PlymouthPixie

Thanks guys! I was under the impression that they had lost the Falklands contract and the aircraft sold on - or at least G-AYOY, G-BHOG, G-VIPZ & G-BCEA have.

Ant T

Savoia - a while back, on the Ferranti thread I wrote abut my dad who used to fly for Denis Ferranti. You asked there if I might post a few pictures of the S61s that I am now flying in the Falklands. Thought the pics might be more appropriate on this thread -



BI had the contract to support the Ocean Guardian until mid-2011 when CHC took over using AS332 L2 (our available payloads were fairly low once the rig moved out to 150 miles)

BI have had the MOD contract since they took over from Bristow in 1998 (I first came to the Falklands in 1987 on the Bristow contract)
We still have plenty of good flying,

interesting landing sites -


Underslung loads -



Lovely aircraft -




Me in the right seat getting line checked by Derek Baker in the left seat - he was just approaching 20,000 hours on the S61 !! (I think, but it may just (!!) have been 20,000 hours total time).

Non-Driver

Interesting to see RI back in airworthy condition. She sat in the BHL hangar in Aberdeen for many years following UN duties along with OG/OH in a considerable state of disassembly. Cannibalisation was the order of the day as the rest of the S61 fleet diminished with even main looms chopped. I recall BI took the best 2 and rebuilt them. Must have been a significant exercise seeing how long they'd been dormant and how many oily bits had been sold. She certainly won't have many parts matching her original build.

industry insider

I was wondering what happened to BFRI. I had my first engine failure in a twin in RI coming off the Ninian Central on the 8th of October 1981 at around 8.30 while doing a Heavy Chevy run back to Unst. She looked after me that day as we headed back to Unst at around 80 knots IAS. It was not too windy that day, around 20 knots if I remember which made the dive and recovery just after rotation quite interesting! We had a full load with a cabin attendant if I recall, 23 down the back. Great pictures, thank you.

Ian Corrigible

...Romeo India also being featured in the BIH feature in this month's copy of Rotorhub (pp10-13).

I/C

Savoia

Ant great stuff, most enjoyable!

If your Dad has any reminiscences from his days with Denis which he would like to share .. please do post for us all.

Rgds

Sav

Laundryboy

Haven't got my log book to hand, but I seem to remember an engine failure in RI around that time, coming off the same Ninian Central. I might have been the chief pilot, and you might have been related to someone in Redhill?!

3D CAM

And I might have been one of the engineers who replaced that engine.
3D

Savoia

A collection of S61's in Lerwick, Scotland, bound for North America. (No date unfortunately).

heli1

I remember that move Savioa.The S-61s had been traded in to Aerospatiale for Super Pumas and were stored in the Shetlands for ages .They were eventually sold in the US on condition that they did not return to offshore operations ,although later on some did !
Date was around the end of 1989 ?

Phil Kemp

I was that man...

We trucked the S61's up to Lerwick, only to have the boat not show up!

After stripping the machines down outside for shipping, in perfect November/December Shetland weather - and it was amazingly great weather that year.

This picture was taken in the P&O yard before we put them into inside storage at Dales Voe over Christmas, then shipped them out the Portland, Oregon. I see some of these machines quite regularly, even today.

Picture taken at the P&O yard in Gremista in December 1987.

What great fun. Nice to see so many of my former colleagues and friends on this thread!

industry insider

Phil

What is the story behind the N reg on the S-61 on the truck?

spitfiremk9

Hi all

Great pictures.

I fly the S-61N in Airgreenland. We have two remaining in our fleet which once where a total of 8.
The one I fly this days is the OY-HAF, wich just now has over 43040 hours.
It has sn. 61287.
The two ships remaining OYHAF,and OYHAG, are due for retirement by the end of the year if they doesn't reach an agreement regard to a contract on SAR for Greenland in 2013.
It is a vey good aircraft, and these aircraft has been operated in Greenland, in an arctic environment since 1965. Mostly they are hangared but last year during offshore operations it had to be outside while the S-92 from cougar had to be inside. Not a problem for the old lady.



best reg
Spitfiremk9

HeliTester

Thanks for the post spitfiremk9,

43040 hours, that's nearly 5-years in the air. Anyone know what the highest time S-61N is?

heli1

Well Phil,the sale of those S-61Ns into the US came at an unfortunate time as Aerospatiale boss Jean Bigay at the time had promised to donate one to The Helicopter Museum if they werent sold by the year end.The Museum even had Bristow's MD promise to deliver one to the museum if the deal was ratified.Of course the sale blew that and the museum still doesnt have an S-61.
Now I wonder if Air Greenland might donate one when they retire...fat chance eh?

Savoia

Heli1/Phil Kemp: Thanks for your comments regarding the Westward-bound 61's. '87 it was then!

Spitfire Mk IX: That is a lovely shot of HAF (even if she is in need of a wash).

Please can you explain in just a little more about the work you perform with Grønlandsfly such as the routes you run, passenger loads and the average temperature at your normal cruising height etc.

Would be most interested.

Rgds

Sav

spitfiremk9

Yes indeed its a nice shot.

I have more trying to post them via dropbox, but not easy.

Anyway, we operate the S-16N in multiple roles in Greenland. Scheduled route for the Greenlandic home ruling. (Hjemmestyret), which also consist of SAR and medevacs.
And the aircraft is also used in sling , cargo and all kinds of charter operations. VFR and IFR day and night. Night and IFR is challenging. The coastlines are long and the mountains are high. We stay low if we can, if not 1500-4000 feet. VFR Temp in summer time is up to 15-20 deg C. and winter can be down to -35 deg C. Wind and weather are often changing rapidly.
what can I say, the best job in the world. :

And finally I managed to get some Pic`s of old lady. Enjoy.

Ant T

With the current interest in gearboxes and lubrication (S92, AS332, EC225), can anyone tell me the history of the Emergency Lube system on the S61. It looks as if it was added after the original design (the switch for it is on a separate panel and looks like an add-on) but I have never heard that it was added after any specific S61 incident or accident, so maybe it was there right from the start, or became required by legislation following problems on some other aircraft type?? (I currently fly the S61, so I know what it does and how it works etc, just looking for information on when it was first added to the design).

PlymouthPixie

I'm trying to source the current where-abouts and registrations for the few S-61's that BIH recently sold off.

Namely, G-BHOG, G-AYOY, G-VIPZ & G-BCEA, any ideas please?

revs&checks

I'm reliably informed that G-BCEA (serial 61721) is now N463ZC but not sure about the others.
Please post if you find out though.