The Rotary Nostalgia Thread
Thread Starter
Zis: Great job! 
Eric: The gentleman with the bald pate in the last of Wiggy's Brantly images does bear a resemblance to Rowland Absalom (Gay's father) as can be seen in the video clip below:
In the clip, Rowland was flying G-ASXD which just happens to be framed by G-AVEE's tail rotor guard in Chris England's photo above Zishelix's post.
I did wonder however, whether in the first of Wiggy's Brantly images, Gay might be flying!
Eric: The gentleman with the bald pate in the last of Wiggy's Brantly images does bear a resemblance to Rowland Absalom (Gay's father) as can be seen in the video clip below:
In the clip, Rowland was flying G-ASXD which just happens to be framed by G-AVEE's tail rotor guard in Chris England's photo above Zishelix's post.
I did wonder however, whether in the first of Wiggy's Brantly images, Gay might be flying!
I came across another photo of Gay and a Brantly (possibly the same one) but it's a black and white picture. Same hairdo. I have a suspicion that the gent with her in the photo above might be Mike Smith but without the confirmation of a bow tie not so certain.
However again the style looks right.
However again the style looks right.
Here is a blast for you. 1990!
Then -
Now -
Then -
Now -
And the planks that were there as well.
Then -
Now -
Then -
Now -
And the planks that were there as well.
Thread Starter
Eric: There are a couple of black and white photos of Gay on page 33.
RV: Some oblique 'matches':
This US Army Bell UH-1H was modified to resemble an Mi24 (though I suspect that this 'modification', in order to be effective, may have required the other pilots to ingest some form of psychotropic drug). Seen here at Fort Irwin, California, on 29th October 1985
Still flying high, this beautiful example Bell 205A-1 (C-FETK) belonging to High Terrain Helicopters as seen over Nelson in British Columbia on 11th May 2011 (Photo: Jesse Adams)
RV: Some oblique 'matches':
This US Army Bell UH-1H was modified to resemble an Mi24 (though I suspect that this 'modification', in order to be effective, may have required the other pilots to ingest some form of psychotropic drug). Seen here at Fort Irwin, California, on 29th October 1985
Still flying high, this beautiful example Bell 205A-1 (C-FETK) belonging to High Terrain Helicopters as seen over Nelson in British Columbia on 11th May 2011 (Photo: Jesse Adams)
Last edited by Savoia; 3rd Sep 2013 at 11:27.
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There you are RVDT in action. "That" guy in the back is Lee Vlaar. Wonder where he ended-up.
Summer 1990 Corsica
Here is one of the plank that did a short landing. Remember, pieces of the props
hit the hangar door, we all hit the asphalt.
Summer 1990 Corsica
Here is one of the plank that did a short landing. Remember, pieces of the props
hit the hangar door, we all hit the asphalt.
Helipix and Sav, the pic of Gazelle F-ZWRK/04 reminds me that I flew the aircraft several times in early 1971 as the AAEE project pilot.In May we were doing Stability Augmentation system (SAS) handling and `runaways `; later in the month myself and Cne.Castres(my CEV counterpart) did high altitude tests to 20000 ft. We then flew it from Marignane to Bretigny the following day.
With regard to the `Roo` on the fin,it may be that it was put on by an Australian TP that was at AAEE,but I do not recall that the aircraft was ever in the UK,but he may have flown it in France.
With regard to the `Roo` on the fin,it may be that it was put on by an Australian TP that was at AAEE,but I do not recall that the aircraft was ever in the UK,but he may have flown it in France.
Thread Starter
Sycamore: Great to hear of your exploits in France with 004. They must have been exciting days indeed!
Zis: Yesterday in our email exchange we discussed Korcula Island in your homeland. Today the island was the subject of some helicopter news!
Zis: Yesterday in our email exchange we discussed Korcula Island in your homeland. Today the island was the subject of some helicopter news!
Thread Starter
The City State of Monaco, nestled along a stretch of coastline in Southern France known as the Cote d'Azur, has long been associated with the helicopter and is home to one of the world's long-running helicopter airlines.
Since 1297 when Francesco Grimaldi and his companions (dressed as monks) invaded the town from Genoa, the Grimaldi family have ruled this tiny Principality.
Prince Rainier III, known as the 'builder Prince', was one of the initial advocates of helicopter services and was responsible for the development of what is now the Fontvieille Quarter (developed from reclaimed land) and which harbours the city's national heliport.
Heli Air Monaco (HAM) The Beginning
Heli-Monaco Enstrom F-28A 3A-MJC
'Heli-Monaco' commenced services with a sole Enstrom F-28 in 1976. During the first year of operations, 3A-MJC carries 747 passengers.
In 1978 the now 'Heli Air Monaco' added a second aircraft:
Agusta-Bell 206 JetRanger II 3A-MRG becomes the second aircraft in the Heli Air Monaco (HAM) fleet
In 1980 the Fontvieille Heliport is opened (previous operations utilised a helipad in the same area). In 1980 HAM flew 15,237 passengers.
Fontvieille Heliport in 1980
By 1983 the fleet had expanded to four helicopters and the passengers flown that year were 39,673.
HAM's 1983 fleet consisting of two JetRangers, one LongRanger and their first Ecureuil
HAM's 'official' account of their history indicates that their first 206 arrived in 1978 but .. a contact of mine believes their first 206 arrived in 1977. We shall see.
Heli Air Monaco's first Agusta-Bell 206A 3A-MCC arriving at the helipad at Fontvieille c.1977 (Photo: Jean-Paul Bascoul)
Early HAM publicity depicting 3A-MCC over the Principality (Courtesy of Zishelix)
Thread Starter
Shane: Most interesting.
We've looked at the Decca Navigation Company's little songbird .. G-ARIA previously in posts 1365 1370 and 1547.
In this new contribution we get to see ARIA a year before she was bought by Decca while still in the hands of World Wide Helicopters:
World Wide Helicopters Bell 47G G-ARIA as seen at Biggin Hill in June 1964 (Photo: David Welch)
One must of course ask the question "what kind of sorties required her to don fixed-floats" but, alas, it is a question to which I do not yet have the answer.
We've looked at the Decca Navigation Company's little songbird .. G-ARIA previously in posts 1365 1370 and 1547.
In this new contribution we get to see ARIA a year before she was bought by Decca while still in the hands of World Wide Helicopters:
World Wide Helicopters Bell 47G G-ARIA as seen at Biggin Hill in June 1964 (Photo: David Welch)
One must of course ask the question "what kind of sorties required her to don fixed-floats" but, alas, it is a question to which I do not yet have the answer.
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World Wide Helicopters
Savoia,
I am wondering if the World Wide Bell 47 might be N2499B which I flew from an offshore rig in Libya in December 1963. In late January we replaced it with an S-55 and I don't know where the 47 went after that. Regrettably I can't find any pictures of it but it was on fixed floats until it left Libya.
I am wondering if the World Wide Bell 47 might be N2499B which I flew from an offshore rig in Libya in December 1963. In late January we replaced it with an S-55 and I don't know where the 47 went after that. Regrettably I can't find any pictures of it but it was on fixed floats until it left Libya.
Thread Starter
Silohed: From what I can see N2499B remained as N2499B throughout her career.
G-ARIA's registration history is as follows: NC152B > N152B > YI-ABY > N4929V > G-ARIA > F-GFDP.
Perhaps the floats were a left over from her time with AF Helicopters of San Fernando who owned her when she was N4929V?
G-ARIA's registration history is as follows: NC152B > N152B > YI-ABY > N4929V > G-ARIA > F-GFDP.
Perhaps the floats were a left over from her time with AF Helicopters of San Fernando who owned her when she was N4929V?
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Decca
There was a business relationship between Decca and World Wide about the time of this photo. If I recall they shared hangar space or were adjacent to each other on the airport. We were doing the North Sea exploration job at World Wide in 1963 and we used Decca navigation equipment in the S-58's so there may have been some equipment testing that required floats.
Thread Starter
Sillohed: Thanks for the details. Several images of World Wide's aircraft show them on the Decca ramp at Biggin and it is doubtless, as you say, that cooperation existed.
Having presented a fixed-float 47 from the 60's, it seems only fair to balance this with a contemporary craft from the same period:
Trans World Helicopters Hughes 300 EI-AOU at Blackbushe Airport in September 1966 (Photo: Peter Brown)
Having presented a fixed-float 47 from the 60's, it seems only fair to balance this with a contemporary craft from the same period:
Trans World Helicopters Hughes 300 EI-AOU at Blackbushe Airport in September 1966 (Photo: Peter Brown)
Thread Starter
Irish Helicopters Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo105D EI-AWB at Shannon Airport on 23rd April 1973 (Photo: MBB Archives)
AWB had an 'exciting' time on the Emerald Isle including, at one point, a brush with the Garda when she was hijacked by the IRA!
EI-AWB 'rests' in a field in Cloughfin, Co. Donegal on 24th January 1974 having been hijacked by IRA members Eddie Gallagher and Rose Dugdale. (Photo: Victor Patterson)
Gallagher and Dugdale used the hijacked aircraft to drop bombs (contained in milk churns) on the Royal Ulster Constabulary station at Strabane. Mercifully, none of the bombs detonated.
EI-AWB 'abandoned' at Cloughfin on 24th January 1974. (Photo: Victor Patterson)
Of course EI-AWB is better known as G-AZOM (aka 'Or-gazom' .. to some) which began life as a 'C' model (serial no. 21) originally used as a demonstrator by MBB in 1971 while flying as D-HDAD.
In 1972 she was bought by BEAS at Oxford and later the same year commenced her sojourn in the Irish Republic returning to BEAS (now owned by Bristows) in 1978.
Her 'exciting' career was to continue when in 1984 she suffered a partial separation of her tail rotor gearbox in-flight and which led to fleet-wide modifications to the 105.
Although we've talked about G-AZOM before I don't think we've ever looked at the accident report, an extract of which is reproduced here:
Incident date: 24 July 1984
Commander: Age 40
Experience: 9500 hrs of which 4100 hrs were on Bo105s
The purpose of the 30 minute flight was to transport two passengers from Strubby Heliport in Lincolnshire, to Bacton Gas Terminal in Norfolk. The weather was good and the commander decided to conduct the flight at 1000 feet amsl flying visually on a direct track from Stubby to Bacton. At approximately 11:55 hrs, with one of the passengers in the front left seat, the aircraft lifted from Strubby Heliport for Bacton. The departure was normal and the commander levelled the aircraft at 1000 feet amsl and established a cruising speed of 110 knots.
When the aircraft was approximately 5nm off the coast of Skegness, the commander heard a 'dull bang' from the rear of the aircraft accompanied by a 'twitch' in the pedals. His immediate impression was that something was wrong with the tail rotor and he decided to descend so as to be closer to the surface and also to turn right towards Skegness. At this point there was no apparent loss of yaw control so the commander established the aircraft in a 70 kt powered descent turning to the right. During the descent he felt further vibrations and so decided to ditch. Accordingly, he activated the aircraft's emergency flotation system and called Strubby to announce his ditching but did not transmit a full distress message. The commander instructed his passengers to don their lifejackets. By this time it was apparent that the yaw pedals, though still effective, were losing sensitivity. Nevertheless, the commander flared successfully but, as power was applied in order to reduce the descent rate, all yaw control was lost and the aircraft performed two or three 360° turns to the right before contacting the water.
As a result of the aircraft's rotation when contacting the sea, one of the four floats detached, and the aircraft rolled onto its right side. It stabilised for sufficient time to allow the front seat passenger to jettison his door through which all three occupants escaped. Shortly after the passengers and commander had exited the aircraft, it rolled upside down.
The aircraft was lying on its right side with the detached flotation bag beneath the commander's door preventing it from being opened. However, the front seat passenger had familiarised himself with the jettison mechanism of his door and, as a result of his swift action, this became the most convenient egress. The evacuation of the cabin was completed in less than 30 seconds.
On entering the water one of the passengers inflated his type RFD 102 lifejacket and the commander, who had already inflated his Beaufort Mk15 lifejacket, assisted the remaining passenger with the inflation of his lifejacket. Both passengers were wearing immersion suits but did not have them fully zipped up. However, the water temperature was such that none of the survivors suffered from hypothermia in the half hour between the ditching and the rescue. During this period the commander activated his personal radio locator beacon type BE375 Sabre, and at approximately 12:05 hrs fired the first of his own two red flares. He elected to keep the second to guide the rescuers once he was certain that it would be visible to them and fired it at 12:36 hrs
Commander: Age 40
Experience: 9500 hrs of which 4100 hrs were on Bo105s
The purpose of the 30 minute flight was to transport two passengers from Strubby Heliport in Lincolnshire, to Bacton Gas Terminal in Norfolk. The weather was good and the commander decided to conduct the flight at 1000 feet amsl flying visually on a direct track from Stubby to Bacton. At approximately 11:55 hrs, with one of the passengers in the front left seat, the aircraft lifted from Strubby Heliport for Bacton. The departure was normal and the commander levelled the aircraft at 1000 feet amsl and established a cruising speed of 110 knots.
When the aircraft was approximately 5nm off the coast of Skegness, the commander heard a 'dull bang' from the rear of the aircraft accompanied by a 'twitch' in the pedals. His immediate impression was that something was wrong with the tail rotor and he decided to descend so as to be closer to the surface and also to turn right towards Skegness. At this point there was no apparent loss of yaw control so the commander established the aircraft in a 70 kt powered descent turning to the right. During the descent he felt further vibrations and so decided to ditch. Accordingly, he activated the aircraft's emergency flotation system and called Strubby to announce his ditching but did not transmit a full distress message. The commander instructed his passengers to don their lifejackets. By this time it was apparent that the yaw pedals, though still effective, were losing sensitivity. Nevertheless, the commander flared successfully but, as power was applied in order to reduce the descent rate, all yaw control was lost and the aircraft performed two or three 360° turns to the right before contacting the water.
As a result of the aircraft's rotation when contacting the sea, one of the four floats detached, and the aircraft rolled onto its right side. It stabilised for sufficient time to allow the front seat passenger to jettison his door through which all three occupants escaped. Shortly after the passengers and commander had exited the aircraft, it rolled upside down.
The aircraft was lying on its right side with the detached flotation bag beneath the commander's door preventing it from being opened. However, the front seat passenger had familiarised himself with the jettison mechanism of his door and, as a result of his swift action, this became the most convenient egress. The evacuation of the cabin was completed in less than 30 seconds.
On entering the water one of the passengers inflated his type RFD 102 lifejacket and the commander, who had already inflated his Beaufort Mk15 lifejacket, assisted the remaining passenger with the inflation of his lifejacket. Both passengers were wearing immersion suits but did not have them fully zipped up. However, the water temperature was such that none of the survivors suffered from hypothermia in the half hour between the ditching and the rescue. During this period the commander activated his personal radio locator beacon type BE375 Sabre, and at approximately 12:05 hrs fired the first of his own two red flares. He elected to keep the second to guide the rescuers once he was certain that it would be visible to them and fired it at 12:36 hrs
