John Crewdson and Gill Aldam (Helicopter Hire then based at Elstree) also got, or applied for, a Class 7 licence. They were planning to use WG30s and definitely had one - G-KATE - and I think another. John was sadly killed in an Alouette II when it crashed in the Wash whilst filming. Gill is alive and well and has remarried.
They did indeed succeed in getting a Class 7 AOC. They did a deal with Helicopter Logistics in the States and borrowed an N-reg 212 to service a contract with an oil company operating in Moroccan waters.
They negotiated the purchase of a B Cal 61, but the deal fell through when Jill started getting a bit naughty over the fine print of the contract. HeliLog wasn't prepared to transfer any of their 212s onto the G-register or have their pilots upgrade to Brit licences and the CAA wasn't prepared to accept N-reg helicopters operating public transport in the North Sea, so the plan faltered.
The idea of having a main base in Southend while actually operating out of Aberdeen was never going to work and there really wasn't enough capital available to set up a full sized base at Dyce from scratch.
Then there was the tragedy of John's death in the Alouette (corroded Jesus nut came off during takeoff). That really put the kybosh on everything as Helicopter Hire's sister company Helicopter Maintenance was roasted by the CAA over some 'questionable' actions and inactions and record keeping. No oil company in the Western world would touch a helicopter company which had a stain like that on its record, so that was that.
We did some training with John's son who I think was also called John and I assume that he is still around somewhere
I remember the day the lad was born. Jill did half a morning's work in the office, then drove off in her E-type for a pre-booked C-section. She was back at her desk midafternoon and did another couple of hours work. A very dynamic sort of person. She was super fit and had been an "action actress" or what most people would call a stunt girl.
In fact John and Jill met on location at a castle in Bavaria during the filming of Where Eagles Dare. Somehow, I don't know how, John had persuaded the film-makers to include a Bell 47 in the screenplay, replete with swastika painted on the skeg. Quite what the Wehrmacht or the SS was supposed to be doing with a Bell 47 in 1944 is unclear!
Jill was there to do the stunt work for Mary Ure, abseiling and generally leaping about. In fact she ended up doing a lot of scenes on behalf of Mary Ure as she bears a strong resemblance to Ure.
John was a lovely bloke and one of those gifted pilots who could make extremely precise flying look effortlessly casual. Even a cantankerous bugger like the Widgeon became a precision instrument in his hands. He and Jill made a good pair as they both had a flair for self-publicity. They were natural show people, rather like circus performers.
Sorry about the thread drift, but John Crewdson is worth remembering.