Here I am.
I post here every now and again.
How are things Trog old chap? Haven't seen you in a year or two.
I am indeed with Vector Aerospace in Vancouver BC, and in fact just spent a very enjoyable week hosting the Sea King symposium here in Vancouver. The symposium proved that the Sea King and S61 is a long way from being gone, and most everyone there was busy planning into the 2020's and beyond. Pretty amazing! Also great to see so many old faces from around the world, some of whom go back to when I first started in the business, on the other side of the world.
We had operators, manufacturers, overhaul shops and suppliers from all over the world here and the level of activity is incredibly high. One of the highlights was Sergei Sikorsky's presentation on the life of his father Igor.
Carson made the announcement here at the symposium, and it will see many of the innovative improvements that Carson has created incorporated into the S61 and Sea King line. There are also stretched versions of the Sea King included in the program, as well as re-engining with the T58-16F, which GE is interested in certifying commercially - extra 250 HP per motor is certainly pretty interesting! Carson has operated the S61R inputs for a while now, and this certainly seems to resolve many of the issues with the N model inputs.
Thanks to everyone that came to the symposium, hope you enjoyed it and found it valuable - I know I did. See you at Sikorsky next year.
Incidentally, the glass cockpit S61 in the pictures is the former British Airways G-BEDI, which I brought over from the UK in 1987 when Croman and Erickson bought them from Aerospatiale!
And here is a picture of downtown Vancouver and Harbour taken from the self same S61 whilst heading directly to my house on Bowen Island!
First set of customer blades supplied by Carson when I was with VIH/Western.
And the second customer set, installed on the FIRST commercial S61 ever built and the prototype used for certification! And she is still going strong - currently in Angola!