It has been suggested that a thread be opened for historical helicopter stories in the hope of them not disappearing as we all grow old and fade away. This is a first offering. Maybe the thread will run and maybe not. No outright fiction please but inevitably the years cloud the memory.
In the mid 70's at Soest with 660 squadron Army Air Corps one of the Gazelles developed an alarming thump, thump thump
at the bottom of autorotation. Nothing could be found wrong so it was decided to carry out an airtest with the gearbox cowlings removed, a door off and with a certain sergeant attached to the aircraft via a despatchers harness positioned to see what was going on. A further airtest resulted in the defective part ,one of the transmission supports being identified as the culprit. Would just love to see the 'elf and safety wallahs having a heart attack if you did something like that now.
Probably stranger still is what became of our hero.
Transport Manager Alex Garty Poses With Queen Elizabeth Ii's Bentley Stock Photo, Royalty Free Image: 62639384 - Alamy