The Rotary Nostalgia Thread
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500 Fan
I remember seeing it there at that time, yes it was an anti-Sellafield campaign. I think the boat is the Rainbow Warrior II, as French special forces had mined and sunk the Rainbow Warrior I !
Thread Starter
To compliment 500 Fan's Hughes is this kind contribution from Nicola in Rome:
Forestale BredaNardi NH500D I-CFSN CFS 13 in Ostia, Italy on 31st May 2012 (Photo: Nicola Maraspini)
The Forestale crew push 'Eagle 13' through the streets of Ostia (along the Tyrrhenian coast near Rome) in preparation for the craft's display in the static exhibition at this year's Rome International Air Show which was held at the beginning of June.
More from Jeremy Hughes ..
Hiller UH-12E4 G-ASAZ at Biggin Hill in May 1963 (Photo: Jeremy Hughes)
This craft was bought by Rent-A-Copter (my godfather would have cringed at the name) in 1962 before moving on to Bouley Invesments in 1968 and Bell Fruit of Nottingham in 1974. In 1976 she was bought by Morland Beazley Helicopters of Hampshire and I don't know why but, for some reason, that name is familiar!
Fairchild Hiller FH-1100 (Serial No. 10) G-AVTG at RAF Wethersfield on 1st June 1968 (Photo: Stuart Jessup)
Complimenting Jeremy's UH-12E4 is Stuart's FH1100 owned (at the time of the photo) by the same outfit as G-ASAZ .. Rent-A-Copter.
Tragically, this is the craft which crashed so spectacularly at the 1969 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget on 5th June in which the craft's British pilot perished. Can anyone recall who was flying AVTG on that ill-fated day?
Forestale BredaNardi NH500D I-CFSN CFS 13 in Ostia, Italy on 31st May 2012 (Photo: Nicola Maraspini)
The Forestale crew push 'Eagle 13' through the streets of Ostia (along the Tyrrhenian coast near Rome) in preparation for the craft's display in the static exhibition at this year's Rome International Air Show which was held at the beginning of June.
More from Jeremy Hughes ..
Hiller UH-12E4 G-ASAZ at Biggin Hill in May 1963 (Photo: Jeremy Hughes)
This craft was bought by Rent-A-Copter (my godfather would have cringed at the name) in 1962 before moving on to Bouley Invesments in 1968 and Bell Fruit of Nottingham in 1974. In 1976 she was bought by Morland Beazley Helicopters of Hampshire and I don't know why but, for some reason, that name is familiar!
Fairchild Hiller FH-1100 (Serial No. 10) G-AVTG at RAF Wethersfield on 1st June 1968 (Photo: Stuart Jessup)
Complimenting Jeremy's UH-12E4 is Stuart's FH1100 owned (at the time of the photo) by the same outfit as G-ASAZ .. Rent-A-Copter.
Tragically, this is the craft which crashed so spectacularly at the 1969 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget on 5th June in which the craft's British pilot perished. Can anyone recall who was flying AVTG on that ill-fated day?
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The Hiller was flown by one of my RN instructors, Terry McDonald (sp?). Terry started as a RAF fixed wing pilot, moved on to fly a VC 10 for the Nigerian president at a time when they were being removed rather frequently. Terry used to joke " Whose the president today?". He then joined the RN to become a helicopter pilot, was a great character & good instructor.
Apparently the weather in Paris was very bad & while flying just below the low cloud base, something broke & the Hiller pitched upwards into the cloud & reappeared virtually upside down, crashed & killed him instantly. Hiller of course said it was pilot error & that Terry had lost it in cloud. Having had an instrument rating in both planks & helicopters for 20+ years, I highly doubt it. Very sad loss.
Apparently the weather in Paris was very bad & while flying just below the low cloud base, something broke & the Hiller pitched upwards into the cloud & reappeared virtually upside down, crashed & killed him instantly. Hiller of course said it was pilot error & that Terry had lost it in cloud. Having had an instrument rating in both planks & helicopters for 20+ years, I highly doubt it. Very sad loss.
Thread Starter
Nigel, thank you for that feedback. It was indeed tragic.
I would concur that the accident appears to have been a mechanical failure (the footage, to me, certainly seems to support that) and I think it was extremely cowardly (but not altogether unsurprising) of Fairchild to level the blame at the driver.
Yes, there was a low overcast that day, but this did not have any bearing on the abrupt change in attitude which G-AVTG experienced.
I would concur that the accident appears to have been a mechanical failure (the footage, to me, certainly seems to support that) and I think it was extremely cowardly (but not altogether unsurprising) of Fairchild to level the blame at the driver.
Yes, there was a low overcast that day, but this did not have any bearing on the abrupt change in attitude which G-AVTG experienced.
Thread Starter
Denissimo - its been a while since I last heard from you! I suppose you recall the tragic accident (above) involving Nigel's former RN flying instructor at the Paris Air Show?
A friend emailed me a scanned copy of your article in this month's 'Flyer' - well done!
In the article you make mention of Ferranti's Meteor so .. here she is:
Armstrong Whitworth Meteor 14 outside the Ferranti Flying Unit at Edinburgh's Turnhouse Airport in 1971 (Photo: Lorence Fizia)
Ferranti donated this aircraft to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune Airfield in Lothian although I am not sure whether she is still there.
A friend emailed me a scanned copy of your article in this month's 'Flyer' - well done!
In the article you make mention of Ferranti's Meteor so .. here she is:
Armstrong Whitworth Meteor 14 outside the Ferranti Flying Unit at Edinburgh's Turnhouse Airport in 1971 (Photo: Lorence Fizia)
Ferranti donated this aircraft to the Museum of Flight at East Fortune Airfield in Lothian although I am not sure whether she is still there.
A quick look on the Museum website shows G-ARCX as still being at East Fortune.
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Planemike
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Terry Macdonald was a super chap - been there done it and ended up teaching little prunes like Nigel and myself to not hit the ground in the wrong attitude.
Famous also for calling a particularly unpleasant pilot - he will know who he is - "trackless" and when asked why he said because he was so low that his bum rubbed out his tracks in the mud.
Wonderful pilot and character - so unfair.
Famous also for calling a particularly unpleasant pilot - he will know who he is - "trackless" and when asked why he said because he was so low that his bum rubbed out his tracks in the mud.
Wonderful pilot and character - so unfair.
Thread Starter
Bast0n; I don't suppose you have a photo of the late TM in your superb collection?
Some great 80's nostalgia from Garry Lakin and Adrian Batchelor. (My thanks to both gentlemen for their contributions).
All the craft featured are familiar to the Nostalgia Thread, but its great to see these new additions to our collection:
John Laing's AS355F1 TwinEcureuil G-JLCO departs BAe Hatfield on 5th July 1986 (Photo: Garry Lakin)
With this photo Garry has traded places with Adrian because the thread's best photo (to-date) of the Laing Ecureuil was from Adrian's collection and which can be seen on page 76. JLCO nows flys as VONF but there is further info back on page 76.
SA341G Gazelle G-BBHW at Leavesden following her respray in 1981 (Photo: Adrian Batchelor)
BBHW makes her debut on Nostalgia on page 39 wearing her red and white scheme inside a hangar at Glasgow in the 70's while she was with McAlpines. Then on page 57 is a photo from Anton Heumann (the Swiss photographer who took a shot of one of my favourite LongRangers .. the Monégasque registered 3A-MSX which can be seen on page 58) of 'HW' at Luton three years after Adrian's shot.
BBHW's history began (briefly) with Bruce Fletcher Contractors of Leicester in 1974 after which she went to McApline who kept her until 1991 (so we are told). She then goes through a string of owners until she ends up with 'Cropspray Ltd' of Marksbury in Bath. I've never seen a Gazelle spraying crops!
Bell 206B G-BBBM at Leavesden in 1983 (Photo: Adrian Batchelor)
G-BBBM was an ex-Ferranti managed 206 which began life wearing a pleasant two-tone red and brown scheme (see page 13) but which went on to accommodate a variety liveries including those for Rothmans (page 40) and the Daily Express (page 43). She wore several other schemes too!
Some great 80's nostalgia from Garry Lakin and Adrian Batchelor. (My thanks to both gentlemen for their contributions).
All the craft featured are familiar to the Nostalgia Thread, but its great to see these new additions to our collection:
John Laing's AS355F1 TwinEcureuil G-JLCO departs BAe Hatfield on 5th July 1986 (Photo: Garry Lakin)
With this photo Garry has traded places with Adrian because the thread's best photo (to-date) of the Laing Ecureuil was from Adrian's collection and which can be seen on page 76. JLCO nows flys as VONF but there is further info back on page 76.
SA341G Gazelle G-BBHW at Leavesden following her respray in 1981 (Photo: Adrian Batchelor)
BBHW makes her debut on Nostalgia on page 39 wearing her red and white scheme inside a hangar at Glasgow in the 70's while she was with McAlpines. Then on page 57 is a photo from Anton Heumann (the Swiss photographer who took a shot of one of my favourite LongRangers .. the Monégasque registered 3A-MSX which can be seen on page 58) of 'HW' at Luton three years after Adrian's shot.
BBHW's history began (briefly) with Bruce Fletcher Contractors of Leicester in 1974 after which she went to McApline who kept her until 1991 (so we are told). She then goes through a string of owners until she ends up with 'Cropspray Ltd' of Marksbury in Bath. I've never seen a Gazelle spraying crops!
Bell 206B G-BBBM at Leavesden in 1983 (Photo: Adrian Batchelor)
G-BBBM was an ex-Ferranti managed 206 which began life wearing a pleasant two-tone red and brown scheme (see page 13) but which went on to accommodate a variety liveries including those for Rothmans (page 40) and the Daily Express (page 43). She wore several other schemes too!
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The Mentadent Meteor!
Hi all and to respond to Savoia,
Glad you enjoyed my piece on the G;oster Meteor in FLYER magazine and I'll be a regular contributor for the forseeable future ... although while occasionally writing articles on fixed wing, the plan is to mostly cover helicopters. The current 'Summer' issue will have my X2, X3, X4 story and the future for hi-speed helicopters. August will be UK Flying Training.
Thanks Savoia for posting the picture of Meteor 14 G-ARCX displaying her so-called red 'Mentadent' stripe, but being an awkward old sod when writing, I occasionally include the odd deliberate error. The true COFs on here may recall the 1950s toothpaste advert wasn't about Mentadent at all. The actual jingle went ... "You'll wonder where the yellow went ... when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent." Somewhere along the line, the Mentadent/Pepsodent nomenclature got reversed and Ferranti obviously didn't notice. How quaint! Regards to all. Dennis Kenyon.
Glad you enjoyed my piece on the G;oster Meteor in FLYER magazine and I'll be a regular contributor for the forseeable future ... although while occasionally writing articles on fixed wing, the plan is to mostly cover helicopters. The current 'Summer' issue will have my X2, X3, X4 story and the future for hi-speed helicopters. August will be UK Flying Training.
Thanks Savoia for posting the picture of Meteor 14 G-ARCX displaying her so-called red 'Mentadent' stripe, but being an awkward old sod when writing, I occasionally include the odd deliberate error. The true COFs on here may recall the 1950s toothpaste advert wasn't about Mentadent at all. The actual jingle went ... "You'll wonder where the yellow went ... when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent." Somewhere along the line, the Mentadent/Pepsodent nomenclature got reversed and Ferranti obviously didn't notice. How quaint! Regards to all. Dennis Kenyon.
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Found some negatives from the Clyde days,
If I remember, a police officer accidentally set off the floats.
BiRDLe getting a bit of loving care.
the BOUY getting the windscreen washed ready for another adventure over Glasgow.
and BOUY and BRDL on the pad together
Wiggy
If I remember, a police officer accidentally set off the floats.
BiRDLe getting a bit of loving care.
the BOUY getting the windscreen washed ready for another adventure over Glasgow.
and BOUY and BRDL on the pad together
Wiggy
Thread Starter
Welcome back Wiggy! 
Helping us maintain the Clyde theme .. this kind contribution from Derek Heley:
Bell 206B G-EYEI at Glasgow on 6th February 1988 (Photo: Derek Heley)
Some will recall that this craft met her demise (with tragic consequences) at Giffnock, near Glasgow during police operations in January 1990 having inadvertently entered a snow storm.
Helping us maintain the Clyde theme .. this kind contribution from Derek Heley:
Bell 206B G-EYEI at Glasgow on 6th February 1988 (Photo: Derek Heley)
Some will recall that this craft met her demise (with tragic consequences) at Giffnock, near Glasgow during police operations in January 1990 having inadvertently entered a snow storm.
Thread Starter
Bell 47G-1 G-ARIA at Biggin Hill in 1961 (Photo: Jeremy Hughes)
Jeremy continues to feed us with great images of rotorcraft past and has today forwarded a delightful shot of G-ARIA taken in her delivery year.
More about G-ARIA on page 71.
Thread Starter
TRC is (as always) correct. The little songbird (ARIA) did in fact start out as a 'D' model later being up-graded to a G1. I saw this craft many many times as a wee lad accompanying my father (as opposed to godfather) where, for a handful of years he kept a plank at Biggin.
Mushroom: We are indebted to the small army of photographers whom I constantly 'hasstle' to provide us with unwatermarked copies of their handiwork to post on PPRuNe. Over the past year or so several of the photographers have become keen followers of the Nostalgia Thread and which of course is great. To them we say a big thank you!
Brilliant: Have yet to read the biography but will doubtless pick-up a copy when I next visit the wetlands (Blighty). Yes, Beaverbook (what an amazing chap) did have a rather rudely registered craft - one I was planning to do a piece on at some point - so, your mentioning of her may well hasten this! One can only assume that the ribbing he received was a pain in the **se!
The aviation connections with the Beaverbrook family are many; his daughter, for example, the Hon. Janet Kidd had her own Bell 47. Whether she was a flyer or had her own driver I am not sure (perhaps Denissimo recalls!). And there are further connections which, with Senior Pilot's approval, I shall post for they do deviate somewhat off-course, lol!
The Agusta-built Bell 47G-2 G-AWSK as seen at Farnborough in September 1970 (Photo: Mick West)
Above; Janet Kidd's Bell 47 attending the 1970 Farnborough Airshow. Just visible in the background is G-AWOL the Bell produced 206 belonging to David Brown Tractors of Huddersfield.
The Hon. Janet Kidd (1908-1988)
Mushroom: We are indebted to the small army of photographers whom I constantly 'hasstle' to provide us with unwatermarked copies of their handiwork to post on PPRuNe. Over the past year or so several of the photographers have become keen followers of the Nostalgia Thread and which of course is great. To them we say a big thank you!
Brilliant: Have yet to read the biography but will doubtless pick-up a copy when I next visit the wetlands (Blighty). Yes, Beaverbook (what an amazing chap) did have a rather rudely registered craft - one I was planning to do a piece on at some point - so, your mentioning of her may well hasten this! One can only assume that the ribbing he received was a pain in the **se!
The aviation connections with the Beaverbrook family are many; his daughter, for example, the Hon. Janet Kidd had her own Bell 47. Whether she was a flyer or had her own driver I am not sure (perhaps Denissimo recalls!). And there are further connections which, with Senior Pilot's approval, I shall post for they do deviate somewhat off-course, lol!
The Agusta-built Bell 47G-2 G-AWSK as seen at Farnborough in September 1970 (Photo: Mick West)
Above; Janet Kidd's Bell 47 attending the 1970 Farnborough Airshow. Just visible in the background is G-AWOL the Bell produced 206 belonging to David Brown Tractors of Huddersfield.
The Hon. Janet Kidd (1908-1988)
Thread Starter
PPRuNer Savoia parks Rotorwork Hughes 500D P2-AHN outside Manum Island Catholic Church, Papua New Guinea, in 1988
I feel for the SAR boys hammered for picking up a side of beef and I do confess that I am guilty of many such misdemeanors in times past!
To be fair though .. while I didn't request permission from 'The Dick' (Anderson) I did tell him that I had used the craft to attend Mass .. and for the simple reason that there wasn't any other available transport - and which was true!
His response .. "You can buy me a beer" .. which I duly did at the Hagen Aero Club.