Bristow Photos

[Dave Ed]

Sunderland

Sunderland



On a stormy February day in 1965, a Bristow's Whirlwind took off from Sunderland Airport and flew 164 miles out into the North Sea to the Amoseas' rig "Mister Cap" on the Dogger Bank. Twenty-five minutes later, having dropped off one set of passengers, refuelled, and picked up another set, the Whirlwind set off on the return journey to Usworth.
This was the first flight to carry passengers to a North Sea drilling rig from a UK base, and it marked a new era in the use of helicopters, and a new chapter in the history of Bristow Helicopters.


This picture was part of a "Decca Navigator" advert that appeared in a Flight International dated 27th May1965 and it advertises the fact that the Decca Mark 8 and Flight Log was the primary navigation system fitted to G-APWN which operated the service to "Mister Cap".
It went on to say that this helicopter service had, without question, raised the morale of all those on the rig.




From an old "Esso" publication:
"Members of the rig's crew, wearing immersion suits, unloading gear from a Westland Whirlwind at the end of Bristow Helicopters' first service flight to a North Sea natural gas drilling rig."




The contract was less than a year and on November 22 G-APWN left Redhill for a 20-stage ferry flight to Lagos!

Back of photo: " The life line of 'Mr Cap' - the Westland Whirlwind Series III completing the longest regular over sea service in the world - landing on a platform 55 feet in diameter.





......and a great article from Bob Roffe...........

Mr Cap - Sunderland, Feb-June 1965.
By Bob Roffe. (written 2001 ish?)


Mr Cap, Sunderland, Feb- June 1965. Three and a half pages of logbook, 200 hours flying and a few photographs, it just does not seem 37 years since Alan Green and I made the first flight out to Mr Cap (a 3 legged jackup drilling rig) from Usworth airfield Sunderland on Feb 17th, 1965.

This flight was 3 months after joining BHL after 5 years flying in the RN. Alan Green, BHL Ops Director had acceded to my request to be initially married accompanied on my first BHL appointment after over 2 years away in Hermes and Kent. I had made this request at my interview in 1964 where he had pitched all the exciting BHL ops in the Caribbean, India, Africa and the Middle East. Sunderland was a surprise to say the least but this Midlander certainly enjoyed the warm North-East hospitality.
Needing the S55 S3 on my licence, I had visited the BHL operation at Emden to fly with Alistair just before and after Xmas 1964. (Chief Pilot: Alistair Gordon, pilots: Willie Weitzel, John Waddington, Horst Neu and also met the fluid druid Dick Jones). An early example of the flexibility of mind needed in subsequent years was to follow when Alan Green asked me to fudge my logbook and type endorsement forms to show that he had done my 1179H at Redhill on an absent UK registered aircraft! I took the forms and logbook to the ARB in the Strand to be shortly called to an inner office and confess my sins to an officer who advised me that his extremity was a smoked fish if Alan Green had done this flight! I shuffled convincingly and said Alan was a fine examiner and pilot. After a very long pause my licence was stamped and I was despatched with cautionary advice as to my future in civil aviation if I was daft enough to try it on again, and to tell Alan and Pete Richards much G and T was owed!

The first UK North Sea exploration helicopter was G-APWN ( It is now in the Frank Whittle Museum at Coventry Airport, not I regret as a main exhibit, but they have a lot of better material to present ) which in January was being fitted out with Decca at the Air Holdings Group associate company Aviation Traders Ltd at Stansted. The rig had been on location on the Dogger Bank (Sunderland 062M -145nm) since early January, so much pressure was on BHL to provide the aircraft as the very basic workboat (Hector Gannet) took 14 hours to reach the rig.

Les (bentnose) Baker, a BHL pilot of much seniority had been assigned by Alan to hold this new boys hand for the flight to Usworth and help his first civil op. He and I checked out the Decca at Stansted on Feb 12th and we left early 13th in good weather for Sunderland. On this nice Saturday morning the wind intensified way beyond forecast and the deteriorating groundspeed on this float fitted a/c soon dictated re-routing to Leeds/Bradford airport. The intercom was u/s as was Les from the night before and I could see my first flight for BHL ending in a field as Leeds was now gusting up to 50kts. ATC gave us some landing priority and the now light helo only stopped slipping downwind on the hardstanding after shut down when the fuel bowser arrived in front. My logbook shows 3h10mins for the sector!

Alan Green was waiting at Usworth when we arrived 2 hours later with Chief Eng Tommy Menham and greenie Steve Stevens (BHL's answer to Steptoe). A Decca flight test on 14th was followed by windy weather ( we needed a minimum of 55 kts groundspeed to make Mr Cap with 30 minutes reserve) and it was on the 17th that Alan Green and I flew to the rig (decision point 80 miles PNR (point of no return) circa 90 miles). That wonderful man Jack Brannon was Radio/Plotter and everything worked including the rig fuel! Base check signed and pax on the way back - one happy rig and client Amoseas. From then on the normal routine of supporting an exploration contract was week-daily flights plus an extra flight on two crewchange days, for which that very professional part time pilot and chicken farmer Dickie Dorman would appear for the 2nd flight.

My learning curve was steep. An early mistake was paying a debt to an Oily who had lent Bentnose some money in a nightclub, Les was in Nigeria and when I corresponded he had a memory lapse, which only recovered when he flew with me on an Iran operation 2 years later! One fitter wrote off the Landrover. Basing transient staff at Mollys pub in Washington Square, much favoured by the miners from Washington Pit, was in retrospect unwise, such was the hospitality enjoyed by Ginger and Fred.

Operationally, most problems centred on weight (what's new!). With max fuel the disposable weight was 680lbs and Alan Green had promised Amoseas a minimum of 4 pax - not a problem in Bengal but our boys all came in at over 200lbs and one, Bill Kiligore, the Amoseas toolpusher was 280lbs. (Getting him into the two piece Frankenstein immersion suit was a 3 man effort). Thank goodness for fresh Spring winds.

On a PNR (point of no return) operation the reliability of rig weather assumes some importance, especially as the Dogger Bank is renowned for fog. BHL rig minimum visibility was 1/2 mile for the Decca ADF navaids, with the disadvantage of only l cm on the Decca flight log map equalling l0nm at the rig site (15cm for l0nm at the airfield). I should have known it was the rig radio operator Albert's crew change day on one nice April morning at Usworth when Jack received the rig weather over the H/F radio being given as light winds in a stable "high", no cloud, hazy, visibilty 1 mile. At PNR the rig vis was 3/4mile. Ten miles after, 1/2mile decreasing and at 10 miles from the rig , thick fog, 100 yard stuff by which time I was at 40 feet and trailing the aerial in!

With the ASI just indicating and the ADF needle 30 degrees to starboard we crabbed in with the passenger in the copilots seat briefed to shout if he saw anything and the accursed Albert also briefed to stick his head out of his deck radio shack and yell when he heard the helo.To cut a long sphincter puckering 30 mins short, with the ADF ident very noisy, the Decca map needle on the rig, Albert shouting "I..........." and the passenger assuming a spinal rictus position, the rig leg appeared out of the fog requiring some frantic control inputs to pull up and then fast stop over the deck without losing visual contact. After Albert came out of hiding some time later to admit his sins of optimising the visibility and had been picturised with imminent short life expectation, I took him back flying for the first time over solid fog all the way to the coast, surface to 3000 feet.

Albert was to become a North Sea character and was hired by BHL at North Denes in 1969 to be based offshore on the North Star rig when accurate weather was needed for very long range Wessex PNR operations.

On another occasion during lunch at the rig, I was asked by the outgoing drilling crew if I could fly round door side to the rig for photographs to be taken. After take off I duly circled at a low height and was a little surprised to see a fusillade of oranges being hurled out of the aircraft towards the drilling deck. I put this exuberance down to crewchange day and continued ashore to be told over the intercom by the passenger riding "shotgun' in the copilot's seat that the cabin passengers had reached up and tied the bootlaces of his immersion suit not only together but over and around the stub base for the copilots cyclic control stick. The stick had been removed for single pilot operation. After ascertaining that I had unrestricted movement remaining I called Jack Brannon over the H/F with a sitrep and asked him to contact Jack Pillow the Global Marine drilling manager to get to the airport and meet me in 45mins on arrival. This good Texan initially declined as he was busy but rapidly agreed when the alternative of his crew being arrested and locked up by the police was mentioned. The aircraft landed, the evidence exposed and the guilty parties were banned by me from crewchanging by air. After 2 boatcrew changes in rough weather Jack Pillow and I agreed that after apologies, normal service would be resumed for this crew. I later learnt that bottles of whisky had come out to the rig to enjoy on the way ashore!

The first rig casevac was at night on April 11th, and the procedure worked well with the 'heart attack' patient accompanied by the rig medic and we landed as planned in the grounds of Sunderland General Hospital at first light. Jack Brannon, ever alert to the oxygen of publicity for BHL had alerted the media, who were in good attendance as we shut down and I had to move very quickly to the cabin to make the patient, who had had a miraculous recovery en route to shore (the medical powers of a heli ride never cease to amaze me!) get onto a stretcher for the highly visible transfer to the ambulance!

The operation, being the UK North Seas first, attracted much press and television coverage of both the BHL part, as well as the offshore rig element, and I was very grateful to the late Michael Barratt of Panorama when one evening on landing back after a rig flight I had made a very clumsy crosswind landing in front of the large hangar in order to get the aircraft nose in for the 'Dorman and Long' trolley which moved the pontoon fitted a/c in and out of the hangar. As the a/c shut down I noticed film cameras on tripods nearby and the good Mr Barratt approaching. After a short interview, I asked whether he had filmed the landing to which he affirmed yes, whereupon I said this new company pilot would soon be out of a job if the MD Mr Bristow saw my landing on TV, but I would be quite happy for him to film another landing which would be perfect! This I duly did, and when the programme appeared so did the second landing. I still watch the BBC to this very day.

Amoseas cut short its 5 well programme and next, Shell drilled one BHL supported well on the Dogger Bank, which was good news as Shell was the only oil company contract not secured by BHL in the first round of exploration activity as Mr Cap was too small for a BEAH S61N. At the end of June 1965, Mr Cap moved and subsequently burnt out off the coast of Nigeria. G-APWN was ferried to the new BHL base at North Denes and this pilot headed off to Iran with fond remaining memories of Usworth which is now the site of the Nissan car factory. Amongst the many visitors were Alistair Gordon (then N.Sea Ops Manager) Tony English, Alfie Hill and Jack Woolley (Tech. Dir.) who also brought along his father, a splendid silver haired gentleman who had flown Sopwiths and SE 5's in WW-1, a privilege indeed to meet him.

Bob Roffe.