vfr440

Earl
Encyclopaedic no less
I'm old enough to remember Freemans of Bewdley! When did they put up the shutters, then? Poss in 70s? I was abroad for all of that decade and just (occasionally) back on home leave. They were based South Midlands, correct? (All these questions !)

Perhaps they merged with Rotorspan? And come to that I just Googled r'span and no website , so is Mike Jenkins still in residence there I wonder.

All questioned-out now, must be an ARA (= Age Related Ailment; more alcohol required this evening )
VFR

Earl of Rochester

A record of some of the UK's first Brantly 305's:

G-ASUM s/n 1005 > BEAS Jul '64 > Sold to USA Sept '66.

G-ASXF s/n 1014 > BEAS Oct '64 > Air Gregory Sept '70 > Express Aviation (Biggin Hill) Nov '71 > De-registered '82.

G-ATLO s/n 1028 > Thomas Sopwith Dec '65 > BEAS May '66 > Bouley Investments (Channel Islands) Sept '66 > Douglas Arnold Aviation & Shipping (Ashford) Aug '68 > John Willment Properties Oct '69 > Freemans of Bewdley (Aviation) Ltd. (Worcestershire) Apr '76 > Destroyed '76.

G-ATSJ s/n 1024 > BEAS May '66 > Thomas Sopwith May '66 > Endeavour Aviation (Brighton) Dec '67 > Alan Mann Racing (Byfleet) Nov '68 > Sunderland Print (Worcestershire) Jul '69 > Autair Jan '75 > Robert Ryan Jul '75 > Destroyed '81.

G-ATUR s/n 1029 > BEAS May '66 > Cyril Lord Nov '66 > Turriff Construction Jun '68 > Shackleton Aviation Nov '71 > De-registered '73.

G-ATUS s/n 1030 > BEAS May '66 > Quinton Hazell Ltd. Sept '66 > A&B Cars Aug '68 > Destroyed 1970.

G-ATYB s/n 1035 > BEAS Jul '66 > Sold to Ireland Aug '67.

Re: Freemans of Bewdley Brantly 305 G-ATLO: The aircraft was conducting a maintenance test flight which departed Freemans private airstrip at Astley, Stourport-on-Severn near Hereford on 1st October 1976 to investigate abnormal levels of vibration. At some point during the flight the Brantly encountered 'extreme vibration' followed by a loss of control resulting in a crash into a copse.

The accident report reads: "The first impact was with trees which tore away the main rotor assembly together with its gearbox from the aircraft. The fuselage then continued for a short distance through the trees before striking the ground slightly nose down a few yards further on. Although all of the occupants were wearing seat belts, the pilot was knocked unconscious in the impact, the observer was slightly injured and the other passenger was thrown clear into some light vegetation. Immediately after impact the aircraft caught fire but the less injured of the two passengers was able to extricate the pilot before the fire developed. The other passenger made his own way away from the wreckage. The aircraft was severely broken up during the impact sequence and much of its structure was destroyed in the ensuing fire."

The investigation was to discover that the front right main gearbox attachment bolt had failed due to fatigue.

The report reads: "The fracture occurred at the shank of the bolt remote from the threaded portion and within the bore of the gearbox flange. A corrosion pit was present at the origin of the fracture. The fatigue exhibited a smooth acceleration in the spacing of the striations to the final instantaneous fracture which was of a tensile nature. The fatigue markings were of a course, banded type and their uniform appearance suggested that they were associated with 'stop-start' transitions in the loading pattern and probably representative of individual flights. A count of the fatigue bands suggested that 90% of the fatigue growth was achieved in 20 to 30 loading cycles. No certainty could be applied to the number of cycles in the first 10% of growth but it was estimated that they amounted to no more than 200 and possibly much less. It was not possible to determine whether the fatigue had been present during the aircraft's long period of storage. A hardness test on the half of the bolt which had not been fire damaged yielded a tensile strength of 74 tons PSI which is within the required specification. The contact face between the gearbox flange and its airframe mounting point showed evidence of hammering which was absent from the other gearbox attachment points."



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Savoia

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Earl, thanks for the background information on the Brantly 305's - most interesting.

I am largely unfamiliar with the operations of Freemans of Bewdley but would be keen to learn more.

Re: serial no's 1029 and 1030 G-ATUR and G-ATUS these were affectionately referred to as 'Arthur' and 'Atticus' the latter having been owned (I presume under the name of Quinton Hazell according to your record) by Denis de Ferranti. Denis's brother Sebastian also owned a Brantly (a B2 as opposed to a 305).


Brantly 305 G-ATUS on the Fairey Aviation apron at Manchester's Ringway on 7th August 1967 (Drawing by Alfonso Damiani from an original photo by Paul Tomlin) For an image of G-ATUS check here


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sycamore

E of R, the wheels on the 305, when the aircraft is in flight,with the oleos fully extended,will be inclined inwards(not track),so when landing on a firm surface(tarmac/concrete),,if you just lower the lever,you can roll the tyre off the rim; so it is necessary to edge forwards as the lever is lowered ,so the oleos `splay out`. Not too much of a problem on grass ,as it has plenty of `give`.
Anyone who was trained on `Sycamores` will undoubtedly tell tales(as the u/c had a similar `dangle`, on early training solo sorties,of trying to land back on the dispersal `spots` at Ternhill in the correct manner.If you touched down lightly,and lowered the lever a little too quickly,chances were a change in RRPM would start `ground resonance`,followed by an armful of collective and RPM and a rapid leap airborne again. After several of these attempts,you would back off and land on the grass to await an instructor to come out and get you `home`, or ATC would tell you to land on the grass ,and they`d ring the DI..
Of course ,it wasn`t helped by the fact that the Studes crewroom was facing dispersal,so one would be faced by a `goofer`s gallery` of others,dancing about ,attempting to distract one on the final perilous part of the exercise,in view of the `Waterfront`,and the CFI`s Office in the Tower.You knew you had some mastery of `the Beast` when you could arrive back,and land smoothly,without bending the tyres,and without G-R.....Character building,and a sore left wrist....

XTEC

Sorry for the late participation to this thread. I was employed by Blades Helicopters and later TAL-AIR and have photos of G-RODS and G-LRII (LRII in Castle Air colours, taken at Liskeard, and later in the blue and white).

Someone was asking if anyone knew who flew LRII. Uncle Ian flew both LRII and OLDN (the latter involved in the Gartree Prison escape).

I will root out the photos and post them asap.

XTEC

Sandy Toad

G-BAVI in February 1976

Planemike

Just few comments on the Brantly 305. Earl's list shows ALL seven 305 that appeared on the British register. To my knowledge all were either destroyed or exported, so no 305 in the UK and certainly no flyer. I am doubtful there is a 305 in Europe.

Freemans of Bewdley was a plant hire company run by three brothers, Barry, Howard and John Freeman. They orginally acquired Terrier G-ARLP and then moved into rotary wings when they acquired Brantly B-2B G-ASXE. This was replaced with G-ATLO. They may have dabbled (more than dabbled, it would seem, they owned 4 B47s !!) with a Bell 47 but cannot come up with a registration. The demise of 'LO brought about the end of the Freeman's aspirations to be in the helicopter hire business.

G-ASUN was a B-2B so certainly is NOT the a/c illustrated in the photo in msg 354. Choice appears to be beween 'SUM or 'SXF.

Planemike

Sandy Toad

Hi Earl,
Yes it was Oldway Helicopter Services.





I took over from Lyall Thompson and this brochure was produced during his reign.
The previous photo was one of my last flights in BAVI. It was taken at my parents house in Warwickshire shortly before I departed for Dubai.
After I left, Peter Morgan who was a Merthyr Tydfil solicitor and boss of Oldway - who were mainly a property company - sold the helicopter but I never found out where she went and only read of her demise much later on. She was Serial No 960.

Nige321

G-ATSJ at Halfpenny Green - 1969ish...

Savoia

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The nostalgia thread seems to have been busy today.

Sycamore: Charming reflection of your Sycamore training days. All I can say is that you can be grateful they were not holding up score cards from the crew room in the way that many ground crews are fond of doing when air crews are performing autos!

Re: tyres rolling off the rim of the Brantly - I am wondering how this was solved among fixed-wings?



The Bücker Bü 133A Jungmeister also had inward facing wheels but did these 'roll off the rim' in the same way as the tyres on the Brantly were prone to doing?

XTEC: Look forward to seeing your images.

Sandy Toad: Great to see some more shots of BAVI - there are in fact very few images of her around. Even more interesting to note the existence of 'Oldway Helicopters'. I thought I knew most of the UK's civilian operators from the 70's but there we are, something new.

Nige321: What an excellent photo of ATSJ. 69ish means (according to Earl's records) that it was either still with Alan Mann or had moved on to Sunderland Print.

More Brantlys



G-ASXF at Plymouth on 15th April 1967. Operated by BEAS.



'Arthur' G-ATUR at Coventry 20th November 1971 bearing the name of its owner, Turriff Construction. Thanks to copyright holder Carl Ford for this shot.



G-ATSJ at Staverton (Gloucester) 11th June 1966 for the RAeS Show and owned at that time by Thomas Sopwith.

Earl: To resolve the conundrum of which 305 is in the Newport Docks photo; If ASUM was sold off to the States in '66 and if ASUN was a B2 (as confirmed by Planemike) then it can only be G-ASXF! To confirm this if you look carefully at the Newport Docks photo you can just make out a winged motif painted on the gearbox housing cover (it appears similar in design to the old Silver 'C' gliding award). This same motif appears on the photo of ASXF (above) and means that the PM's office had chartered the craft from BEAS to carry Wilson in '67.

JKAY: There were less than 50 305's built and, to the best of my knowledge only one remains flying. It is owned by Gary Goldsberry of Mooresville, Indiana, USA. If you are going Stateside and would like to fly in it I shall see if I can arrange it with Gary. Given your penchant for performance cars you might want to try having a go in the Hughes 500 sometime - they can be a lot of fun!

S.

sycamore

Savoia, the approaches and landings were `scored` ,usually the waving of fingers,but I never got above `2`!
Sandy-T, the name of Lyall Thompson,and his `oppo` Harvey Johnson( assuming that Lyall was ex-RAF),used to strike fear into us young helo heros in the Far East,as they were `the Trappers` Trappers of Transport Command and CFSH...Only answered to God...! They would turn up about every 9 months and `select`pilots/crews to fly with on various sorties to either `confirm` your T-C Cat(egorisation),or possibly upgrade,or worse,drop it....As I`d spent a couple of weeks doing what one may call `Periodic training` with the Squadron and Wing Trappers,on Support,VIP,and SAR training,our hero here was sent forth as the `sacrificial lamb` to do it all again with `THEM`.At the end of a weeks training, fingernails worn off,and then sent in to see the Boss and `Them`,I had my Cat. card returned , stamped `A` Cat.....since then it`s been all downhilll!! (I think they were very ,very nice chaps ,really...

TRC

Well, I wondered where you got the name from. You might have called yourself 'Jarobinson' otherwise.

Trying to think of some more unlikely ones......... (doubt if I will though)

long box

XTEC, I was around when Thamesdown leased G-RODS to Blades, it would be great to see any pics you have of her, she was a heavy but fantastic helicopter, I will see what I can find

JKAY, if you have pm we have a helicopter right up your street, I will send you details and you would be more than welcome to have a go

Planemike

I have done a little more sleuthing: may have been premature writing the 305 out of the UK rotary scene entirely. The mortal remains of 'SXF may live on at Amen Corner Binfield Berkshire. Brantly 305, G-ASXF Have a source that reports it there in 2007. Confirmation of its continued existence appreciated.

Restoration project, anyone ???!!!!

Planemike

DennisK

Going back a few posts ... I have to thank Sycamore for answering Earl's question to me and his neat explanation for landing the B305 without doing in the tyres. Personally, I never got the hang of it and in the end just 'cheated' by doing a gentle five knot run-on landing every time. Chicken stuff I know but it worked.

It was in 1977 that I visited the Brantly-Hynes so called factory in Oklahoma. I say 'so-called' simply because the parts department consisted off a couple of hundred spares laid out on the hangar floor, dust and all! My boss, Roy Spooner was thinking of taking on an agency but I got cold feet after my flight test. The beast had the oddest way of holding the turn ... a series of short bites is the best way I could describe it.

I met the new Brantly owner Mike Hynes and was intrigued when he showed me the chart of his planned helicopter sales which showed a monumental spike virtually doubling the existing sales. When I questioned the reasoning, Mike Hynes explained that would be the point when he bought out the Enstrom factory!

Keep the super pictures coming please.

Dennis K.

XTEC

LONG BOX

I looked for the photos of G-RODS today, I must have put them in a safe place! Will keep looking.

I did find a photocopy (again originals somewhere at home) showing 4 photos of G-LRII in the hangar at Liskeard, same colour scheme as G-BHXU. One photo also shows G-SPEY in the background, and another shows an Aeromega toolbox.

Also found some old promotional literature. CB Helicopters and London & Suffolk Air Services (Captain Voy and Captain Dickin).

When I am in the office midweek, will upload.

XTEC

Savoia

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Someone had posted details of the remains of a 305 which now seems to have gone. Was going to say that it should be recovered to a museum and the fuselage restored as opposed to being left rotting outside!

Comments on the 305 have prompted me to post the following thread: http://www.pprune.org/rotorheads/440...y-britain.html on the off chance that someone may be interested in seeing this craft come across to the UK.

Dennissimo!

Did a craft known a G-BBVI ever feature in your repertoire of Enstroms? If so, then here she is:



Enstrom F-28A G-BBVI at Farnborough on 7th Sept 1974 (Photo: John Hamlin)

Applying a 'Colonelism' I suppose this craft could have been known as the Great Bl**dy British Virgin Islands or maybe even God what a Beautiful Blonde how Very Interesting!

S.

DennisK

For Savoia,

Hi over there ... yes, as the European Enstrom distributor, G-BBVI was the first 'Presidential' model I purchased from the Menominee factory (half covered in doors with side pockets.) I displayed the type every day of the week at the 1974 Farnborough Show whch was was then called the SBAC exhibition. (Society of British Aircraft Constructors)

I especially remember the occasion because most of the week was flown with torrential storms blowing across the airfield ... the Cunims looking seriously ominous with Laffan's Plain in the background. Your published pic gives some idea and I also have pictures of myself sheltering from the storm in the cabin parked on the runway piano keys. (where your pic was taken alongside the Skyvan) I seem to recall it was the year that the Blackhawk slid into the runway off a slow downwind roll. The fire crew approached the wreck from a downwind position and the foam from Farnborough's new Carmichael fire tender wasn't reaching the heart of the flames. Sadly the crew died later in the local hospital.

I also recall a certain fixed wing pilot, Jeremy Smith, demonstrating around seventeen spins in the new Piper Tomahawk to lay the claim that the type couldn't recover from a developed flat spin.

G-BBVI was later sold to the mighty (in those days) CSE at Oxford for their new helicopter school ... being the second of six Enstroms they purchased from my firm which they operated in the early/mid 1970s. One of them ran up 6,000 hours of training. The very tall Lord Waterpark himself took delivery.

* Info courtesy of DRK's mine of useless information! Dennis Kenyon.

Hell Man

This Brantly 305 was built for Tom Foster of St. Louis and included (as can be seen) wheel spats.



HM

Ahh de Havilland

This has been a really informative and enjoyable thread that has prompted me to do a little research which I now add as my contribution...

Freemans of Bewdley
operated as Freemans Helicopters and joined in the rush to by British military surplus Westland-Bell 47G's in the mid 70s. In the end they bought 4:
G-BBVP (3.74-9.86), G-BBZL (6.74-8.77), G-BCYY (3.75-6.77), G-BCYZ (3.75-4.77) that they used for crop-spraying & general charter.
The company also operated as a maintenance company at the Astley base, but only airframe & engines. The avionics work was outsourced to Douglas Hooper & Company at Staverton.

Denis de Ferranti
I did a trawl of various sources and put together what may be the complete DdeF fleet:
G-ASCS Grumman Mallard - 8.62-11.67
G-ASLO/EI-AVK Brantley B2 - 9.63-10.75
EI-ARU Brantley 305 - 8.67-1.68
EI-ASW JetRanger - 4.68-12.68
EI-ATY Hughes 500 - 5.69-1.72
G-ASSM HS 125 Srs 1 - 5.70-5.76
EI-AVN Hughes 500 - 2.72-7.93
EI-AWA JetRanger - 12.72-3.85
EI-AWY MU-2B - 3.74-10.80
EI-BJL Citation II - 7.80-3.93
EI-BPM AS350B 4.85-6.93
A really varied and interesting collection made all the the more real by the anecdotes from PPRUNE.

However I am not sure that the attribution of Brantley G-ATUS to DdeF is correct. I have seen this listed in a caption on one website but G-INFO shows it regn to Quinton Hazell Ltd. The eponymous Sir Quinton Hazell (1920-1996) is credited as the man who broke the cartel of the motor parts industry & changed the way automobile components were manufactured and sold in Britain in the post-war years. It therefore seems more likely that G-ATUS was his personal heli.

D de F's brother Sebastian had G-ASEW Brantley B2 4-63 to 4.67 and also had access to the Ferranti fleet beginning with G-APVD Widgeon & G-ATFV Bell 47J, followed by JetRangers G-AVSN & G-AWJW that became the nucleus of Ferranti Helicopters.

Marc de Ferranti
Given that D de F registered his aircraft in Ireland, it has always been my assumption that the Denis Ferranti Hoverknights fleet were for the use of Marc (MD of Denis Ferranti Meters) (his son?). These were Cessna 337s (G-AZAV & G-AMARK) plus AS350B (G-MARC, G-MSDJ, G-SMDJ).
I have always thought that the company's name always sounded like a 'Flying Circus' and I expect there is a good story behind it. I wonder can anyone oblige?

Well this message is probably long enough and so I will end it before it becomes too boring.