The Rotary Nostalgia Thread
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Sav
BastOn & I were in the 1964 Farnborough show followed immediately by Biggin Hill.........great fun! Ask BastOn what he thought of the Triumph Tina scooters lent to the squadron for personal transport! Mike S bought one, took it on board Albion & roared around Labuan on it. For some strange reason the Labuan Hotel complained there were tyre marks on their dance floor which I think was on the 6th floor!!
I can't believe all the complaints about the Mk7. In 847 we regularly flew with 6-8 grunts in the back at Predannack while in training & in Borneo I took 8-9 Malaysian Rangers without any power problems. BastOn, John I'm a welsh shepherd H & I did a short pinger course at Portland & the only power problem was when my inlet manifold cracked! Winching was never a problem, so I don't know where all the bad press is coming from.
BastOn & I were in the 1964 Farnborough show followed immediately by Biggin Hill.........great fun! Ask BastOn what he thought of the Triumph Tina scooters lent to the squadron for personal transport! Mike S bought one, took it on board Albion & roared around Labuan on it. For some strange reason the Labuan Hotel complained there were tyre marks on their dance floor which I think was on the 6th floor!!
I can't believe all the complaints about the Mk7. In 847 we regularly flew with 6-8 grunts in the back at Predannack while in training & in Borneo I took 8-9 Malaysian Rangers without any power problems. BastOn, John I'm a welsh shepherd H & I did a short pinger course at Portland & the only power problem was when my inlet manifold cracked! Winching was never a problem, so I don't know where all the bad press is coming from.
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Soggy Boxers
Ah - the Moke!! Yes I did have a moment when going from Peter Craigs leaving RPC to the Red Lion in Helston. A quick swerve to avoid an oncoming bridge and I fell out - it would have been better had I not been driving at the time! I can still clearly remember tumbling down the road as the Moke persued me, spinning as it came along - eventually hitching itself to the wire fence by its front bumper. I continued to the Red Fred minus my aircrew watch and the pattern from the brass buttons on my jacket!
Next day I could not get out of bed, and could not fly for a few days.
Shown here in South Carolina alongside my car ferry, HMS Bulwark as one did
Ah - the Moke!! Yes I did have a moment when going from Peter Craigs leaving RPC to the Red Lion in Helston. A quick swerve to avoid an oncoming bridge and I fell out - it would have been better had I not been driving at the time! I can still clearly remember tumbling down the road as the Moke persued me, spinning as it came along - eventually hitching itself to the wire fence by its front bumper. I continued to the Red Fred minus my aircrew watch and the pattern from the brass buttons on my jacket!
Next day I could not get out of bed, and could not fly for a few days.
Shown here in South Carolina alongside my car ferry, HMS Bulwark as one did
Whirlwind 7
Aah .... the Whirlwind 7 .... what a dear old lady. The many cartridges sometimes needed to get all those cylinders firing, the many minutes in winter spent waiting for the oil to warm up to the required temperature before one could engage the rotor, the engine "surge range" which was always a battle for the students to avoid or control with the twist throttle on approaches, the height climb to 10,000' where one demonstrated the narrow speed band between retreating blade stall and the inability to hover (odd how many instructors had colds about that time on the course, so one had to go up again, and again, with their students) the auto down again with the lever raised ... Never did believe that I did EOL's unaided in her as a student, but loved her as an instructor ....
And what about the Mk 3 ? I flew them whilst a student and if I remember correctly they could be flown in manual control ?
Soggy's experience with the Nimrod also reminded me of the time I was in a WW7 at 10,000 doing the above when I was told by radar to avoid a fast moving target approaching from the east ..... a little like sitting in the hover at 30' dangling the sonar and watching two Buccaneers fast approaching at 40' .... only one way to go!
And what about the Mk 3 ? I flew them whilst a student and if I remember correctly they could be flown in manual control ?
Soggy's experience with the Nimrod also reminded me of the time I was in a WW7 at 10,000 doing the above when I was told by radar to avoid a fast moving target approaching from the east ..... a little like sitting in the hover at 30' dangling the sonar and watching two Buccaneers fast approaching at 40' .... only one way to go!
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WW7 Power
Nigel,
Problem was that by 1972/3 the Pusser still had not received the Westland built Gazelle replacements for 705 so we were limited to 44 inches Hg boost to make the old beasts last a bit longer. Not really enough for our mutual winching sorties off Praa Sands!
That was about as far as you could go (about 2 Nms from Culdrose) with the 20 minutes or so of fuel that you could carry and still pick up a large wet midshipman!
We were reassured that all was safe by the mandatory presence of the mega powerful WW9 SAR machine hovering alongside us!
The sight of those 4 little wheels getting closer and closer to your head while all you can feel is a slight tugging under the armpits from the rescue collar stays with you a while!
Trog
Problem was that by 1972/3 the Pusser still had not received the Westland built Gazelle replacements for 705 so we were limited to 44 inches Hg boost to make the old beasts last a bit longer. Not really enough for our mutual winching sorties off Praa Sands!
That was about as far as you could go (about 2 Nms from Culdrose) with the 20 minutes or so of fuel that you could carry and still pick up a large wet midshipman!
We were reassured that all was safe by the mandatory presence of the mega powerful WW9 SAR machine hovering alongside us!
The sight of those 4 little wheels getting closer and closer to your head while all you can feel is a slight tugging under the armpits from the rescue collar stays with you a while!
Trog
Thread Starter
It seems to have a few extra aerials fitted.
Do you know what happened to G-JAMI which I read about earlier in the nostalgia thread?
The beautiful G-JAMI outside the Dollar Helicopters hangar at Coventry Airport in 1980
In 1983 this craft was sold to Osterman's Aero of Sweden who operated her as SE-HMO. In 2000 HMO was sold to Turkey where she flew as TC-HHC returning to Sweden two years later to fly again as SE-HMO in the Ostermans stable. As far as I know the craft still flies and was never up-graded (ie. she is still a straight L).
On 25th March 1983 G-JAMI was re-registered as SE-HMO flying for Osterman's Aero and is seen here at Stockholm's Arlanda airport on 8th October 1983 still wearing her original colours. (Photo: Hans Wallin)
G-JAMI was the second LongRanger delivered to the UK (March 1978) after the Ferranti-managed G-BFAL (August 1977).
She was (in my view) the second most 'handsome' LongRanger to fly in Europe during the late 70's after Essex Oil's 3A-MSX (see post 1143).
Santa Madonna, Savoia! A 'straight' L on pan-type popouts *with* skid fairings?! Boy does that bring back some memories. The current 206's just don't look right with the "six-packs" and skinny crosstubes. Right handsome helicopter, IMHO. Thanks for posting! L-models always looked better with longitudinal (i.e. non-squiggly) stripes. Makes it look, err...longer (pun intended).
Thread Starter
Ah TRC, you don't miss a trick! To be honest I hadn't noticed this photographic faux pas (which I hope will not offend the sensitivities of our delicate Rotorheads members) but .. in Sweden, one presumes, anything goes!
The driver was doubtless confronted with that well-known Hamletian dilemma .. how did William put it again, oh yes .. "To pee, or not to pee, that is the question" and clearly decided on the former!
And seeing as a member of the 'Old Mann's Club' raised this matter ..
Of ex-Alan Manners .. LongRangers .. and 'being'!
I think it was your former colleague who way back on page two of this weave, wrote:
Reflecting on relatively recent posts, this must have been with Castle Air's LongRanger G-LRII.
Mick (A30yoyo): Brilliant shots, bravo! This may well be one of the first images of AYCM we have on the thread - she is certainly a craft I have been looking for, much appreciated.
At the time you took this shot she was entrusted to 'Overhill Estates' of Bolney, Sussex and perhaps uplifting a prospective client from Harry Heathers! I am always fascinated by early images of Heathrow .. wonderful!
After Overhill, AYCM moves on to Fras-Air of Glasgow in 1973 .. (enter Wiggy) and is one of numerous aircraft which at some point was owned by WR Finance of Leeds who, one presumes, were an aviation finance house?
Each time I see your username it reminds me of the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, lol, abd if you think I'm bad with helicopter nostalgia then don't get me started on classical music .. my real passion!
(Oh, by the way; please could you adjust your G-AVII post as the combination of text and images have pushed the post sideways and has thrown this page out of alignment. Many thanks).
Palma, Felice Anno Nuovo!
Great to see you on Nostalgia and thanks for this clarification. (Palma refers to the 500C depicted on the previous page).
I am guessing that she looked something like this when you delivered her:
Hughes 500C G-BDFP at the Cranfield Show on 6th September 1975
It was at Cranfield that I first met you ('79 I think) when I was in tow with the Colonel. You were flying a 'stripey' high skid 'D' model (G-GOGO perhaps) and had Mike Smith with you. When you departed 'Cranners' on the day I met you, you had a wee lass (she could only have been 7 or 8) wedged between you and Mike in the 500's centre jump seat!
After seeing you depart I walked in the company of Cy Rose who proceeded to show me his newly acquired Enstrom F28 and offered to take me for a 'spin' but the Colonel would have none of it insisting that there were 'pressing' engagements to attend and which turned-out to be a boozy appointment with a then little-known chap called Colin Heathcote!
Enjoyable days indeed.
The driver was doubtless confronted with that well-known Hamletian dilemma .. how did William put it again, oh yes .. "To pee, or not to pee, that is the question" and clearly decided on the former!
And seeing as a member of the 'Old Mann's Club' raised this matter ..
Of ex-Alan Manners .. LongRangers .. and 'being'!
I think it was your former colleague who way back on page two of this weave, wrote:
A certain man from Cornwall (and sometimes Italy) wrote: My impromtu visits to terra-firma with trusty steed extended to one embarassing moment whilst returning a LongRanger to UK from the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo in '84. I was breaking my neck for a pee and my dear colleague Cliff, the trusty engineer, helped me out when we plopped down in a snow covered meadow in Switzerland. I hopped out whilst Cliff held the controls and quickly took care of business. As we lifted I took stock of our 'footprint' - two skid-marks, two boot-marks and 'another indentation' in the snow.
Mick (A30yoyo): Brilliant shots, bravo! This may well be one of the first images of AYCM we have on the thread - she is certainly a craft I have been looking for, much appreciated.
At the time you took this shot she was entrusted to 'Overhill Estates' of Bolney, Sussex and perhaps uplifting a prospective client from Harry Heathers! I am always fascinated by early images of Heathrow .. wonderful!
After Overhill, AYCM moves on to Fras-Air of Glasgow in 1973 .. (enter Wiggy) and is one of numerous aircraft which at some point was owned by WR Finance of Leeds who, one presumes, were an aviation finance house?
Each time I see your username it reminds me of the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, lol, abd if you think I'm bad with helicopter nostalgia then don't get me started on classical music .. my real passion!
(Oh, by the way; please could you adjust your G-AVII post as the combination of text and images have pushed the post sideways and has thrown this page out of alignment. Many thanks).
Palma wrote: Mike Hughes' first Hughes 500.
Great to see you on Nostalgia and thanks for this clarification. (Palma refers to the 500C depicted on the previous page).
I am guessing that she looked something like this when you delivered her:
Hughes 500C G-BDFP at the Cranfield Show on 6th September 1975
It was at Cranfield that I first met you ('79 I think) when I was in tow with the Colonel. You were flying a 'stripey' high skid 'D' model (G-GOGO perhaps) and had Mike Smith with you. When you departed 'Cranners' on the day I met you, you had a wee lass (she could only have been 7 or 8) wedged between you and Mike in the 500's centre jump seat!
After seeing you depart I walked in the company of Cy Rose who proceeded to show me his newly acquired Enstrom F28 and offered to take me for a 'spin' but the Colonel would have none of it insisting that there were 'pressing' engagements to attend and which turned-out to be a boozy appointment with a then little-known chap called Colin Heathcote!
Enjoyable days indeed.
As the Sproule net and Whirlwinds came up, here are a couple of previously posted photos of the WW in 1957 during 700H trials:
19 year old Mids playing with them with ~90 hours total time: that's the way to learn
19 year old Mids playing with them with ~90 hours total time: that's the way to learn
Thread Starter
FH1100: This issue cropped-up previously and I think it was determined that the ground handling wheels were bolted onto the undercarriage (at least I hope this was the case as from what I remember 206 GHW's would dislodge themselves as the drop of a hat when not under tension). There were some practical considerations to having them outside the most obvious being space saving when flying with a load and where ground handling was required at the destination. I remember Battersea Heliport used to have various sets of ground handling wheels available for many years and would 'shuffle' e thaircraft about if required.
Ferranti's 206 fleet were not permitted to fly with GHW's installed as this was considered 'ungainly'. Similarly, Ferranti 206's were not permitted to fly without skid fairings and .. my godfather's pet hate .. missing collar cuffs (the piece connecting the skid fairing to the underside of the fuselage)!
Perhaps these will be of greater interest:
A '78 model 206L over New York City
The craft above may well have been one of those you worked with during your time at Island Helicopters?
Motorola's 206L N16939 delivering their 'Offshore Service' in the Gulf of Mexico in 1978
N16939: Bow shot
And if you thought that LongRangers only ever wear 'skinny' legs then check out the Venezuelan version fitted with highs and skid fairings!
Bell 206LI-II YV-2214P in Zuloaga, Venezuela on 19th March 2005
Ferranti's 206 fleet were not permitted to fly with GHW's installed as this was considered 'ungainly'. Similarly, Ferranti 206's were not permitted to fly without skid fairings and .. my godfather's pet hate .. missing collar cuffs (the piece connecting the skid fairing to the underside of the fuselage)!
Perhaps these will be of greater interest:
A '78 model 206L over New York City
The craft above may well have been one of those you worked with during your time at Island Helicopters?
Motorola's 206L N16939 delivering their 'Offshore Service' in the Gulf of Mexico in 1978
N16939: Bow shot
And if you thought that LongRangers only ever wear 'skinny' legs then check out the Venezuelan version fitted with highs and skid fairings!
Bell 206LI-II YV-2214P in Zuloaga, Venezuela on 19th March 2005
Thread Starter
John: great shots!
Couple of questions:
Red Triangle: Was this a Schermuly flare dispenser?
Yellow Rectangle: What was this please?
What about performance on the various Whirlwind models as there seems to be a diversity of opinion!
Couple of questions:
Red Triangle: Was this a Schermuly flare dispenser?
Yellow Rectangle: What was this please?
What about performance on the various Whirlwind models as there seems to be a diversity of opinion!
