Greece - My trip to Greece in 1982 was the beginning of Niki's commercial enterprise and involved the Athens Aviation Services and their embryonic heliport experiment.
During my time there I was asked to do many strange tasks including the resupply of a family yacht when the fridge broke down, visit one of the Papadakis line ships at anchor with dozens of others to the North of Athens, deliver candidates to election rallies, visit the family 'home' island of Kasos east of Crete. Many 'social' flights involved island hopping whilst the yacht 'Little Cayman' followed on. Niki wasn't a great sailor but enjoyed life on board. I remember once flying some supplies out to a rendezvous in a small rocky bay and parking TPTR on a small ledge. It was a hot summer day and I was feeling the heat so Niki offered me a pair of swimming trunks from his visitor's store and I had a delicious cooling dip that was so gorgeous that I felt it made being a helicopter pilot the best job in the world. A shower and reality beckoned. It was a magic summer - a journey that took in Le Touquet, Lausanne, Genoa, Pescara, Bari, Corfu, Zakintos, Athens plus many islands visits and fishing trips. Niki treated me like a brother much to the annoyance of his female companion and he was a kind and thoughtful employer.
Another chapter of the memoirs maybe? One day I will find the time to write them.
G.
