. In post
810 G-BBCA made her Nostalgia Thread debut when I mentioned that she was the second craft belonging to the Hambros Bank stable. Hambros and the late John Dicken have been the subject of my interest although, so far, I have been unable to gather much information. What G-BBCA threw up however was an outfit known as 'Time Aviation' (registered in London) which joins the ranks of smaller British helicopter operators with which I was previously unfamiliar. Others have included Freemans of Bewdly, Twyford Moors and BenTurner - the latter, so I was to discover, having accommodated my godfather as a director.
Today a second Time Aviation 206 cropped-up, G-BBFB:
Bell 206B JetRanger II G-BBFB belonging to Time Aviation as seen at Biggin Hill on 18th May 1974 (Photo: Jonathan Walton)
Wearing the same minimalistic (predominantly white) livery, trimmed only by the slightest blue and red stripes, BBFB finds herself surrounded by nostalgia! To 'FB's' side is a Sopwith Camel which was designed by Sir Thomas Sopwith father of rotary-wing flyer Tommy Sopwith who was discussed some pages back. To 'FB's' rear quarter is a Sea Fury (or so it appears) which was designed and manufactured by Sir Thomas' company Hawker, so named after Sopwith's Chief Test Pilot, Harry Hawker. The Sea Fury remains one of the most exquisite WWII fighters ever built and still thrills with her distinctive sound, a sampling of which can be heard
here.
In the photo the 'Time Ranger' obscures a quartet of Pitts Specials from the Rothman's Aerobatic Team one of which, clearly, is G-BADY and the other just might be G-AXNZ. 'NZ' of course was the Pitts purchased by the late great Peter Cadbury (aka The Cad) and a comment from PPRuNer FAStoat on another thread reads:
Andrew Chadwick is a name that comes to mind as the engineer that Peter Cadbury hired to modify the Pitts. He fitted spades under the ailerons and flared them adding droop to get a faster rate of roll.
While on Rothmans, Brian Lecomber (who I think used to fly as RAT 4) was a dear friend to my father and was present during my first encounter with the sauce in the late 70's at Yeadon Aero Club, Leeds. I still recall that the barmaid was named Hilda, lol!
From Time Aviation BBFB moved on to Hanson's, in 1978, who retained her until 1981.
G-BBFB - the subject of attention at Battersea Heliport on 15th July 1981 (Photo: Peter de Zeeuw)
I would be keen to discover further details about Time Aviation.