Alan Bristow RIP
The "Old Man" was a real helicopter pilot! Without a doubt.....he was the best Boss I ever had......as I had absolutely nothing but respect and admiration for the Man.
Anyone who would throw Douglas Bader into a swimming pool....tin legs and all has to be admired!
Anyone who would throw Douglas Bader into a swimming pool....tin legs and all has to be admired!
Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
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AB called Bader a "tin legged git" at some meeting/dinner or other, Bristow had to wait a very long time for another Shell contract! Wouldn't have helped with the knighthood either I suspect.
My Day 1 with Bristows. "Take the boss's (yellow) Bell47 to Gatwick, pick up AB, (then MD BUA), fly him to Battersea, drop him off and come back"
Duly fly Redhill LGW very carefully, first civvy flight ever, park on grass outside the office. AB comes out, "I will fly", and departs due North across the approach. Half way to London he says, "You take the train back", which I do. Arrive back at office, "Bloody fine mess you made of your first flight for the company, collected a violation at LGW no less".
Me: "please explain?" Them: "You flew right across the approach on departure, no ATC clearance"
Me: "I wasn't flying, AB was" Them: "Well he told ATC it was you!"
Thanks Alan! Still not such a bad old sod though, gave me my first job.
Sleep well.
My Day 1 with Bristows. "Take the boss's (yellow) Bell47 to Gatwick, pick up AB, (then MD BUA), fly him to Battersea, drop him off and come back"
Duly fly Redhill LGW very carefully, first civvy flight ever, park on grass outside the office. AB comes out, "I will fly", and departs due North across the approach. Half way to London he says, "You take the train back", which I do. Arrive back at office, "Bloody fine mess you made of your first flight for the company, collected a violation at LGW no less".
Me: "please explain?" Them: "You flew right across the approach on departure, no ATC clearance"
Me: "I wasn't flying, AB was" Them: "Well he told ATC it was you!"
Thanks Alan! Still not such a bad old sod though, gave me my first job.
Sleep well.
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Alan Bristow - A fine man, a great pilot and a legend in his time. I had to peel him away from throwing Sikorsky CEO Gerry Tobias into the swimming pool at the Jupiter Beach Resort at a celebration of the first flight of the S76! I was proud to call Alan a friend. I shall miss him.
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Alan Bristow
Bristow (Alastair Gordon actually) gave me my first job in civvy street. First sight of the 'Old Man' was in the hangar in Aberdeen where he harangued one of our US pilots for having long hair. Rumour was he was followed everywhere by a guy who had to re-employ all those that AB had taken a sudden dislike to and summarily sacked. Quite a character. Had the pleasure of flying him down to Hickstead one year - an intimidating prospect as my boss insisted he sit in the front of my 206. All went well however and there was no attempt to take control - I deliberately left the duals in the boot!
A strong character that set the standards for our industry and provided an able foil to what seemed an inept group of regulators at the time.
G
A strong character that set the standards for our industry and provided an able foil to what seemed an inept group of regulators at the time.
G
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Alan Bristow - RIP
I was very sad to hear the news of Alan Bristow's death when I came into work this morning.
I joined Bristow's in 1968 when he was pilot No 1 and I was pilot No 72. A remarkable character. Love him or hate him, you knew where you stood. You had to admire and respect the guy.
He also had a remarkable memory as he proved to me on more than one occasion. Quite scary really
He was certainly an entrepreneur and in the "Old Days", it was "his" Company and he was fiercely proud of it. Those of us who worked with him from the early days knew that and worked for him with pride.
As I come up to my 40 years working for the Company, I will miss him. I was going to write to him and tell him that someone lasted the course!!!
My sympathies and thoughts are with his wife Heather and son Lawrence.
TC
I joined Bristow's in 1968 when he was pilot No 1 and I was pilot No 72. A remarkable character. Love him or hate him, you knew where you stood. You had to admire and respect the guy.
He also had a remarkable memory as he proved to me on more than one occasion. Quite scary really
He was certainly an entrepreneur and in the "Old Days", it was "his" Company and he was fiercely proud of it. Those of us who worked with him from the early days knew that and worked for him with pride.
As I come up to my 40 years working for the Company, I will miss him. I was going to write to him and tell him that someone lasted the course!!!
My sympathies and thoughts are with his wife Heather and son Lawrence.
TC
Last edited by TipCap; 29th Apr 2009 at 15:25.
RIP the 'Old Man', and condolences to his family.
He was a real pioneer. It is at least fitting that, as well as the memory of him, his name lives on in the Bristow 'brand', despite the chequered ownership history of the company he founded.
He was a real pioneer. It is at least fitting that, as well as the memory of him, his name lives on in the Bristow 'brand', despite the chequered ownership history of the company he founded.
Alan Bristow RIP
Met him when I first joined the company in 1981, what a character!! My TRE was Mike Bill and we were walking through OPs in Aberdeen. The Man was coming the other way and Mike said "That's the Boss, don't expect to talk to him." AB walks across and says "Who are you, where have you come from??" When I told him Abu Dhabi, he started to rant on about how the Sheiks had tried to diddle him out of money, ending up with "Now f**k off and earn me some revenue."
Met him again some years later at Gatwick, whilst waiting for a medical, after he had been ousted. He actually remembered our previous, abeit brief, meeting.
God Bless Boss, sleep well. My most sincere condolences to Heather, Lawrence and Linda.
Met him again some years later at Gatwick, whilst waiting for a medical, after he had been ousted. He actually remembered our previous, abeit brief, meeting.
God Bless Boss, sleep well. My most sincere condolences to Heather, Lawrence and Linda.
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RIP Alan Bristow
My first encounter with Alan Bristow was in early 1970 during my first month with the company, on a weekend morning at Redhill as duty engineer whilst carrying out a pre-flight inspection on Tommy Sopwith’s Bell 206. The handover log stated that the aircraft was to be prepared and fueled for Mr. Bristow’s weekend trip to France.
I was on a step-ladder with the L/H engine access panel open, going through the P/F checks in that area when I was approached by a stocky, thin haired chap wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt & shorts. As the Tiger Club was immediately adjacent to the hangar I naturally assumed that he was one of the many Tiger Club members & visitors who routinely rubber-necked through our facility at weekends. (As indeed we did in the Tiger Club Hangar) He casually asked me what was going on, and I informed him that this particular aircraft belonged to Tommy Sopwith, and that I was preparing it for Mr. Alan Bristow’s visit to France…. “Hmm, very interesting” he said, and wandered off.
45 minutes later I had the aircraft fully prepared on pad 1 with full fuel and a start-cart at the ready when the Rolls Royce swept across the apron, and out jumped Hawaiian shirt + weekend baggage etc. He walked up to me with his hand extended and a huge grin on his face and said… “I’m Alan Bristow – You’re new here aren’t you!”
I met him on many other occasions, mostly during his overseas operational visits. He was always immensely inspirational; both professionally and socially, provided you didn’t trade in bull****.
R.I.P. Uncle Alan.
I was on a step-ladder with the L/H engine access panel open, going through the P/F checks in that area when I was approached by a stocky, thin haired chap wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt & shorts. As the Tiger Club was immediately adjacent to the hangar I naturally assumed that he was one of the many Tiger Club members & visitors who routinely rubber-necked through our facility at weekends. (As indeed we did in the Tiger Club Hangar) He casually asked me what was going on, and I informed him that this particular aircraft belonged to Tommy Sopwith, and that I was preparing it for Mr. Alan Bristow’s visit to France…. “Hmm, very interesting” he said, and wandered off.
45 minutes later I had the aircraft fully prepared on pad 1 with full fuel and a start-cart at the ready when the Rolls Royce swept across the apron, and out jumped Hawaiian shirt + weekend baggage etc. He walked up to me with his hand extended and a huge grin on his face and said… “I’m Alan Bristow – You’re new here aren’t you!”
I met him on many other occasions, mostly during his overseas operational visits. He was always immensely inspirational; both professionally and socially, provided you didn’t trade in bull****.
R.I.P. Uncle Alan.
Last edited by Rokan1; 29th Apr 2009 at 07:31.
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RIP Alan
How sad that one of the last of the great characters and pioneers of the helicopter industry has gone to meet his maker. He did so much in his career even before he started what was to become Bristow Helicopters and I hope that someone in the company as it now is will try and publish a memorial book of his life and work.
Though often difficult and argumentative he was a great boss and someone who I will always remember with respect, admiration and affection.
He gave me my first job after I left the Royal Marines and I thought the company was great to work for with so much variety available and many opportunities for career advancement. I remember one of the (many!) times I had quit was when I was particularly mad that he'd given me stick for doing something which I thought was in the best interests of the company and I decided to go to Abu Dhabi. He was visiting Aberdeen with Alastair Gordon and i was spending a few days of my leave with Graham Jeffs there, so he asked if I'd be prepared to meet him. He was genuinely surprised that his rant over the telephone should have upset me and said he wanted me to stay on. He asked if I'd stay on if he was prepared to unconditionally apologise to me. What could I say, if 'The Old Man' was prepared to apologise to the likes of me? Naturally I accepted and he did the usual Alan Bristow thing; stuck out his hand, gave me a slap on the back and told me just to ignore him next time he shouted at me and tell him to go forth and procreate as well
.
I got to meet him quite a few times when I was at Redhill FTS, after he'd sold his share i the company, but still came in to visit quite often. He still had a very keen interest in the future of 'his' company.
I'm lucky to have known him and proud to have worked for him when he was 'The Boss'.
RIP Alan and condolences to Heather and his family.
Though often difficult and argumentative he was a great boss and someone who I will always remember with respect, admiration and affection.
He gave me my first job after I left the Royal Marines and I thought the company was great to work for with so much variety available and many opportunities for career advancement. I remember one of the (many!) times I had quit was when I was particularly mad that he'd given me stick for doing something which I thought was in the best interests of the company and I decided to go to Abu Dhabi. He was visiting Aberdeen with Alastair Gordon and i was spending a few days of my leave with Graham Jeffs there, so he asked if I'd be prepared to meet him. He was genuinely surprised that his rant over the telephone should have upset me and said he wanted me to stay on. He asked if I'd stay on if he was prepared to unconditionally apologise to me. What could I say, if 'The Old Man' was prepared to apologise to the likes of me? Naturally I accepted and he did the usual Alan Bristow thing; stuck out his hand, gave me a slap on the back and told me just to ignore him next time he shouted at me and tell him to go forth and procreate as well
.I got to meet him quite a few times when I was at Redhill FTS, after he'd sold his share i the company, but still came in to visit quite often. He still had a very keen interest in the future of 'his' company.
I'm lucky to have known him and proud to have worked for him when he was 'The Boss'.
RIP Alan and condolences to Heather and his family.
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Abu Dhabi, mid 70.s........
Alan Bristow was in town, and around midday told his base there to cease all flying except casevacs, because the oil company had upset him in some way - an intractable contract dispute, I think.
That pretty much shut down the oil company's largely offshore operations within a few hours. The impact on the company was huge.
That same evening, about 150 people were at an A-list cocktail party given by that oil company's boss for local bigwigs, representatives of most large companies etc etc. The usual compulsory, boring evening, planned long before the problem with AB.
We had been there about 30 minutes in our best suits when Alan Bristow breezed through the main doorway, larger than life, Hawaian shirt, beaming and glad-handing everyone in the room as though he hadn't got a care in the world.
What a performer. What chutzpah. Great man.
Alan Bristow was in town, and around midday told his base there to cease all flying except casevacs, because the oil company had upset him in some way - an intractable contract dispute, I think.
That pretty much shut down the oil company's largely offshore operations within a few hours. The impact on the company was huge.
That same evening, about 150 people were at an A-list cocktail party given by that oil company's boss for local bigwigs, representatives of most large companies etc etc. The usual compulsory, boring evening, planned long before the problem with AB.
We had been there about 30 minutes in our best suits when Alan Bristow breezed through the main doorway, larger than life, Hawaian shirt, beaming and glad-handing everyone in the room as though he hadn't got a care in the world.
What a performer. What chutzpah. Great man.
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Alan Bristow
Obituary from tomorrow's Times:
The founder of one of the world’s largest helicopter services companies, Alan Bristow, whose attempted takeover of Westland Helicopters led to the Westland Affair, which eventually caused severe embarrassment to the Government of Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s, was managing director and then chairman of Bristow Helicopters from 1954 to 1985.
A test pilot and helicopter pioneer, Bristow was a quixotic and unorthodox businessman whose helicopters worked the skies over every country in the world outside the Soviet bloc, and were crucial in the development of North Sea oil. A colourful, brawling personality with a towering temper, he was as happy in the company of whaling captains in South American bars as he was drinking champagne with Aristotle Onassis in the Hermitage in Monte Carlo.
He won the Croix de Guerre in 1950 for rescuing wounded French Foreign Legion soldiers in Indochina and was appointed OBE for services to aviation in 1966. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1967. A former chief executive of British United Airways, he numbered Douglas Bader, the Shah of Iran and the Duke of Edinburgh among his circle of friends, represented Great Britain at four-in-hand carriage driving and survived countless helicopter crashes and flying stunts of his own devising that were, in his own words, “bloody insane”.
Alan Edgar Bristow was born in Balham, South London, in 1923, and was brought up in Bermuda where his father, Sydney, was in charge of the naval dockyard. He moved to Portsmouth, when his father was promoted, and attended Portsmouth Grammar School with the author James Clavell, who remained a lifelong friend and wrote a book, Whirlwind, which was a fictionalised account of one of Bristow’s adventures. This occurred in 1979 when he extracted all his staff and most of his helicopters from Iran in a dawn operation under the guns of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s Revolutionary Guard.
After the Second World War broke out on his 16th birthday Bristow joined the British India Steamship Company as a deck officer cadet and was sunk twice, once aboard SS Malda by Japanese warships, and again aboard SS Hatarana by the German submarine U214 off the Azores. A squat, powerful man, Bristow was an unbeaten exponent of that vicious brand of shipboard boxing in which men fought when tied together at the ankle.
He was present at the evacuation of Rangoon in 1942 and the Operation Torch landings in North Africa in 1942 but jumped ship to join the Fleet Air Arm in 1944. Graduating in the top four of his pilot training course, he was sent to New York to learn to fly the Sikorsky R4 and became one of the first Britons to master the difficult and unpredictable early helicopter.
Bristow was hired as Westland Aircraft Company’s first helicopter test pilot in 1947, at a time when 25 per cent of the UK test pilot population was being killed every year, and survived many close calls. His record was six engine failures in different helicopters in one day. Always on a short fuse, Bristow was sacked for knocking out Westland’s sales manager after an argument, and moved to Paris to run an ad hoc helicopter operation where his duties included flying up and down the Seine with a pair of circus trapeze artists slung beneath his machine. He survived one crash when the ladder got wrapped around his tail boom and tore it off, and another when he was overcome by DDT fumes while spraying oranges in Algeria. After he had crashed in Senegal when an engine mounting bolt sheared, he fixed the helicopter with baling wire and flew it 30 kilometres to Dakar.
Bristow moved to Indochina in 1949 to try to interest the French Armée de l’Air in buying Hiller Helicopters for the evacuation of wounded in their colonial war with the Viet Minh, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for rescuing four men under mortar fire. He managed to sell eight Hillers to the French, his first financial coup, but threw in his lot with a group of ex-SS mercenaries who were leaving the Foreign Legion to join a pirate whaling fleet operated by Aristotle Onassis.
For four whaling seasons Bristow flew underpowered and unreliable helicopters up to 100 miles out over the Antarctic Ocean, on one occasion surviving only by landing on an iceberg to sit out a snowstorm when his rotor blade iced up. His second financial coup came in 1953 when he sold the patents for a helicopter-borne humane killer for whales to the Netherlands Whaling Company, although it was banned by the International Whaling Commission the following year.
By then Bristow had moved into oil exploration support, having met the legless fighter ace Douglas Bader, who was in charge of Shell Oil’s aviation interests worldwide. Starting in the Persian Gulf in 1955, Bristow Helicopters expanded across the world, and by 1959 Bristow was a tax exile in Bermuda. There he was tracked down by Freddie Laker, who wanted to buy Bristow Helicopters on behalf of Air Holdings, a joint venture between blue-chip companies including P&O, Lord Cayzer’s British & Commonwealth, Eagle Star and Lazards which included the private airline British United Airways. Bristow was happy to sell a stake in order to get access to friendly capital, but their valuations of the company were £67,000 apart. Both gambling men, they settled the issue by tossing a coin at a lunch after which Bristow’s accountant George Fry needed medical treatment. Bristow won. On the proceeds he was able to build a substantial home and buy two estates in Surrey, one of which, Baynards, became renowned as one of the finest shoots in England and attracted sheikhs, captains of industry and oil company executives.
Bristow Helicopters continued to expand at remarkable pace, with Bristow gambling everything on the success of North Sea gas and oil exploration and seeing his risk amply rewarded. In 1968 he took over as chief executive of British United Airways and restored it to profitability, before selling it to Caledonian Airways three years later and returning to Bristow Helicopters.
Always inclined to brinkmanship in industrial and commercial relations, he resigned in 1985 in an argument with Lord Cayzer over Bristow’s offer of a seat on the board to Bobby Suharto, son of the Indonesian President. Cayzer arranged to buy Bristow out, leaving him with no financial interest in the company he had founded.
The following year Bristow, a staunch Conservative Party supporter who had provided helicopters free to Margaret Thatcher during election campaigns, mounted a takeover bid for Westland Helicopters, but the bid foundered when he discovered a £41 million government loan that had not been declared in the company’s books. In a bewildering series of political machinations, Westland was instead acquired by the American company Sikorsky, leading to the resignation of two Cabinet ministers, Michael Heseltine and Leon Brittan. At one of several parliamentary inquiries into the deal Bristow claimed that establishment figures had twice offered him a knighthood in return for help smoothing the affair. He was not knighted.
Bristow could be terrifying in a rage and had a reputation for sacking people on a whim, but many of his pilots and executives stayed with him for decades. He was loyal and generous to those who had worked for him and retained the friendship of his workforce to the end of his life. He continued to invent and innovate, building a rapid transit vehicle for town centres in the late 1980s and winning the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for Agricultural Innovation for creating water beds for dairy cows, which he licensed profitably to Dunlop.
After his departure, Bristow Helicopters passed through several hands before being bought out by the American giant Offshore Logistics Inc. Bristow was gratified when the American multinational changed its own name to Bristow Group because, according to its president, William Chiles, the name was “solid gold” in the oil industry worldwide. The company remains as significant player in the world of helicopters.
Bristow is survived by his wife, Heather, and a son from his first marriage. A daughter of his first marriage, and his first wife, predeceased him.
Alan Bristow, OBE, Croix de Guerre, founder of Bristow Helicopters, was born on September 3, 1923. He died on April 26, 2009, aged 85
The founder of one of the world’s largest helicopter services companies, Alan Bristow, whose attempted takeover of Westland Helicopters led to the Westland Affair, which eventually caused severe embarrassment to the Government of Margaret Thatcher in the mid-1980s, was managing director and then chairman of Bristow Helicopters from 1954 to 1985.
A test pilot and helicopter pioneer, Bristow was a quixotic and unorthodox businessman whose helicopters worked the skies over every country in the world outside the Soviet bloc, and were crucial in the development of North Sea oil. A colourful, brawling personality with a towering temper, he was as happy in the company of whaling captains in South American bars as he was drinking champagne with Aristotle Onassis in the Hermitage in Monte Carlo.
He won the Croix de Guerre in 1950 for rescuing wounded French Foreign Legion soldiers in Indochina and was appointed OBE for services to aviation in 1966. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1967. A former chief executive of British United Airways, he numbered Douglas Bader, the Shah of Iran and the Duke of Edinburgh among his circle of friends, represented Great Britain at four-in-hand carriage driving and survived countless helicopter crashes and flying stunts of his own devising that were, in his own words, “bloody insane”.
Alan Edgar Bristow was born in Balham, South London, in 1923, and was brought up in Bermuda where his father, Sydney, was in charge of the naval dockyard. He moved to Portsmouth, when his father was promoted, and attended Portsmouth Grammar School with the author James Clavell, who remained a lifelong friend and wrote a book, Whirlwind, which was a fictionalised account of one of Bristow’s adventures. This occurred in 1979 when he extracted all his staff and most of his helicopters from Iran in a dawn operation under the guns of the Ayatollah Khomeini’s Revolutionary Guard.
After the Second World War broke out on his 16th birthday Bristow joined the British India Steamship Company as a deck officer cadet and was sunk twice, once aboard SS Malda by Japanese warships, and again aboard SS Hatarana by the German submarine U214 off the Azores. A squat, powerful man, Bristow was an unbeaten exponent of that vicious brand of shipboard boxing in which men fought when tied together at the ankle.
He was present at the evacuation of Rangoon in 1942 and the Operation Torch landings in North Africa in 1942 but jumped ship to join the Fleet Air Arm in 1944. Graduating in the top four of his pilot training course, he was sent to New York to learn to fly the Sikorsky R4 and became one of the first Britons to master the difficult and unpredictable early helicopter.
Bristow was hired as Westland Aircraft Company’s first helicopter test pilot in 1947, at a time when 25 per cent of the UK test pilot population was being killed every year, and survived many close calls. His record was six engine failures in different helicopters in one day. Always on a short fuse, Bristow was sacked for knocking out Westland’s sales manager after an argument, and moved to Paris to run an ad hoc helicopter operation where his duties included flying up and down the Seine with a pair of circus trapeze artists slung beneath his machine. He survived one crash when the ladder got wrapped around his tail boom and tore it off, and another when he was overcome by DDT fumes while spraying oranges in Algeria. After he had crashed in Senegal when an engine mounting bolt sheared, he fixed the helicopter with baling wire and flew it 30 kilometres to Dakar.
Bristow moved to Indochina in 1949 to try to interest the French Armée de l’Air in buying Hiller Helicopters for the evacuation of wounded in their colonial war with the Viet Minh, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre for rescuing four men under mortar fire. He managed to sell eight Hillers to the French, his first financial coup, but threw in his lot with a group of ex-SS mercenaries who were leaving the Foreign Legion to join a pirate whaling fleet operated by Aristotle Onassis.
For four whaling seasons Bristow flew underpowered and unreliable helicopters up to 100 miles out over the Antarctic Ocean, on one occasion surviving only by landing on an iceberg to sit out a snowstorm when his rotor blade iced up. His second financial coup came in 1953 when he sold the patents for a helicopter-borne humane killer for whales to the Netherlands Whaling Company, although it was banned by the International Whaling Commission the following year.
By then Bristow had moved into oil exploration support, having met the legless fighter ace Douglas Bader, who was in charge of Shell Oil’s aviation interests worldwide. Starting in the Persian Gulf in 1955, Bristow Helicopters expanded across the world, and by 1959 Bristow was a tax exile in Bermuda. There he was tracked down by Freddie Laker, who wanted to buy Bristow Helicopters on behalf of Air Holdings, a joint venture between blue-chip companies including P&O, Lord Cayzer’s British & Commonwealth, Eagle Star and Lazards which included the private airline British United Airways. Bristow was happy to sell a stake in order to get access to friendly capital, but their valuations of the company were £67,000 apart. Both gambling men, they settled the issue by tossing a coin at a lunch after which Bristow’s accountant George Fry needed medical treatment. Bristow won. On the proceeds he was able to build a substantial home and buy two estates in Surrey, one of which, Baynards, became renowned as one of the finest shoots in England and attracted sheikhs, captains of industry and oil company executives.
Bristow Helicopters continued to expand at remarkable pace, with Bristow gambling everything on the success of North Sea gas and oil exploration and seeing his risk amply rewarded. In 1968 he took over as chief executive of British United Airways and restored it to profitability, before selling it to Caledonian Airways three years later and returning to Bristow Helicopters.
Always inclined to brinkmanship in industrial and commercial relations, he resigned in 1985 in an argument with Lord Cayzer over Bristow’s offer of a seat on the board to Bobby Suharto, son of the Indonesian President. Cayzer arranged to buy Bristow out, leaving him with no financial interest in the company he had founded.
The following year Bristow, a staunch Conservative Party supporter who had provided helicopters free to Margaret Thatcher during election campaigns, mounted a takeover bid for Westland Helicopters, but the bid foundered when he discovered a £41 million government loan that had not been declared in the company’s books. In a bewildering series of political machinations, Westland was instead acquired by the American company Sikorsky, leading to the resignation of two Cabinet ministers, Michael Heseltine and Leon Brittan. At one of several parliamentary inquiries into the deal Bristow claimed that establishment figures had twice offered him a knighthood in return for help smoothing the affair. He was not knighted.
Bristow could be terrifying in a rage and had a reputation for sacking people on a whim, but many of his pilots and executives stayed with him for decades. He was loyal and generous to those who had worked for him and retained the friendship of his workforce to the end of his life. He continued to invent and innovate, building a rapid transit vehicle for town centres in the late 1980s and winning the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award for Agricultural Innovation for creating water beds for dairy cows, which he licensed profitably to Dunlop.
After his departure, Bristow Helicopters passed through several hands before being bought out by the American giant Offshore Logistics Inc. Bristow was gratified when the American multinational changed its own name to Bristow Group because, according to its president, William Chiles, the name was “solid gold” in the oil industry worldwide. The company remains as significant player in the world of helicopters.
Bristow is survived by his wife, Heather, and a son from his first marriage. A daughter of his first marriage, and his first wife, predeceased him.
Alan Bristow, OBE, Croix de Guerre, founder of Bristow Helicopters, was born on September 3, 1923. He died on April 26, 2009, aged 85
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RIP Alan Bristow
What an absolutely brilliant obituary for an absolutely brilliant man!
Even though there were occasions when you could cheerfully throttle him, you couldn't help but admire what he had done and what he was capable of doing.
Having been the appointed "safety pilot" for him on numerous occasions in his latter years with the company, I have very fond memories of some very bizarre flights. Although the route he would chose to take was sometimes a "little" off the required track, the handling skills he had no doubt honed during his days as Westland's Test Pilot were more than obvious.
The helicopter world has lost a great innovator and an even greater character.
Rest well Boss!
Even though there were occasions when you could cheerfully throttle him, you couldn't help but admire what he had done and what he was capable of doing.
Having been the appointed "safety pilot" for him on numerous occasions in his latter years with the company, I have very fond memories of some very bizarre flights. Although the route he would chose to take was sometimes a "little" off the required track, the handling skills he had no doubt honed during his days as Westland's Test Pilot were more than obvious.
The helicopter world has lost a great innovator and an even greater character.
Rest well Boss!
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Alan Bristow's auto-biography?
I hope he managed to finish that book. Too late for my late hubby who was once a training captain with Bristow in ABZ, but it'll be on my Christmas list for sure.
My condolences to his loved ones.
FB
My condolences to his loved ones.
FB
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A Legend
I would like to concur with everyones comments,a truly great man and boss. I had met him several times in Abz during 70`s 80`s, to sum up several comments/storys,I was driving back from work one night in early 2003 ish with usual Abz weather when my mobile went off,I recognised the voice and when I introduced myself he remembered who I was and asked after my family after all that time.
It turned out he was going to fly to Gt Yarmouth to thank the guys for there contribution to his present of a silver replica of his boat,I think it was for 50 yrs of BHL and he wanted there phone number,I turned my car round and drove another 15 miles back to office to get the info he wanted! he had left company 18 yrs previously but did I hesitate to comply with his request,NO WAY! I cannot think of any boss nowadays I would do that for!!
Condolences to Lawrence and Linda,
RIP Big Al.
P.R
It turned out he was going to fly to Gt Yarmouth to thank the guys for there contribution to his present of a silver replica of his boat,I think it was for 50 yrs of BHL and he wanted there phone number,I turned my car round and drove another 15 miles back to office to get the info he wanted! he had left company 18 yrs previously but did I hesitate to comply with his request,NO WAY! I cannot think of any boss nowadays I would do that for!!
Condolences to Lawrence and Linda,
RIP Big Al.
P.R
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He the Legend ,
I heard of his legendary name some 29 years ago, at the beginning of my career. I used to dream of becoming one of his pilots, 6 years ago that dream became a reality, have learned lots of things, met many friends, enjoyed every moment of it .
I thank god for blessing me with such a unique way of putting bread on my family table.
Two years ago, I had the opportunity to meet the legend in person, for sure a moment I will treasure, now that he has transcended this form of life, I say good bye to this visionary man.
Flysmart2
I thank god for blessing me with such a unique way of putting bread on my family table.
Two years ago, I had the opportunity to meet the legend in person, for sure a moment I will treasure, now that he has transcended this form of life, I say good bye to this visionary man.
Flysmart2
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This thread has been a fascinating read so far
Bristow's do have a very professional reputation and it's interesting to see glimpses of the the 'man' from the inside from people who knew him.
Like so many 'hard men' if this is balanced by a genuine loyalty for their staff you can build a great team. No company has been great by being run by a wimp.
The fact he passed on in his 80's is a miracle , 6 engine failures in one day has to be a record.
Great stuff for a BBC mini series I think !
Bristow's do have a very professional reputation and it's interesting to see glimpses of the the 'man' from the inside from people who knew him.
Like so many 'hard men' if this is balanced by a genuine loyalty for their staff you can build a great team. No company has been great by being run by a wimp.
The fact he passed on in his 80's is a miracle , 6 engine failures in one day has to be a record.
Great stuff for a BBC mini series I think !
Although not someone I could call a friend, I met Alan Bristow routinely during the 90’s and he even once invited me to accompany him to Antibes for a spot of sailing aboard his yacht.
Several years ago, a few of us had the pleasure of being invited to his estate in Sussex to discuss a couple of business opportunities over breakfast and as you would expect, he brought us back down to earth with a bump, but sound advice none the less. Breakfast for him consisted of a coffee and one of those huge cigars he always chewed on.
He had a foul temper at times and didn’t suffer fools gladly, but quite the pioneer that’s for sure and always very kind to me.
Several years ago, a few of us had the pleasure of being invited to his estate in Sussex to discuss a couple of business opportunities over breakfast and as you would expect, he brought us back down to earth with a bump, but sound advice none the less. Breakfast for him consisted of a coffee and one of those huge cigars he always chewed on.
He had a foul temper at times and didn’t suffer fools gladly, but quite the pioneer that’s for sure and always very kind to me.
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Linda Bristow
From The Times obit....
"Bristow is survived by his wife, Heather, and a son from his first marriage. A daughter of his first marriage, and his first wife, predeceased him".
I didn't know Linda had died. She was really good news and had the same drive and enthusiasm as her father.
Taff
"Bristow is survived by his wife, Heather, and a son from his first marriage. A daughter of his first marriage, and his first wife, predeceased him".
I didn't know Linda had died. She was really good news and had the same drive and enthusiasm as her father.
Taff