The Rotary Nostalgia Thread
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Frayne Coulshaw, like myself (also called Bob btw!), was one of the 6 pilots recruited by BCalH at the time they took over Ferranti with plans of getting into the North Sea offshore market. I don't know where he is now.
Several of us were involved with helping John Hedges put together bids for offshore contracts in Europe and Africa, but didn't get in to the offices very often as they were still in Shoreham. We often got calls one evening and were asked to be in the office first thing with all the calculations complete. I lived in Sussex at that time so regularly used to fly charters in the 206. We took over the Met Police contract based out of Battersea using Bo105s whilst they were awaiting delivery of their own Bell 222s. We also had one Bo105 based in Falmouth docks for tanker pilot changes in the English channel. The aircraft used to land on a converted railway truck and was then pushed into its hangar by tractor, though passengers were embarked and disembarked from a small helipad.
I did my S61 conversion with KLM in Holland, but never flew it for BCalH on the North Sea, having left by then. Speechless and myself also did a lot of work on performance and planning figures for the Chinook as we put in a tender for the Magnus contract for BP.
Several of us were involved with helping John Hedges put together bids for offshore contracts in Europe and Africa, but didn't get in to the offices very often as they were still in Shoreham. We often got calls one evening and were asked to be in the office first thing with all the calculations complete. I lived in Sussex at that time so regularly used to fly charters in the 206. We took over the Met Police contract based out of Battersea using Bo105s whilst they were awaiting delivery of their own Bell 222s. We also had one Bo105 based in Falmouth docks for tanker pilot changes in the English channel. The aircraft used to land on a converted railway truck and was then pushed into its hangar by tractor, though passengers were embarked and disembarked from a small helipad.
I did my S61 conversion with KLM in Holland, but never flew it for BCalH on the North Sea, having left by then. Speechless and myself also did a lot of work on performance and planning figures for the Chinook as we put in a tender for the Magnus contract for BP.
Thread Starter
Soggy: Many thanks for this background info on BCalH.
Am fairly well versed with the Metpol contract but was unaware of the pilot transfer work ex-Falmouth and which must, one assumes, have been interesting.
Did you get the opportunity to fly one of the 206's fitted with Ferranti's SAS and, if so, how was the general handling of the craft when compared with a standard 206?
Were BCalH also looking at the 234?
Wasps & Scouts ..
A Westland Wasp from HMS Minerva. Any assistance with a prospective date and location would be most welcome.
One presumes that this is the same Minerva that HRH The Prince of Wales served aboard and which frigate was launched in 1964.
Am fairly well versed with the Metpol contract but was unaware of the pilot transfer work ex-Falmouth and which must, one assumes, have been interesting.
Did you get the opportunity to fly one of the 206's fitted with Ferranti's SAS and, if so, how was the general handling of the craft when compared with a standard 206?
Were BCalH also looking at the 234?
Wasps & Scouts ..
A Westland Wasp from HMS Minerva. Any assistance with a prospective date and location would be most welcome.
One presumes that this is the same Minerva that HRH The Prince of Wales served aboard and which frigate was launched in 1964.
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Sav,
It's nice to see the photo of G-NUTZ. I last flew that in 1990 when I was with McAlpine Helicopters. I'll have a look when I'm next home and see if I have any photos of it.
The 206 with the Ferranti SAS was lovely, like flying a normal 206 through a bowl of cream, it was so smooth!
The pilot transfer work was interesting, but very unprofitable and ultimately a failure. Usually we were only called out when the weather was too bad for the pilots to be transferred by boat. We had one instance where the tanker was pitching and rolling so much the Mast Moment Indicator came on and stayed on and the aircraft had to be flown back to Falmouth like that for a check. I remember driving with Charles Pemberton from Sussex down to Falmouth, where the company rented a small flat above a shop for the crews to stay. We waited for information from the pilot service that the tanker would be in the rendezvous zone (with no radar we relied on the tanker being in a small circular zone, where we would contact it on marine FM, get its latest position and update that on the Decca). We finally got confirmation of an ETA at the RV point and left the docks in very strong winds and low cloud at about 0500 and made our way to the RV circle but could not establish RT contact with the tanker. Falmouth coastguard eventually told us that they had contact with the vessel and that it was hove to in heavy seas with waves breaking over the deck some 60 nm from where we were. Fuel would have been very marginal and we were not willing to risk landing on the deck with waves breaking over it so we returned to Falmouth. The pilot service decided to try and send the pilot by boat and refused to pay for the flight time already incurred. Soon after that the service was terminated.
We had options on 2 BV234 with which we were bidding on BP's Magnus contract (we were unsuccessful). When representatives from BV visited, Speechless and I would be left behind at Shoreham airport while John Hedges and Tony Pannell went out for lunch with them at The Sussex Pad
.
One of the spin-offs of that was that we set up a joint venture with Kawasaki in Japan and put in a bid for an SAR contract with KV107s for the government of Bahrain.
It's nice to see the photo of G-NUTZ. I last flew that in 1990 when I was with McAlpine Helicopters. I'll have a look when I'm next home and see if I have any photos of it.
The 206 with the Ferranti SAS was lovely, like flying a normal 206 through a bowl of cream, it was so smooth!
The pilot transfer work was interesting, but very unprofitable and ultimately a failure. Usually we were only called out when the weather was too bad for the pilots to be transferred by boat. We had one instance where the tanker was pitching and rolling so much the Mast Moment Indicator came on and stayed on and the aircraft had to be flown back to Falmouth like that for a check. I remember driving with Charles Pemberton from Sussex down to Falmouth, where the company rented a small flat above a shop for the crews to stay. We waited for information from the pilot service that the tanker would be in the rendezvous zone (with no radar we relied on the tanker being in a small circular zone, where we would contact it on marine FM, get its latest position and update that on the Decca). We finally got confirmation of an ETA at the RV point and left the docks in very strong winds and low cloud at about 0500 and made our way to the RV circle but could not establish RT contact with the tanker. Falmouth coastguard eventually told us that they had contact with the vessel and that it was hove to in heavy seas with waves breaking over the deck some 60 nm from where we were. Fuel would have been very marginal and we were not willing to risk landing on the deck with waves breaking over it so we returned to Falmouth. The pilot service decided to try and send the pilot by boat and refused to pay for the flight time already incurred. Soon after that the service was terminated.
We had options on 2 BV234 with which we were bidding on BP's Magnus contract (we were unsuccessful). When representatives from BV visited, Speechless and I would be left behind at Shoreham airport while John Hedges and Tony Pannell went out for lunch with them at The Sussex Pad
.One of the spin-offs of that was that we set up a joint venture with Kawasaki in Japan and put in a bid for an SAR contract with KV107s for the government of Bahrain.
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SOGGY
Can you tell me the dates that the Pilot Service was running. I was recruited by BCal(H) in late 79 and told I was destined for that project but having done my Bo105 TR with CP and a week or so on the MetPol contract Frayne and I were 'lent' to North Scottish for their newly won Shell contract out of Sumburgh.
You will be amused to know that having arrived on day one of the Sumburgh venture I was able to put my woodworking skills to good use and built all the office furniture and fittings for the Ops Office with some plywood sheets ferried up from ADN and a box of tools bought with the petty cash in Lerwick.
FC and I even flew together on one occasion thereby claiming the first flight on the North Sea by a BCal(H) S61 crew. After 3 months we came back to Shoreham and prepared to set up ADN with G-BHPU.
G.
You will be amused to know that having arrived on day one of the Sumburgh venture I was able to put my woodworking skills to good use and built all the office furniture and fittings for the Ops Office with some plywood sheets ferried up from ADN and a box of tools bought with the petty cash in Lerwick.
FC and I even flew together on one occasion thereby claiming the first flight on the North Sea by a BCal(H) S61 crew. After 3 months we came back to Shoreham and prepared to set up ADN with G-BHPU.
G.
Last edited by Geoffersincornwall; 1st Apr 2012 at 20:55. Reason: typo correction
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The location is reminiscent of Yeovil with similar housing to the north of the airfield.
Thread Starter
With my thanks to Steve Aubury who has contributed the following to the Nostalgia Thread:
S61N ZS-HDK belonging to Court Helicopters as seen in Cape Town in December 1972. The craft flew in the UK for a time as G-BFPF (Photo: Steve Aubury)
S55 ZS-HCR belonging to Court Helicopters as seen over Mossel Bay on 21st July 1973 (Photo: Steve Aubury)
SA318C SX-HAI belonging to Olympic Airways off the coast of Kavala, Greece aboard the drillship the MV "Wodeco V" on 15th November 1975. The "Prinos" oilfield was situated between Kavala and the island of Thasos (Photo: Steve Aubury)
S61N ZS-HDK belonging to Court Helicopters as seen in Cape Town in December 1972. The craft flew in the UK for a time as G-BFPF (Photo: Steve Aubury)
S55 ZS-HCR belonging to Court Helicopters as seen over Mossel Bay on 21st July 1973 (Photo: Steve Aubury)
SA318C SX-HAI belonging to Olympic Airways off the coast of Kavala, Greece aboard the drillship the MV "Wodeco V" on 15th November 1975. The "Prinos" oilfield was situated between Kavala and the island of Thasos (Photo: Steve Aubury)
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Distant memories
I happened upon this site a couple of days ago and haven't stopped reading it since. WOW! So many distant memories- names, tales and aircraft from my past. 
My first flight in a helicopter (G-BAKT) flown by Tony Boulter in 1978 whilst working for Burnthills. 3 days after starting as a 17 year old apprentice I was standing underneath it hooking up aircon units for a new supermarket. Fully trained and briefed of course!
Pics of the rock star in front of an unidentified blue AS350 (G-GINA I was shouting)- and TRC was right- it was the late RK piloting it in the later pic. RK was my boss for 4 years from '79 where I played with all of the early AS350Bs plus Mr. Kenneth's SA341 G-BBHW and Carl Beaman's 206 G-BBBM.
I then did a spell at Colt Executive Aviation with the likes of Robert Kellie, Mark Trumble, Pete Turner looking after the G-?ORR's, including the black and red G-MORR which morphed into G-NOEI. I would later pick up the pieces of that aircraft from Silverston whilst working for AMH where TRC christened me "Marcel, mechanicien de Le Cochon Plastique".
I then did many years at PAS with Mark Trumble and his successors taking care of the G-PAS? fleet of AS355s, Bo105s and MD902s.
Fantastic times, great memories and lots of stories to tell- and quite a few pics stashed away somewhere which I must dig out.
Swing that lantern!
My first flight in a helicopter (G-BAKT) flown by Tony Boulter in 1978 whilst working for Burnthills. 3 days after starting as a 17 year old apprentice I was standing underneath it hooking up aircon units for a new supermarket. Fully trained and briefed of course!
Pics of the rock star in front of an unidentified blue AS350 (G-GINA I was shouting)- and TRC was right- it was the late RK piloting it in the later pic. RK was my boss for 4 years from '79 where I played with all of the early AS350Bs plus Mr. Kenneth's SA341 G-BBHW and Carl Beaman's 206 G-BBBM.
I then did a spell at Colt Executive Aviation with the likes of Robert Kellie, Mark Trumble, Pete Turner looking after the G-?ORR's, including the black and red G-MORR which morphed into G-NOEI. I would later pick up the pieces of that aircraft from Silverston whilst working for AMH where TRC christened me "Marcel, mechanicien de Le Cochon Plastique".
I then did many years at PAS with Mark Trumble and his successors taking care of the G-PAS? fleet of AS355s, Bo105s and MD902s.
Fantastic times, great memories and lots of stories to tell- and quite a few pics stashed away somewhere which I must dig out.
Swing that lantern!
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Bonjour me old fruit.
I've just been digging around in the loft and found a photo of just about the entire AMH team in 85, perhaps 86. You may recall the occasion- Jack was departing AMH and we got everybody outside the hangar with G-BBRI, G-TPTR and an upturned trolleyack for a good old pose as a leaving pressie. I'll get it scanned and posted.
I've just been digging around in the loft and found a photo of just about the entire AMH team in 85, perhaps 86. You may recall the occasion- Jack was departing AMH and we got everybody outside the hangar with G-BBRI, G-TPTR and an upturned trolleyack for a good old pose as a leaving pressie. I'll get it scanned and posted.
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Greetings from sunny SE Turkey.
Yes, post it.
Let's see how many on here can workout the relevence of an upturned trolley-acc. Only those that were there will really know......
Answers on the back of a £10 postal order.
Yes, post it.
Let's see how many on here can workout the relevence of an upturned trolley-acc. Only those that were there will really know......
Answers on the back of a £10 postal order.
Thread Starter
LCP: Welcome to PPRuNe and to the Nostalgia Thread specifically!
There was TRC giving me grief about my use of nicknames and what have you (abbreviating Jet and Long Rangers to Rangers and calling Air Gregory .. Gregorious etc.) and all along he was doing the very same thing!!!
I shall ensure that his drinks are appropriately 'spiked' when eventually we hook-up for our shindig in the UK! 
Extraordinary that we should have shared the same girl .. "Katie" (ie. G-BAKT) in taking us across the threshold of 'rotary virginity' - I guess mine was a couple of years before yours! She was a lovely craft, one I can never forget.
I suppose you heard that old man Mann recently passed away? Here is an excerpt from an email I received from his son Henry a day or so after his passing:
FYI: We also have an Alan Mann thread where you may prefer to post anything so related.
An up-turned trolley-ac .. hmm .. could it be helpful in starting this:
LCP .. you are going to have to explain what prompted TRC to christen you so!
Rgds
Sav
There was TRC giving me grief about my use of nicknames and what have you (abbreviating Jet and Long Rangers to Rangers and calling Air Gregory .. Gregorious etc.) and all along he was doing the very same thing!!!
I shall ensure that his drinks are appropriately 'spiked' when eventually we hook-up for our shindig in the UK! Extraordinary that we should have shared the same girl .. "Katie" (ie. G-BAKT) in taking us across the threshold of 'rotary virginity' - I guess mine was a couple of years before yours! She was a lovely craft, one I can never forget.
I suppose you heard that old man Mann recently passed away? Here is an excerpt from an email I received from his son Henry a day or so after his passing:
"Thank you for your kind words of condolence.
The memorial service will take place on 3rd May at noon in Romsey Abbey, Hampshire.
There will be a reception afterwards at the house. All are welcome.
All the best
Henry Mann"
The memorial service will take place on 3rd May at noon in Romsey Abbey, Hampshire.
There will be a reception afterwards at the house. All are welcome.
All the best
Henry Mann"
An up-turned trolley-ac .. hmm .. could it be helpful in starting this:
LCP .. you are going to have to explain what prompted TRC to christen you so!
Rgds
Sav
Thread Starter
More BCal ..
S-61N G-BIHH at Aberdeen's Dyce Airport on 3rd April 1981 (Photo: Derek Heley)
S-61N G-BHPU at Coventry Airport on 30th May 1982 having delivered HH JP II
Can anyone advise which call sign BHPU used while flying HH? I think BFPF was also seconded to this assignment.
BCal line-up: 1-11, 747, 61
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Trolley-accs etc
"Only those that were there will really know......"
Ah yes, I remember the trolley acc incident, one of those things that I believed had passed into the obscurity of history............
LOL
I also remeber the difficulties of horrisson, horiizon, hurizone in LBE's too (subsequently designated AH, 'cos it's easier
)
And today it is NOT sunny in Essex-by-the-Sea it's hissing down
- VFR
Ah yes, I remember the trolley acc incident, one of those things that I believed had passed into the obscurity of history............
LOLI also remeber the difficulties of horrisson, horiizon, hurizone in LBE's too (subsequently designated AH, 'cos it's easier
)And today it is NOT sunny in Essex-by-the-Sea it's hissing down
- VFR
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Katie
Savoia,
I don't recall Katie being quite the gentle lady that you do. I remember one of my early dates with her where we flew from Glasgow to Edinburgh to deliver a washing machine. My extensive underslung load training hadn't extended to static electricity and grounding wires so when I hooked up the load in pouring rain she gave me an almighty belt. That's how I learned most things back then- the hard but fast way.
However, she did infect me with the rotary wing disease (I was in danger of embarking on a plank wing career path at the time) so she was a major influence in my life.
Re LCP. When I joined Manns in '85 I found an unshaven, trogloditic collection of life forms locked in a small dingy hangar full of ancient helicopters. I mean- they were all made of metal and covered in grease nipples and oil leaks. Yuk! G-NOEI (AS350) had just turned up- an advanced peice of French technology made mostly of plastic and left over Citroen bits and AMH needed somebody who was wise in the ways of such modern things. So, I became Marcel and G-NOEI was Le Cochon Plastique. I always thought there was an element of jealousy in the air. (Lets see if that gets a bite or two- it always used to!)
Really good answer re the upturned battery cart, but wrong. That's the sort of silly answer that TRC would come up with
I'll stick the Class of '85 pic on the AMH thread- thanks for the steer.
Anyway. Back to the washing machine. We were delivering it to a woman who had won it in a local supermarket competition and having it delivered dangling below a helicopter into the supermarket car park was all part of the PR. Event over, the assembled crowds quickly dispersed due to the rain and as we climbed out of the car park towards the 200 foot cloudbase I can still picture the poor woman, all on her own now, thinking "how the hell am I going to get this washing machine home".
I don't recall Katie being quite the gentle lady that you do. I remember one of my early dates with her where we flew from Glasgow to Edinburgh to deliver a washing machine. My extensive underslung load training hadn't extended to static electricity and grounding wires so when I hooked up the load in pouring rain she gave me an almighty belt. That's how I learned most things back then- the hard but fast way.
However, she did infect me with the rotary wing disease (I was in danger of embarking on a plank wing career path at the time) so she was a major influence in my life.
Re LCP. When I joined Manns in '85 I found an unshaven, trogloditic collection of life forms locked in a small dingy hangar full of ancient helicopters. I mean- they were all made of metal and covered in grease nipples and oil leaks. Yuk! G-NOEI (AS350) had just turned up- an advanced peice of French technology made mostly of plastic and left over Citroen bits and AMH needed somebody who was wise in the ways of such modern things. So, I became Marcel and G-NOEI was Le Cochon Plastique. I always thought there was an element of jealousy in the air. (Lets see if that gets a bite or two- it always used to!)
Really good answer re the upturned battery cart, but wrong. That's the sort of silly answer that TRC would come up with
I'll stick the Class of '85 pic on the AMH thread- thanks for the steer.
Anyway. Back to the washing machine. We were delivering it to a woman who had won it in a local supermarket competition and having it delivered dangling below a helicopter into the supermarket car park was all part of the PR. Event over, the assembled crowds quickly dispersed due to the rain and as we climbed out of the car park towards the 200 foot cloudbase I can still picture the poor woman, all on her own now, thinking "how the hell am I going to get this washing machine home".
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Two pics of the Jacques Cousteau's Calypso Schweizer 300C (N6129E) taken during their Danube Expedition 1991 when they visited the Nature Park Kopacki rit. Photos taken at Cepin airfield near Osijek, Croatia where the bird stopped for refuelling.
And last but not least: Congratulations to the Nostalgia Thread for reaching a quarter of a million views in less than 24 months! This is one of PPRuNe's great threads and brings a lot of satisfaction to many readers. Please keep the stories and photos coming.
And last but not least: Congratulations to the Nostalgia Thread for reaching a quarter of a million views in less than 24 months! This is one of PPRuNe's great threads and brings a lot of satisfaction to many readers. Please keep the stories and photos coming.
Here are some nice early Hughes 500s. VH-BAG served previously in the Antarctic with Vowell Air Services.
Here is a 500C belonging to Sloane.
All sizes | G-BDFP - 1975 build Hughes 500C, later re-registered as G-OAIM | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
500 Fan.
Here is a 500C belonging to Sloane.
All sizes | G-BDFP - 1975 build Hughes 500C, later re-registered as G-OAIM | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
500 Fan.
Thread Starter
LCP: Thanks for filling-in the gaps, great stuff! 
500 Fan: That is a great shot of VH-BAG, well done. Both BAG and PPRuNer Palma's G-BDFP have featured on the thread in pages past.
Its been a 'Hughesy' sort of day on Nostalgia so I shall continue the theme below.
Zis: I am one of those who is unable to view images hosted by Imageshack .. I still don't know why but .. here is something to compliment your contribution:
More Cousteau ..
Cousteau's first research vessel, the RV Calypso, went through a string of 300's. Those we know of include: N9672F, N102CS and N6129E and I think there were a further two craft (also 300's) which served aboard the vessel:
N102CS about to depart the Calypso in Nassau, the Bahamas, in 1975
All of the Cousteau 300's were given the name .. Félix!
The RV Calypso passes in front of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco where Cousteau was a member
The RV Calypso was a BYMS (British Yard Minesweeper) Mark 1 Class Motor Minesweeper, laid down on 12 August 1941 with the yard designation BYMS-26 and launched on 21 March 1942. It was commissioned into the Royal Navy in February 1943 as HMS J-826 and assigned to active service in the Mediterranean Sea, reclassified as BYMS-2026 in 1944, laid up at Malta and finally struck from the Naval Register in 1947.
The Irish millionaire and former MP, Thomas "Loel" Guinness bought Calypso in 1950 and leased it to Cousteau for a symbolic one franc a year. He had two conditions, that Cousteau never ask him for money and that he never reveal his identity, which only came out after Cousteau's death. Cousteau restructured and transformed it into an expedition vessel and support base for diving, filming and oceanographic research.Calypso carried advanced equipment, including one- and two-man mini submarines developed by Cousteau, diving saucers, and underwater scooters. The ship was also fitted with a see-through "nose", an observation chamber three meters below the waterline, and was modified to house scientific equipment and a helicopter pad. The Calypso underwater camera is named after this ship.
Old man Cousteau aboard Félix
N102CS rests aboard the RV Calypso
Cousteau looks out from Calypso's wheelhouse over an Arctic scene with N9672F resting on the helideck
Félix's helicopter pilot Bob Braunbeck aboard the Calypso in 1975
Bob Braunbeck doesn't sound like an especially French name but he sure dresses (if that's the right word) like a Frenchman. I always felt one had to have balls to wear those briefs back in the 70's!
500 Fan: That is a great shot of VH-BAG, well done. Both BAG and PPRuNer Palma's G-BDFP have featured on the thread in pages past.
Its been a 'Hughesy' sort of day on Nostalgia so I shall continue the theme below.
Zis: I am one of those who is unable to view images hosted by Imageshack .. I still don't know why but .. here is something to compliment your contribution:
More Cousteau ..
Cousteau's first research vessel, the RV Calypso, went through a string of 300's. Those we know of include: N9672F, N102CS and N6129E and I think there were a further two craft (also 300's) which served aboard the vessel:
N102CS about to depart the Calypso in Nassau, the Bahamas, in 1975
All of the Cousteau 300's were given the name .. Félix!
The RV Calypso passes in front of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco where Cousteau was a member
The RV Calypso was a BYMS (British Yard Minesweeper) Mark 1 Class Motor Minesweeper, laid down on 12 August 1941 with the yard designation BYMS-26 and launched on 21 March 1942. It was commissioned into the Royal Navy in February 1943 as HMS J-826 and assigned to active service in the Mediterranean Sea, reclassified as BYMS-2026 in 1944, laid up at Malta and finally struck from the Naval Register in 1947.
The Irish millionaire and former MP, Thomas "Loel" Guinness bought Calypso in 1950 and leased it to Cousteau for a symbolic one franc a year. He had two conditions, that Cousteau never ask him for money and that he never reveal his identity, which only came out after Cousteau's death. Cousteau restructured and transformed it into an expedition vessel and support base for diving, filming and oceanographic research.Calypso carried advanced equipment, including one- and two-man mini submarines developed by Cousteau, diving saucers, and underwater scooters. The ship was also fitted with a see-through "nose", an observation chamber three meters below the waterline, and was modified to house scientific equipment and a helicopter pad. The Calypso underwater camera is named after this ship.
Old man Cousteau aboard Félix
N102CS rests aboard the RV Calypso
Cousteau looks out from Calypso's wheelhouse over an Arctic scene with N9672F resting on the helideck
Félix's helicopter pilot Bob Braunbeck aboard the Calypso in 1975
Bob Braunbeck doesn't sound like an especially French name but he sure dresses (if that's the right word) like a Frenchman. I always felt one had to have balls to wear those briefs back in the 70's!
Add Rod Hall-Jones (NZ) and Jim Stock (USA) as drivers for J-Y Cousteau.
As Jim told me the uniform of "budgie smugglers" and beanie was "de rigeur" on the good ship Calypso.
As Jim told me the uniform of "budgie smugglers" and beanie was "de rigeur" on the good ship Calypso.