Col. Bob Smith & Ferranti
Dennisimo!
Didn’t realise you had already authored some books (I did suspect you may have some interesting stories to tell). Will definitely get copies of your work next time I’m in the UK. If there is a special distributor perhaps you would let me know the details. Well done!
I will certainly pass on your regards to Bob. He was, without doubt, a gentleman. Moreover, those who knew him personally will readily remark on his congenial, generous and loyal nature. He is one of the kindest people I have encountered over the years.
In the days when we he was flying for the race horse trainer Vincent O’Brien (collecting Lester Piggott or Pat Eddery from either Cork, Shannon or Dublin was a regular occurrence) he lived for some months at the Cashel Rock Hotel in County Tipperary (owned by Vincent) where a dear old lady had been resident for almost 10 years. One evening during his ‘wee snifter’ at the bar Bob discovered that the dear woman was unable to attend the wake of her recently departed sister (who had been her only remaining relative) and which was to take place in Galway the following day.
Bob arranged with Vincent’s manager (a chap called McCarthy) to charter the aircraft for himself and then promptly collected the old dear and flew her to the Church in Galway. Vincent got to hear of this (Cashel was a small place) and had his manager reimburse Bob’s money and made a point of telling him that it was one of the kindest things he had seen anyone do. But, I have to say, this was utterly in keeping with Bob’s generous nature.
By the time Ferranti had moved to Shoreham you will have found Bob in a different place and I’m not speaking of geography here. The day I first met you was the date of the photo I posted of you in BENO. It was Saturday May 14th 1977. The following day Ferranti suffered the worst incident in the company’s history when a radio-less Tiger Moth flew into the main rotors of G-AVSN killing Ferranti pilot Hugh Lovett and his 4 passengers. Sadly, throughout the remainder of his professional career, Bob never overcame this tragedy and bemoaned the loss of Hugh and his passengers until his retirement. At that point in British executive helicopter aviation there had been remarkably few dramatic fatalities of this nature (probably the closest incident was three years earlier when G-AXAY (on contract to Plessey) came apart above Inkpen Hill near Hungerford).
Needless to say, the resulting publicity and general demoralisation within the company were things that Bob felt strongly. Less than a year later one of Ferranti’s Bo105’s (G-BATB) was struck by a freak wave while on the pad at Skerryvore lighthouse. Thankfully there were no fatalities but, the incident attracted additional and unwelcome publicity which ran contrary to the image that Bob and his team were working so hard to build.
In the background the Ferranti electronics group were going through their own challenges and from around ’76 Bob found himself becoming somewhat isolated in that Sebastian de Ferranti (his strongest ally and constant supporter) became increasingly indisposed as he attempted to manage the financial storms that the parent were facing. On top of this, Ferranti were booted out of the Beehive facility (Gatwick had been a mildly prestigious location for the company) and so by the time you found Bob at Shoreham, both he and the company, had seen better days.
Regarding Bob’s somewhat fastidious devotion to detail (such as that which you encountered when purchasing AWJW) one need’s to appreciate the distinction Bob made between his personal nature and his commitment to Ferranti which was, for all intents and purposes, his ‘baby’. Sebastian’s strong advocacy of Bob’s guidance of the company was met by Bob’s fiercely loyal commitment which sought at all times to ensure that Ferranti was protected from risk while pursuing the very highest standards of professionalism attainable.
Regarding Ferranti’s Class 7 licence, yes, BCal’s only interest in Ferranti was to use it as a platform from which to compete (especially against BAH) in the offshore sector.
Re: The Ferranti SAS system, sadly I never got the chance to experience this for myself. Speechless Two could doubtless be able to offer valid comment about its usefulness. I do know that people such as the late John ‘Chalky’ White (ex-JCB) swore by the system.
If your conversation with Sebastian threw up any interesting remarks about the Ferranti days then yes I’d be keen to receive any details – thanks.
Through the Ferranti tribute website we are developing we hope to capture those aspects of Ferranti’s operations which went on to inspire an entire industry and in this regard, and as previously posted by Speechless Two, were are still keenly seeking information, details, photos and stories relating to the following ex-Ferranti personnel:
Paul Blackiston
Peter Cox
Tony Dando
John Grandy
Dick Hansen
Chris Hunt
Hugh Lovett
Paddy McLaughlin
Chris Powell
Des Sadler
Sqn Ldr Ron Salt
Lt Col Bob Smith
Maj Herbert Warburton
With equal enthusiasm are we wishing to obtain details of Ferranti’s engineering and admin staff. Any leads are most welcome.
Lt Col Bob Smith- One of the first twelve pilots to fly helicopters in Britain
- Former test pilot with A&AEE Boscombe Down
- Former test pilot with Bristol, Westland and Rolls Royce
- Former Chief Pilot of Christian Salvesen serving on whaling expeditions in Antartica
- Former Chief Test pilot of Ferranti Electronics group and personal pilot to Sebastian de Ferranti: 1964-1971
- Managing Director of Ferranti Helicopters: 1971-79
- Founding member of Aviation Consultants International (1981) which counted Norman Todd (Chief Pilot British Airways Condorde Fleet) and the astronaut David Scott among its Directors
Bob received some 30 awards and recognitions during his career, was a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Warden and Liveryman of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators.
Ex-Ferranti AgustaBell 206B JetRanger II G-AWJW at Shoreham on 12th August 1981
Clearly no longer a Ferranti 206 as the closest thing that Ferranti had to a logo (the Royal Mail cipher) is missing from the baggage door area and, crucially, the skid fearing cuff is also missing.
Ferranti JetRangers working VIP assignments had a number of non-technical (cosmetic) criteria to meet before they could be considered serviceable, Bob was pretty adamant about this and left Ferranti’s ground staff in no uncertainty as to what was required.
The criteria included a freshly detailed interior with checks to ensure that the white passenger lap straps were thoroughly clean and that newly laundered white covers were applied to all headsets. All windows were to be spotless. The exterior was not permitted to display any evidence of oil leaks or exhaust emissions. The areas of the fuselage exposed when opening the doors and baggage compartment (as well as the inside of the doors themselves) were to be completely clean and Bob’s pet hate … landing gear not covered by fairings including .. specifically .. fairing cuffs (the oval fibreglass cuff that linked the fuselage to the skid fairing!).
S.
Last edited by Savoia; 13th Apr 2011 at 15:40.
Reason: Additional details