Originally Posted by
DennisK
It was also the first year I had seen any aeros manoeuvres by a helicopter, when the MBB 105 pilot, Hoffman produced his full loop. Ex RAF Group Captain, Chuck Charles was OC the flying control committee and I chatted with him and the S-67 pilot at pilot briefing under the old control tower.
Not wishing to denigrate the late Dennis Kenyon (who I met in about 2015) but there are factual inaccuracies with the above.
To set the scene, I was in the control tower at the time of the crash and witnessed it from the office above that of OC Flying. I'm not a helicopter expert but I do recall that there was very loud 'chop' from the rotor blades and the rotor disc itself formed a 'cone' shape. As the rate of descent and forward speed reduced I fully expected the aircraft to hit the ground and slide a few feet but instead it erupted in flames. Just before that, I said out loud 'he's going in; he's going in' and could hear one of the others standing there saying the same.
Gp Capt Chuck Charles (
not an ex Gp Capt) was
not OC of the FCC; the COEF (Commanding Officer Experimental Flying) in post always held that post and in 1974 that was Gp Capt 'Polly' Parratt who was posted out next year. Chuck Charles wasn't appointed to become COEF until about 4 years later; between those two came Gp Capt Reggie Spiers.