Back in 1978 I took the tourist trip in a 206 from Fisherman's Wharf - Pier 43 if I remember correctly. I think the operator may have been Commodore Helicopters as at that time the Commodores had a hit "Three Times a Lady" and as we queued I seem to remember mentioning to my then girlfriend the coincidence of names. May well be wrong though, it's a long time ago!

Yes it's still strange about the paint scheme. Also she was leased in from Dollar to Irish Helis at the time.

Yes, the radome is the wrong shape for a 3 or 3A

Thats not right.... I thought they were both several shades of black?
Really sad for me though is the fact that I remember that airframe at Culdrose, brand new, 1970 ish. Yes... I am that old!
3D

Yes - I am going to have a look in my RN Logbook when I get home next and see if that was an old 824, 706 or 737 machine or possibly one of those made in early 1970 that I ferried back to CU from Judwin..... 42 years ago

G

So if the whole SARH thing ends up in Room 101, and a dozen 101s fly out the other end of the room, they'll be painted like this?

Sorry, Geoff, but it initially belonged to the mighty 826th Vertical Pursuit Group for the explicit purpose of transporting this shiny pink body out to Eagle and around the globe



Larger image for those who want

Ah... 826! The second, or was it the third, frontline Sea King squadron! Now, what was the first?? Oh yes.. 824.
Sorry for the thread drift.
3D

Bell 206 Chin Perspex

In the 1980's Bell/Agusta modified the design of the 206's chin perspex resulting in a new 'convexed' shaping. Intriguingly (well for me at least) was the fact that the port-side piece displayed more pronounced 'blistering' than the starboard (pilot's) side. Any illumination in response to this prime piece of trivia?


Castle Air's Bell 206B JetRanger III G-DOFY at Wolverhampton's Ha'penny Green helipad on 10th January 2012 displaying the 206's accentuated convex shaping to the port-side chin perspex (Photo: Robert Beaver)

I would suggest that is wrong: the chin bubbles always looked symmetrical to me.

Second, but at least we got a decent refitted boat with a decent wardroom, cabins, Far East cruise and no Spot 6

This, about a derelict (?) Westland Dragonfly has popped up. I thought it looked interesting
EDIT by A30yoyo....this is what I think I originally posted
Ancoats Dragonfly - Key Publishing Ltd Aviation Forums

and it was the Dragonfly in an Ancoats, Manchester yard with an unusual nose in post#9 which caught my eye

The Westland Dragonfly was the first British-built helicopter to serve in the Fleet Air Arm and was manufactured under licence from Sikorsky. The first Westland Dragonfly entered service in 1950 and the last was decommissioned in 1967. The first all-helicopter squadron, 705 Squadron, flew Dragonflies for airborne search and rescue work.

In 1951, 705 Squadron's Dragonflies flew for the first time off smaller naval ships, now a routine practice. Dragonflies were used aboard aircraft carriers for ship-to-shore and 'plane guard' duties.

GJ710 (shown in Yoyo's post) first flew in November 1952 and joined 705 Squadron at Gosport in March 1953. Thereafter she was assigned to search and rescue duties serving at RNAS Yeovil and RNAS Lossiemouth prior to her decommissioning in 1965.

She was restored at the RNAY Fleetlands at Gosport to her 1953 appearance and is now on display at Chatham Historic Dockyard.

.

The large registration of the Dragonfly above is a bit confusing in modern day terms - the airframe registration is not GJ710 but WG751 and the latter is in very small typeface further aft towards the roundel. GJ refers to the station code of Gosport and 710 the side number allocated within 705 Squadron. The size and style GJ710 is however perfectly correct for the 1953 era.

Had my first helicopter flight in a RN Dragonfly....

Er...it was post#9 in the Key thread which contained the oddly-nosed Dragonfly (a civilian?)

A30yoyo - I think Savoia and I both responded to an Air Britain photo of the renovated WG751 (GJ/710) at Chatham that you had posted......but I'm easily confused nowadays!

CharlieOneSix....I'm confused ,too, because I didn't post the silver Dragonfly pic!....anyhow it was the one in cream and red with the odd nose in post#9 I was intrigued by

My dad was airlifted from the wing of his ditched Seahawk off the side of HMS Eagle back in the mid fifties... I'm sure that dragonfly was a very welcome sight indeed

Peter Clarke, whose photo briefly appeared and then disappeared, on one of Yoyo's posts has very kindly contributed to the Nostalgia Thread two unpublished versions of GJ710 which he took at Chatham. Peter, our great thanks:


Westland Dragonfly HR3 WG751 wearing the station code and identifier GJ710 as seen at Chatham Historic Dockyard in September 2010 (Photo: Peter Clarke)


WG751 front right view (Photo: Peter Clarke)

I have another Dragonfly, WG664, taken while in service and visiting Chatham in 1957. The photo was taken by another 'Clarke' and I am just awaiting the photographer's permission to post.

And .. two snaps of two seperate Dragonflies from the 50's wearing the same silver scheme. Sadly .. no details.




This craft sporting the numbers 901 and wearing the letter 'J'

901 was the ship's flight/planeguard for HMS Eagle in 1954. "J" was Eagle's deck code until the mid 1960's, when it changed to "E".