Bristow Photos

[Dave Ed]

Dubai

Dubai



Another base with long Bristow associations, then FBH took over a few years back and now I think they are going it alone?

The black and white pictures below were taken around 1968/70.

I never received much info about the Dubai operations when I was putting together the original website however I did spend 6 weeks at Dubai Police Air Wing in 1996 as an avionic leave relief. At that time the Police fleet consisted of Bolkow 105s, Bell 206s and the newly arrived Augusta 109s. Bell 412s were added sometime after.

A mile from the police hangar was the VIP hangar which housed everything from Boeing 747s to Bell 206s and Dauphins - the helicopters being Bristows responsibility.
Dubai operations can be traced back to the early sixties when the operation consisted of no more than a helipad and prefab building by the coast.


The Bristow Hangar was the larger of the two hangars in the foreground ie the hangar nearest the old airport control tower in the centre of the photo. Circa 1968.





Staff (circa 1968) were Gerhard Trosch, Bob Griffiths, Joe Wright (pilots) Bill Nicholls, Mike Croxford, Dave Peddar (engineers).


Whirlwind and Bell 206 on the apron.






.......and moving on a bit, pictures of Police Air Wing aircraft operational during the nineties and onward.

As mentioned above the Bolkow 105s were still in service in 1996 but were scheduled to be replaced after the imminent arrival of the Augusta 109s.





One of the Augusta 109s at the scene of a road traffic accident.






As above, but the latest addition to the fleet on scene, a Bell 412.





One of the Bell 412s undergoing a major check in the Dubai hangar, probably not the original!





........and a few Dubious Dubai characters........ many of them would go on to have looooong careers with Bristows.