G-BBPO Etc
Hi Savoia,
Apologies for the absence (but even we 'olduns' still have to work now & then) ... The artist who dreamed up the DRK/Roy Spooner/Bob Myatt cartoon was the inimitable Wreford Fisher of Embassy Aviation, Sandown. A lovely character and a fine cartoonist.
Now G-BBPO (Serial No 176 - I'm an anorak at heart!) was sold by our sales division no less than six times. Graham Miller of the LONS country club, Derek Chandler of Flair Air, then Airgo up at Edinburgh, later Guy Moreton who farmed in potatoes, (hope you are well guy) and next a couple my brain wont recall. Oddly the heli was crashed on its original delivery flight when the engine quit on take off after a rainy night out with water in the fuel. The pilot reported that on the EOL landing run a small helicopter overtook him. (the T/R assembly!)
PO was originally fitted with Air Cruiser floats, hence the pitot tube above the nose ... in fact I was flying her just a couple of months ago at Shoreham training the owner's 16 year old son. I also flew her in the the 2008 WHC 'freestyle' event at Eisenach in Germany, but not having the turbo I didn't put on much of a show.
In the 1970s, we sold CSE ... and the two 'Lordships' - Iveagh and Waterpark, no less than six Enstrom 28A models. Registrations from my log book on request. And by the way the CSE school put 5,000 hours on G-BBXO ! Earlier the school had used the B2 Brantley until one shed a blade in the hover with Graham Meyrick on board who was sadly lost. Cy Rose's (he of Enstrom G-BAWI) son Greg was on board at the time and happily unhurt.
Oh such happy days days ... am I getting too old! But to perk myself up, I'm still displaying and scheduled to perform at Duxford Heli-Tech next month, probably the Sikorsky/Schweizer 269C, G-BWAV. Maybe an Enstrom 480.
Keep the 'nostalgia' stories coming lads. Dennis Kenyon.