Savoia

RAF Westland Whirlwind HAR10 XP403 as seen at Cullercoats on 8th April 1972 (Photo: Albert Gilmour)

Albert Gilmour is a new contributor to Nostalgia and receives our thanks for this wonderful shot of an RAF Whirlwind from the early 70's.

My first 'encounter' with Cullercoats was in 1980 when it appeared in the lyrics to 'Tunnel of Love' on the album 'Making Movies' by Dire Straits (read Mark Knopfler). The verse included the phrase "From Cullercoats and Whitley Bay". Back in those days there was no internet return an instantaneous answer - one instead had to access an atlas of the UK and trawl through the index and, if the name didn't appear, you were left with the task of randomly searching through those map sections you felt were most relevant. All great fun of course!

Savoia

A member of HMS Cardiff's helideck crew takes a break atop the stores carrier of the ship's Westland Lynx during the Falkland's conflict in 1982


Westland Lynx from HMS Cardiff equipped with Sea Skua air-to-surface missiles

Senior Pilot

Immersion suit, ready to fly: aircrew.

Probably the Lynx observer: he looks familiar! Pilot was Lt Chris Clayton: later Rear Admiral Clayton. They had a few 'happenings' during the Falklands campaign, notably two Daggers tried to take out the Lynx after jettisoning their external tanks and engaging with cannon

Savoia

I suppose the most notable event involving HMS Cardiff was the tragedy which struck the Army Gazelle XX377.

When I went out to Kenya there was an ex-Army chap (Tim Ward-Booth RIP) flying as CP for Freddie Wilcox's outfit - he had been in some sort of 'incident' during the Falklands, also involving a Gazelle, but I was never able to determine exactly what.

Savoia

F15 HMS Euryalus as seen on the River Tyne on 21st October 1978

HMS Euryalus (F15) was a Leander-class frigate of the Royal Navy. Like the rest of the class, Euryalus was named after a figure of mythology. She was built by Scotts Shipbuilders of Greenock and launched on 6th June 1963. She wascommissioned on 16th September 1964.

F15 was the sixth Royal Naval vessel of the name and had a strong liaison with the Lancashire Fusiliers, whose motto (Omnia Audax) she bore from the 4th Euryalus landing its 1st Battalion at W Beach, Gallipoli where the Regiment "won six Victoria Crosses before breakfast"!


Euryalus' Officers in early in 1968


Euryalus' Wasp being wheeled out of the ship's hangar (Photo MD Thomas)

I never cease to be amazed by the generous allocation of space afforded shipborne hangars!

Savoia

Silvercraft SH-4 ZS-HDR taken at Grand Central Airport, South Africa, on 31st August 1973 (Photo: Steve Aubury)

Steve Aubury has kindly contributed the above photograph and asked me to do a little write-up on it and which of course I am pleased to do.

Quite how Steve's specific Silvercraft (cn. 20) got to South Africa I don't actually know. What I can say is that according to Italian records, cn. 20 was sold in 1972 to Slot Aviation of South Africa. As Steve informed me in his mail, this craft crashed on 27th June 1974 and the record states that she was at that time owned by Astaa Helicopters with the accident occurring at a place called 'Marble Hall' in the Transvaal. Beyond that I don't have much more .. so those with any further awareness of ZS-HDR and her history are welcome to supplement this meagre offering.

Regarding the SH-4 in general; this was a joint venture between a new Italian company 'Silvercraft' (formed in Milan in 1962 and about which I know very little) and an existing Italian aircraft manufacturer Siai-Marchetti (about which I know a little more).

Under the guidance of Emilio Bianchi the SH-4 (originally designated as simply 'XY') was designed as 3 seater piston aircraft (basically an Italian take on the Bell 47). The first test flight of the XY took place in October 1963. The SH-4 (as it was to become) was of all-metal construction, incorporated a semi-rigid rotor, a corrugated tailboom and was powered by a 235shp Franklin 6A-350-D engine.

Five prototypes were built of which I-SILX (cn. 01) made its maiden flight at Vergiate in March 1965 with Dario Pavan at the controls. With the aid of Fiat Aviazione Motori (who manufactured mechanical parts for the rotor transmission) a production batch of 50 SH-4s was planned at Sesto Calende in Varese, Northern Italy, (actually at the northern end of Lake Maggiore).

Silvercraft began deliveries in 1970 but the ran into difficulties which were related to the Franklin engine (now out of production) and, as a result, only 21 SH-4's were produced with individual examples being exported to Brazil, South Africa, France and Holland and two aircraft being delivered to the Italian Air Force. Production ceased in 1977.

The SH-4 was certificated by the RAI and FAA in September 1968, being the first helicopter of all-Italian design and construction to receive both Italian and US certification.


SH-4 I-RAIX at an unknown location but quite possibly Le Bourget (Photo: Henk Wadman)


The Silvercraft's panel (Photo: Damiano Gualdoni)


The SH-4 during crop-spraying trials in Northern Italy (Photo: Silvercraft Archives)

~ ~ ~

Seeing as this is a photographer-induced post I thought I would mention something about Albert Gilmour who contributed the delightful photo of the RAF Whirlwind at Cullercoats on the previous page.

In his email to me Albert wrote: "I am now 89 and just getting into this internet business and which I find great fun. Before my retirement I was a steam then diesel locomotive driver. One of my hobbies was painting in oil, mainly industrial subjects, trains also of course. I am very glad to be able to contribute my Whirlwind photo."


Albert Gilmour during his locomotive driving and oil painting days

Some photos of Albert Gilmour and his locomotives can be seen here.

Shane101

I like his look-very Quentin Smith

Big Bucks Bernie

I happened to come across another photo of ZS-HDR taken at the Aviation Africa Airshow held in October 1977 at Lanseria Airport:

According to the list of aircraft that participated at the airshow, ZS-HDR also performed a flying display on the 7th of October 1977 (see here).

Savoia

Arsenal and Arsenam (two former BEA S61's) debuted on this thread back on page 26.

Besides being among BEA's first 61's these sister ships were known for their love of the sea!

On 15th November 1970 G-ASNM ditched in the North Sea 50 miles to the east of Aberdeen due to a gearbox lubrication failure (accident report here).

13 years later, on 11th March 1983, G-ASNL followed suit ditching 75 miles north east of Aberdeen - also due to a gearbox lubrication failure although this time it was identified that this had been caused by the failure of a spur gear (accident report here).


G-ASNM undergoing 'amphibious capability testing' prior to entering service on the Scilly Isles route in 1964


G-ASNL arrives at St. Mary's Heliport in the Scillies

A pleasant shot of Arsenam at Battersea to follow soon.

Austbeacon

If that is the particular aircraft I am thinking of, my father put it into Bass Strait when the fuel pump failed during an attempted landing on an oil rig in the mid 1960s. If anyone recalls the incident, I would like to hear from them.

Savoia

Austbeacon: Welcome aboard!

You may see a photo of the aircraft your father flew at the top of page 41 of this thread.

The craft in question was a single-engine S62 (as you mention) as opposed to the twin-engine S61's which appear in the post above but 'hewn from the same rock' so to speak!

Your father's aircraft was registered VH-AND and he ditched on 24th August 1967 in the Bass Strait.

As we have a number of venerable Aussies reading this thread I am confident that you will get some feedback!

If you can source any photos from your Dad's helicopter flying days .. we would love to see them.

Rgds

Sav

Nigel Osborn

I remember a S62 ditching near an oil rig in the Bass Strait; it was floating quite happily until the seamen attached a line to tow it. In doing so, they upended the 62 & ruined it!
I'm not sure if another one ditched later as Kevin G was the pilot. Another 62 flown by Brian E ditched off Gladstone a short while later. No injuries to any one.

Savoia

BEA S61N G-ASNM (aka Arsenam) lifts parts destined for Fulham Power Station from a Leyland Comet lorry belonging to Samuel Williams and Sons at Battersea Heliport c.1965

The wording on the boom reads: "Sikorsky S-61N powered by two General Electric CT 58 110 Engines".

Savoia

Built in 1971 PH-NZD was an 'N' model S61 which spent the bulk of her operational life flying with KLM. She also served on contract with Irish Helicopters where she flew as EI-CTK before retiring to the US where she has flown variously as N445HD and N489WC.

Word on the web is that this craft was rehashed into a 'T' model for export to Afghanistan.


S61N PH-NZD at Amsterdam's Schipol Airport in the mid-70's (Photo: Roel Bekkering)

Also in the frame are PH-NZF (running) and PH-NZA. In this shot NZD wears a Coat of Arms below the cockpit side window but, as yet , I have been unable to verify the identity of the arms.


S61N PH-NZD at Cologne's Bonn Konrad Adenauer Airport in September 1973 (Photo: Günter Grondstein)

NZD is seen here preparing to hook-up to a 'body-less' Transit van during a promotional operation for Ford Motors.

There is a further (more recent) shot of NZD taken when she was in the UK in 1997 and for which we are awaiting permission.

One of the things I like about both these photos is that they capture something of the involvement of ground crews and so perhaps this post can be dedicated to their often unsung efforts. On this note I do have another shot of G-ASNL (see above posts) with some great ground crew interaction (coming soon).

As always - with thanks to our contributing photographers who are always mailed a link to the Nostalgia Thread when their images are posted.

Savoia

BEA S61N G-ASNL being loaded with flowers; most probably the Scilly Isles route c. mid-70's


Bristow's S61N G-BBHL 'somewhere .. sometime' going for a swim (no further details)

BBHL joined the Bristow fleet in 1973 and remained in their care until 2008 when she was shipped Stateside.

griffothefog

Nice pic of the flower power 61 Savoia,

They still provide that service for the Narcissus growers in the islands today and a real pungent mini me version of the mass produced daffodil they are to. Almost too sickly a smell.

Unfortunately today, they have withdrawn the BIH service non-effective October, so the end of an era which my dad was involved in way back when I was a grasshopper in school in Helston. Happy days back in the 60's

treadigraph

Born in Hayle in '64 and spent the first few years of my life hearing G-ASNL and her sisters shuttling backwards and forwards to the Scillies. Maybe the first aviation sound I ever heard...

The sad news of the service withdrawal today has finally made me book seats there and back in September before the opportunity to ride in these fine old birds is lost for good.

Hope common sense prevails and the service for the Scillonians can maintained...

Plank Cap

My money's on Spiggie Loch, Shetland whilst based at Sumburgh.

A30yoyo

G-ASNL was salvaged from the bottom of the North Sea , I believe, rebuilt in the USA and now a 'Shortski'



G-ASNL by A30yoyo, on Flickr



"Farmington Fire" by Scott Stringham "Rustling Leaf Design", on Flickr

Savoia

Griffo, Treadigraph, Plank .. thanks for the feedback!

The presumption was that BBHL was 'somewhere' in Scotland but I was hoping that someone would recognise the scenery and which you have done. I'm guessing that the shot was taken early-to-mid 80's.

Yoyo, great to see you back and with great images too!

More Classic 61 ..


British Airways S61N MkII G-BCEB arrives to collect a consignment of Royal Mail in Penzance in 1980


Royal Mail being loaded aboard G-BCEB