Silverstone GP 2016

[finals06]

Congratulations to Sloane and Freshair (trading as Silverstone Helicopters Ltd) on winning the contract to run the Grand Prix heliport at Silverstone for 2016.
There are obviously some big changes in the operation and I wondered if anyone knows who will be providing ATC Services and Comms for the event? I understand that the team that have provided these services for the past 20 years plus are no longer involved.

[nigelh]

Great ! With luck they may get 10 helicopters ! There are now NO major events in the UK that attract big numbers of helicopters ..... ( Silverstone used to be the busiest heliport in the world on the main days ..I guess it wouldn't be 10% of that now .)

[finals06]

It’s a real shame that we are witness to the demise of what was once hailed as the ‘Premier Special Event in the country’. It is of course a long time since those glorious heady days back in 1999 when two heliports saw 4,200 movements on race day. The heliport however, to the best of my knowledge, was seeing a respectable 1500 to 1800 movements on GP Sunday. For what ever reason this has sadly fallen away of late but it is still a busy event for helicopters, and in the right hands and at the right location I am sure it could grow and develop again. Twin only and no parking or fuel has obviously had a massive impact and of course the ludicrous landing fees have scared off many long standing operators and their clients. With a new regime running the show and with obvious massive savings made in some departments it would have been nice to see them backing off a little with the slot fees but this sadly seems not to be the case. Maybe this is a transitional year and we can expect a more user friendly and viable operation in the future. I for one certainly hope so because if not, the way things are going, there will be no need for a Grand Prix Heliport at Silverstone in a few short years.

[helihub]

NigelH - just for the record, the BGP 2015 Sunday had 47 visiting helicopters in all (A109 x 19. AS355 x 16, AS365/155 x 5, EC135 x 4, S76 x 3) and that doesn't include the EMS cover, Security, RedArrows commentator etc.

For comparison, Cheltenham Gold Cup day had 55 different helicopters earlier this month, and Royal Ascot last June had a couple of days with over 45 helicopters.

Yes, BGP is much less than what it used to be, and yes, these are numbers of helicopters and not movement or passenger numbers. But they are way more than 10 that you pessimistically predict. Let's give the new incumbents the benefit of the doubt and see what they come up with for 8th to 10th July.

[nigelh]

I was actually joking when I said 10 ..... But am horrified to see that I was quite close !!!!! There should be hundreds of helicopters going in and the reason is all to do with over regulation and greedy useless helicopter companies systematically ripping everyone off . My helicopters were leased to fly into all these events every year from around 1985 but rarely now due to landing fees and rules . Luckily I have people who I have dealt with for many years and the helicopter is kept reasonably busy but I think general charter now is dying out slowly , especially in singles . The time was that you couldn't even find a single or twin to hire on these big events as they were ALL busy !! Wouldn't it be nice if someone tried to get it back to how it was .......!!!

[EESDL]

......cometh the Nigel?

Now that regulation and 'safety' assurance is turning more to 'performance-based' pragmatism........and the increasing wave of commonsense behind the move to 'unleashing' 'singles' in the charter market......is there still a case for 'twins'????
Safety and hazard is determined more by the role than the number of engines - Twins still hit the sea in the NS regardless of how sophisticated they are.....
Maybe the powers that be will recognise that a well-maintained turbine is just as 'safe' as a couple of over-temp'd Alisons?
What Matron? Time for my bed-bath and medication........

[nigelh]

Not quite sure what you are saying ........ But think I agree !!
If a single is not deemed to be safe to fly into a huge field in Oxfordshire then we know the industry has lost the plot .....

[love flying]

Is there anyone in the heli industry (who isn't a commercially biased twin owner) who really thinks that singles shouldn't be allowed into Silverstone GP for safety reasons? Who do we write to at the CAA to ask for this rule to be explained?
When I searched their website, I managed to find a "ruling" about twins sitting next to each other on aeroplanes. I mean really!

[nigelh]

Havent you realized yet that singles are really dangerous and twins are really safe ??? Also AOC operators using twins pay far more money to the CAA to get the rules they want . In an ideal world for them all singles would be banned !!

[HeliAl]

Don't forget, cost sharing (upto 6 individuals) makes a single safer and legal on performance!!