Bast0n, great stuff as ever! Have always wanted to fly a helicopter with a rotating beacon, you know, one which makes a racket and draws plenty of amps from the battery!
Great fun regarding the Dragonfly! My godfather would tell me of his days at Boscombe Down and how when a new type arrived he and the other drivers would forego any formal type induction and give themselves a 'scare' all by means of keeping themselves on their toes (or so the story goes!). Strange lot those test pilots, lol!
Cheetah, there's probably a UAV thread somewhere (although I'll confess to having not looked for it) but the contraption certainly 'looks the business' being purpose-designed (one assumes) instead of converted from an existing piece of machinery.
C16, it will be interesting to see whether any leads emerge which could eventually uncover this image. Let's keep our fingers crossed.
A Royal Navy Whirlwind from HMS Victorious c. 1963
The route followed by HMS Victorious on her 1963-64 expedition to the Far East
And in today from Mick West ..
Court Line Aviation Bell 206A G-AXMM at Bembridge on 4th July 1971 (Photo: Mick West)
This craft was bought by Freddie Wilcox in July 1969. She was the 10th Bell (as opposed to Agusta-Bell) 206 in the UK. In 1974 she was bought by Appledore Shipbuilders of Devon and in the same year moved on to a Mr 'Walter Holmes' of 'Refuge' House, Bedford Street, Leeds and which can only be 'Wally' Holmes of Heli-Leeds and about which I shall say no more.
AXMM went on to collect a string of owners and flew variously as: G-ROGR, G-RODY, G-OBHH and latterly as G-WLLY.
WLLY met her demise on 21st December 2005 tragically claiming the lives of both her occupants. An excerpt from the
accident report reads:
The pilot of the helicopter and an observer were carrying out a pipeline inspection flight between Cumbernauld Airport and Aberdeen.
Approximately 45 minutes after takeoff, the helicopter descended to low level where debris was seen to fall from its aft section. Control of the helicopter was lost and it struck the ground, fatally injuring both occupants. The investigation found that the vertical stabiliser had detached from the tail boom and struck the tail rotor.
This subsequently caused the tail rotor and associated gearbox to become detached from the tail boom, resulting in the helicopter’s centre of gravity moving outside controllable limits.