-engraved) what a nightmare.
Well done! Out of interest how did you re-engrave the breaker panel? These used to be a grey colour, not sure if I have seen a 'colour-coded' breaker panel in a 206 before!
G-BCWN before TRC got his hands on it
BCWN after TRC's TLC!
TRC - do you have any photos of G-NOEL after you performed the re-fit. Also, as I recall, she wore colour-coded pop-outs?
Sadly, Geoffersincornwall has abandoned this thread but perhaps you would know if he also delivered BCWN's sister ship BCWM (below) from Italy?
TALY I don't remember the timing of the skid change on TALY, but I do recall fitting no end of gadgets to her - dual wipers, sun visors, autopilot, etc, none of which were common mods at the time. I also remember the inside of the P2 screen being scratched to bu99ery by His Lordship's boots - he'd put his feet up on the de-fog nozzle in flight, so Ken whatsit told us.
NOEL The re-engraving was fairly simple once we found someone who could do it. It started off when we made our own edge-lit switch panels, e.g. Fuel valve, Hyd on-off, etc. Having made and drilled the new perspex plate it was first given several coats of 'special' paint in the desired colour of the writing. Then several more coats of the finish colour. A specialist engraver would then cut the wording through the top colour but not disturbing the base colour. Simple. We did the c/b panel the same way but it wasn't lit.
NOEL was also a flying accessory brochure - the first in the UK with a cow-catcher (wire-cutter), an illuminated T/R G-box sight glass, colour co-ordinated float covers, to name a few. Don't have any photos - didn't take them in those days.
I don't remember whether Geoff delivered both N & M, they were close together I know - a week at the most, so I doubt it. I remember writing a large 'WM' or 'WN' inside all the cowlings as they were all off at the same time as soon as we got them. We had to take them apart to see why they were working - brand new or not.
Hope this helps.
Last edited by TRC; 14th Oct 2010 at 16:54.
Reason: Tryping - what else.....
I've just looked back at the photos of TALY, and I am ashamed to admit that it's me doing the unmentionable thing to her (no idea what though) in post 135. I'm also looking in the P2 door a couple of pictures later. I look like something out of Fleetwood Mac.
Love Geoff's flares - he looks about 15. Those WERE the days, apparently.
Last edited by TRC; 14th Oct 2010 at 20:58.
Reason: 3 guesses........
. TRC: Out of curiosity do you happen to know the principal variations between the early Bell and Agusta 206s? My understanding is that aside from being slightly heavier the Agusta 206s used a different paint finish to the Bell factory and applied a rain gutter (eventually added by Bell) over the doors. But there may have been other adjustments?
Geoff Cocks: Anyone with information about Geoff Cocks (Charles Hughesdon's pilot?) and what happened to him post Tradewinds would be appreciated.
N2221W: Came across this image the other day:
During Royal Ascot week (1981) this aircraft was used by Bell as a demonstrator. Bell teamed up with Hascombe Aviation (Martyn Fiddler) who ran the Ascot heliport and agreed to ferry a string of passengers out of Battersea and other London locations to showcase the 222.
Fairly early on during day one of the exercise LHR instructed N2221W's pilot to contact them by phone upon landing at Battersea - which he duly did. He was told not to fly the aircraft any further! The problem .. Bell's pilot (I believe it was their Chief Pilot) was straggling across the helicopter routes in a fashion unacceptable to LHR. It was either ground the aircraft or recruit a pilot familiar with the routes, r/t protocol and standard navigation procedures around London!
Martyn Fiddler asked my godfather if he would help out, which he did, launching to Battersea in BA's 206 G-AWGU. He then spent the entire week flying the 222 with Bell's CP making sure the craft conformed with the norminal ordinances applicable to navigating in and around London.
A thank you lunch was arranged for my godfather at the end of the event at which, as a young boy, I got to meet Bell's CP at the Copthorne Hotel near LGW.
At the time the episode was slightly embarrassing for Bell and probably hasn't been re-told that frequently but, my godfather and the Bell team hit it off pretty well and remained in contact for some time afterwards when those involved would reminisce with humour Bell's blunder!
)]
but perhaps you would know if he also delivered BCWN's sister ship BCWM (below) from Italy?
