Did you know Dave Bond?
I am researching the official history of the companies which eventually became Bond Helicopters Ltd and am seeking information from anyone with first-hand knowledge of David Bond in the 1940s, 50s and 60s.
Mr Bond was a wartime Lancaster pilot (90 Sqn among others) who formed a company called Bond Air Services Ltd in 1946, flying Austers, Halifaxes and Lancastrians on air taxi and charter work. His association with Bond Air Services ended in 1947 (the company continued trading after his departure) and he flew Halifaxes for Eagle Aviation before joining Flight Refuelling Ltd to fly Lancastrians during the Berlin Airlift. He joined Pest Control Ltd (later Fison-Airwork) in 1952 and converted onto helicopters in 1953, thereafter flying Hiller 360s in Nigeria. In 1956 he converted onto the S55 and flew in support of Shell D’Arcy and BP in Nigeria, and at various times he was involved in instructing at Bourn, crop-spraying in the UK, Jamaica, Panama and Honduras, surveying in Algeria in a Twin Pin and flying for Marley Tiles in a Piaggio P166. After the Bristow takeover of Fison-Airwork he left to form Management Aviation Ltd which later gave birth to several subsidiaries including Bond Helicopters Ltd. Mr Bond died at the age of only 57 in 1977.
If you knew David Bond and can add any detail to these bare facts I would be very pleased to hear from you. Expecting details from the 1940s is a tad optimistic but you never know your luck. Please email patATrichmondaviation.co.uk.
(This request also posted in the 'Where are they now?' forum)