Johnny Johnson
I remember Johnny Johnson mentioned in post 555 very well and it was nice to see him in the pic on post 549.
As a young lad of 16 I wrote to ATC at Battersea Heliport to arrange a visit to see some helicopters. A Mr Johnson replied and invited myself and brother to come along.
We travelled down by bus from North London and spent a fantastic day in the tower and lounge area chatting to him and the great staff. As the day progressed he pulled out our letter and asked how far away Leavesden was from our home.
To our surprise he then arranged for us to fly up to Leavesden in Gazelle G-BAGJ and even phoned my astonished parents to collect us. A true gent. I then became a regular at Battersea and flew in various Jetrangers on empty legs back to Fairoaks (AM), Redhill (Bristow) and Gatwick Beehive (Ferranti).... great days and I'm sure it would'nt be allowed today.
This was the day I got hooked on helicopters, now live, eat and breathe anything to do with helicopters and have photographed them ever since building up one of the largest collections in the UK. Sadly never learnt to fly helicopters but still hope to.
Helipixman