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Today is the first anniversary of The Nostalgia Thread and it seemed appropriate to express one's appreciation for the many and varied contributions which have made this such an interesting read over the past 12 months.
Some of the highlights include:
The Earl of Rochester's 'Ode to Taly' on Page 1
Oh Taly, gee Taly, where are you now,
Some place far off or over the brow?
From I-Taly you came and G-Taly were named,
Your very first owner someone so famed.
Delivered by Geoffrey, you gave him a start,
When your little engine produced a small f*rt!
Your pilot a gardener known as Ken D,
Would deliver the Duke for afternoon tea.
Now you are known by the name of J-LEE
But to us you shall always remain G-TALY!
Geoffers delivery of G-WIZZ on Page 2 and the Earl's 'Wizz the Bizz' poem
(This verse should ideally be sung in a style similar to that of Noel Coward’s ‘Mad Dogs’)
G-WIZZ was the bizz with her pretty black paint and her very neat name so quaint!
So Geoff with the boys set off with their toys and landed in a field north of Troyes.
With her intermittent blips Geoff clambered her hips which helped to name him ‘Geoff n Chips’!
The delay of the day could have been such a gloom when up so soon sprang Melun.
Geoff acted away the Gendarmes looking grey and wishing he would leave that day!
Then in stepped a vet he was looking after met saying ‘better let them stay as yet’.
Then off to the ‘tel you could hear Geoffers yell as the Renault 4 screeched to the door!
But what the Capt’n failed to say, was that in between the cheese and wine, were his antics with a maid divine!
Then onto Britland under power where Geoffrey fought with Gatwick tower who refused that the bizz was the WIZZ!
“Now I didn’t choose this bizz called WIZZ ‘twas the owner’s little ‘tis and the problem is not mine but his!
So you’d better let me pass before this comes a silly farce, for, to be sure as it is noon and you resemble a baboon I do not want this to be posted onto PPRuNe”!
Geoffers ferry flight from Frosinone to Fairoaks with G-WIZZ c. late 70's
Speechless Two's Rhodesian Expedition: Page 3
Rhodesian ground crew assist in making ready one of ten 206's which were flown out from the UK on board DC10's in order to support the Rhodesian election process
Papal Flying and the Holy Sea King: Page 5
A brief synopsis of Papal flying and the 'Vaticopter'
Lake Como and Villa D'Este: Page 6
Il Bugati Veyron outside the Villa D'Este where Geoffers was entertained by Agusta back in the day
The delivery of G-TALY from Frosinone to Fairoaks in March 1979 by Geoffers and Ken: Page 7
Once again the slanderous pen of Geoffersincornwall was at work with the caption reading: "A moment of acute embarrassment as Ken offers to give the ground crew a hand with the bump start. A quiet word in his ear and after a conference with the engineers we confirm that a starter motor is included in the specification." My father asserts that he knew there was a starter motor fitted all along and that he was just trying to be helpful!
The Cadbury Tales: Peter Cadbury (aka The Cad): Pages 9, 11, 13, 20, 21
Peter Cadbury (centre) accompanied by his wife Benedicta and Douglas Bader (who was best man at their wedding) at the Royal Court Theatre on 30th July 1959
John Eacott's Legs: Page 10
Charles Hughesdon: Page 10
Sabena's Rotary Fleet: Page 12
Metpol's Bell 222 Op's and the Conversation between the Commissioner of Police and the Bell Rep: Page 14
The Gregory Files - Ken Gregory and Air Gregory: Pages 14 & 20
Ken Gregory (centre) with Stirling Moss (right) and Stirling's father Alfred (left)
Gay Absalom: Pages 14, 15 and 35
Gay Absalom returns to the UK having completed a solo-cross-channel flight to Deuville, France and for which endeavour she received an award from the French Aero Club. June 1967.
The Chapman Files: Colin Chapman, Team Lotus and 'The Dancer': Pages 2 and 15
Chapman at his private airfield 'Hethel'
Paco's Corvette: Page 15
The Brantly 305: Pages 18 and 19
While this subject was 'on the go' the R44-owning musician J. Kay temporarily signed-up to PPRuNe expressing his admiration of the type.
Bolkow Nostalgia: Pages 30 and 31
The Sopwith Files - Rotary-Wing Flyer Tommy Sopwith: Pages 33, 34 and 35
Tommy Sopwith (right) stands with Sir Max Aitken founder of the Cowes-Torquay boat race
The Marquess of Bristol: Page 34
John Hervey, 7th Marquess, (1954-1999) (Earl Jermyn until he inherited the title in 1985) was the epitome of the "mad bad and dangerous to know" aristocrat who went through the family fortune in a tidal wave of over indulgence, in particular drugs.
Apparently at the controls of his helicopter 'He was an inspired pilot. He couldn't do radar, though. He would steer by an AA map on his knees, while snorting coke off the map. And he would order that all the lights at Ickworth be turned on when he was getting back.'
'Once, after a major bender, he went out to his helicopter, he didn't bother to check anything, he got into it and just went straight up. He didn't notice that there were clouds, he went straight up and came out at the top. There he was, sitting in a helicopter with a blanket of white puffy clouds beneath him. He said he looked around, put it on auto-pilot. He had a cocktail shaker in the cockpit, so he shook himself a Bloody Mary, had a couple of lines of coke and called the control tower in Cambridge. And somehow he came down, going sideways at 150mph and, without crashing, he landed.'
One night he went for a flight in his Hughes at his country estate, Ickworth House. This was after a dinner that included 2 or 3 bottles of claret and a pint of port. After a groggy, hesitant ascent, it then veered forward and up, hovering no more than 80ft above ground. He turned on the searchlight illuminating the part of the house occupied by an employee of the National Trust, to whom he had been obliged to sell the house and estate. Moments later, a squawking, demented cacophony erupted as Bristol screamed: 'I hate you, you b*****d. You b*****d. I hate you, you f*****g b*****d, wake up you b*****d.'
In 1988 the Jersey police found 13g of cocaine in his helicopter at St Helier. He did seven months in the island gaol. This wasn't G-BKTK, more likely his later Hughes 500 G-BMJV. Not the best role model but certainly a character!
How it all began ..
.. an innocuous enquiry as to the whereabouts of the craft in which I performed my PPL!
To all who have contributed, thanks for the memories, and for those who still have photos and stories stashed away in boxes and in the deepest recesses of their minds .. please dig them out and post them on PPRuNe!
Finally, The Earl of Rochester suggested that his poem 'Wizz the Bizz' be sung in a style similar to that of Noel Coward's 'Mad Dogs'! Given the largely British theme to this thread perhaps its not a bad idea for the thread to have its own 'anthem' and 'Mad Dogs' might just fit the bill. Enjoy!