More Enstrom
Oh dear Savoia ... how well I can see why this thread is name "Nostalgia. ... all so true for me. You post a pic of Enstrom 280C the infamous G-BENO at Shoreham, and being an ex 'Anorak' my log book tells me she was serial 1024. (the 28A series started at 001 followed by the 280 'Shark Shape' series at 1000.) The second Enstrom 28A, G-BALT in the pic was serial 123 being the machine on which I made my first helicopter solo. (1973!) ... me standing alongside, and with a full head of hair aged a mere 44!
Yes, G-KENY (280C) serial 1221 was sold to Ken Stokes and I see I made the the first UK C of A air test on her on 2nd March 1982 at Shoreham. Ken made his living with office stationary forms. The second 280C was G-HOVA, one of Spooner Aviation's first ever nut & bolt 'rebuilds' from scratch where a new machine appeared from a few others and parts from the stores. She was sold to a firm called Supaglide who made posh windows in the early 1980s. I think the owners were Les Briggs and Eddy Coventry of the BAC window firm. Eddy later switched to an AS350 and flew it around the UK for charity. (My best wishes if you are out there Eddy)
G-OMCP was probably Jimmy Meyer's business of Federated Homes, (G-OFED) and Meyer's Commercial Properties and yes I bought her and re-sold as SHUU, but this time for Starline Helicopters, being the 16th Helicopter in the SH series. Tony Pond, God now bless him, was a BL Rally driver and good client of my Skyline firm. In those days we seemed to have an inside track on the racing men. Tony Pond, Alan Jones, Ari Vatanen, Jonathon Palmer and even Mark Thatcher who raced a few saloons from time to time. Around 1983, I recall flying him up to Didcot to be fitted in a single-seater. Mark purchased the last in the SH series being B206 G-SHZZ.
Finally just a recollection regarding the Colonel's effort to clear snow. In the 1954 big freeze, the CO at RAF Weston Zoyland ordered we trainee pilot to fire up the school's Meteors and taxi up and down the iced up runway. You don't need to know the result! More tittle-tattle on request ....
Dennis Kenyon.
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