S-76A G-BYDF
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Tomotomp, I think we've met! Please check the P.M. I've sent you. 
Avoid imitations
Join Date: Nov 2000
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ShyTorque: Having whetted our appetite, is there anything more you can say about your final sortie with HZC?
Also, how did this aircraft perform in the SAR role? I know the 76 is still used for SAR in Scandinavia.
Also, how did this aircraft perform in the SAR role? I know the 76 is still used for SAR in Scandinavia.
I was asked on the QT if I could retrieve someone the RAF had put somewhere (I can't really say more in public) then they needed them back in a big hurry because a typhoon was coming. Their only Wessex, used to put them in place, had just gone u/s. We were cleared to go and took off into the teeth of the wind. Flat out we could only make about 70 kts groundspeed (the term seaspeed would be more appropriate). On arrival at the pickup point I couldn't get the aircraft to land because the wind was so strong and gusting that the up-draughting off the sloping rock shelf kept us airborne in autorotation; every time I fully lowered the collective the Nr was tending to go over limits. A slight lull in the wind finally allowed us to get a wheel on. The IAS was still showing 55-60 kts plus in the hover. The pax jumped on in very short order. Not surprisingly they were very keen to board as they had watched my antics trying to land for a few minutes. On the way back we were flying with the typhoon winds behind us and we had well over 220 kts groundspeed, the fastest I've personally seen on a rotary winged aircraft. I was glad to get the aircraft shut down in one piece.
As far as a SAR platform was concerned, the S-76s were underpowered for the ambient conditions, often using well over 90%/90% Tq to hover OGE over a ship or the rocks. Not a good situation to find yourself in. The SAR automatics were reasonably good as long as you never trusted the "transition to climb from the auto hover" mode - it tried to kill me a few times. During one of my early night check rides my examiner was convinced it was me doing something wrong - he then tried it to show me how and we came very close to ditching; the aircraft made as if to transition away then descended instead of climbing...all "a bit challenging" in the dark with no horizon and your only visual reference, the ship already gone behind you.
Happy days. I think...
Last edited by ShyTorque; 19th Oct 2013 at 23:00. Reason: application of correction fluid
Thread Starter
Dave B: Some great reminiscences from your Tokyo expedition! 
Sorry to ask again but .. was the Barclaycraft in fact manufactured as an executive aircraft or was she converted for this in Japan. Also, as mentioned by Sanus, did she fly as part of Honda's corporate fleet?
ShyTorque: What a wonderful account of your experiences from the Orient .. fantastic .. and well done!
Flying underpowered aircraft in challenging circumstances generally demands greater skill levels but, such operations I know, are an absolute pain to contend with and, needless to say, a frustration in terms of the potential compromises to safety. Thankfully, aircraft are generally experiencing better performance levels with each new generation.
More Barclaycraft ..
Sikorsky S-76A++ G-BYDF as seen at Jersey Airport on 9th September 2010 (Photo: John Fitzpatrick)
Here seen displaying her non-existent starboard passenger door!
Is it true that 'DF' is the last flying example of an 'A' model in the UK?
Sorry to ask again but .. was the Barclaycraft in fact manufactured as an executive aircraft or was she converted for this in Japan. Also, as mentioned by Sanus, did she fly as part of Honda's corporate fleet?ShyTorque: What a wonderful account of your experiences from the Orient .. fantastic .. and well done!
Flying underpowered aircraft in challenging circumstances generally demands greater skill levels but, such operations I know, are an absolute pain to contend with and, needless to say, a frustration in terms of the potential compromises to safety. Thankfully, aircraft are generally experiencing better performance levels with each new generation.
More Barclaycraft ..
Sikorsky S-76A++ G-BYDF as seen at Jersey Airport on 9th September 2010 (Photo: John Fitzpatrick)
Here seen displaying her non-existent starboard passenger door!
Is it true that 'DF' is the last flying example of an 'A' model in the UK?
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Savoia
I am pretty sure that DF was kitted out by Sikorsky, or at least one of their contractors in the states. It was impressive, it even had a television in the back.
I am afraid I cant remember who it flew for in Tokyo, all I know it was very low hours, and spent most of its life there sat in the corner of the hangar. When they came to resurrect, it,they did a major inspection, despite the low hours.
I am pretty sure that DF was kitted out by Sikorsky, or at least one of their contractors in the states. It was impressive, it even had a television in the back.
I am afraid I cant remember who it flew for in Tokyo, all I know it was very low hours, and spent most of its life there sat in the corner of the hangar. When they came to resurrect, it,they did a major inspection, despite the low hours.
VR-HZB last on Sept 27th 1995
the last time I flew her was on Oct 2nd, 1995, when she was known as VR-HZC
Shy I must know you as I last flew VR-HZB and C on the 26th September 1995
Small world innit?
Last edited by Fareastdriver; 20th Oct 2013 at 20:14.
Thread Starter
S-76A G-BISZ, Farnborough, 1986
FED: Out of interest, for how long did Bristows have 76's based in Hong Kong?
.
Last edited by Savoia; 24th Oct 2013 at 13:42. Reason: Getting my S-76A's and A plusses sorted-out .. thanks to 'Unstable Load'!
I ferried BHLY to the docks before her departure to China, it was 1994, Southend if I remember. I think BISZ followed soon after.
BISZ was based at Redhill in the 1980s on UK charter work then moved to North Denes to join the offshore fleet in the late 80s after the BCAL buyout sprung the SPZ 7000 auto pilot equipped BIBG to Redhill on charter duty. SZ was always a low hour aircraft having spent so much time at Redhill where it wasn't that busy.
BISZ was based at Redhill in the 1980s on UK charter work then moved to North Denes to join the offshore fleet in the late 80s after the BCAL buyout sprung the SPZ 7000 auto pilot equipped BIBG to Redhill on charter duty. SZ was always a low hour aircraft having spent so much time at Redhill where it wasn't that busy.
GBISZ was never based in Hong Kong. Bristow had a deal with China Overseas Helicopter Corp. who had a base in Xili Heliport on the other side of Shenzhen Bay from the New Territories. This was in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and was fairly civilised. They used Bristow 330 and 332L when they started in 1984. By the time I arrived there to start a new contract with the S76 in 1994 they had aircraft of their own.
The S76 was there because, the rumour was, that the chap from Phillips who was organising the transport had come from the GOM and thought that a 76 was the biggest aircraft available. They soon added a 332 when they found out what was required for winching, GBHLY was the Phillips aircraft and SZ arrived later primarily for Conoco.
It was hard work with a S76A+, especially when you had been off them for five years. The main problem was Group A en-route. At those temperatures it was about 1,000 ft. at 10,300 which meant that we could not use the route taken by the 332s around the north of Hong Kong and coast out at Sesan, an island well east of Myers Bay, then south for about 80 miles. Instead we had to route around the west via the Pearl River almost to Macau to keep clear of Kai Tak traffic. We were always on the knife edge for fuel which brought the problem of Huantien, Shenzhen international. Our route took us across their centreline almost as a soon as we were airborne and getting clearance for this was a nightmare. We tried getting clearance before we taxied and even before start-up but it was quite often rescinded. This meant that you had to taxy back, offload the pax and refuel. Eventually COHC cured the problem in the Chinese way. They took the whole of Huantien ATC out for a slap up banquet and after that we had no trouble.
The problem with the S76 offshore is that the customer can never be sure of what they could put on for the return trip. We use to pass them a payload for the return trip after we had calculated the max offshore take off weight about ten minutes before we arrived having got the platform weather.
I left the Chinese S76 operation in 1995 and came back shortly after on the 332L Soon after that SZ had gone and LY was replaced by BG a few years later. One of the major operations there during the summer were Typhoon Evacuations and Remannings. This could never be planned ahead because the different oil companies used different weather forecasting agencies so they got differing forecasts. In the worst case you could be remanning a platform whilst next door they have just started evacuating. The crunch came to the S76 about the summer of 2005.
We were evacuating the Phillips 24/3 and the 76 had gone out on its first early morning trip and as usual had passed a return payload. On the subsequent flight some three hours later the temperature had gone up somewhat so he passed a new, lower payload. This threw the platform because they had worked out the whole days programme using the initial payload. I was in the office awaiting my aircraft, a 332, to come back and I took the call from Phillips and they were not happy. With my ears still ringing I pulled out the 76 performance charts and I could see what the problem was. The situation wasn't helped by having the heaviest S76 flown by the heaviest pilot in Bristow. The remanning came a couple of days later and I could see the writing on the wall because they omitted the 76 from the program. One week later they terminated the contract.
I cannot remember whether it went to Singapore or on a boat to somewhere else but it disappeared quite quickly. I was glad to see it go. There was always the chance that it would be convenient for me to strap it on if one of the established pilots fell over. I’d had enough of throwing helicopters off the side of helidecks and relying on gravity to bring on VTOSS.
The S76 was there because, the rumour was, that the chap from Phillips who was organising the transport had come from the GOM and thought that a 76 was the biggest aircraft available. They soon added a 332 when they found out what was required for winching, GBHLY was the Phillips aircraft and SZ arrived later primarily for Conoco.
It was hard work with a S76A+, especially when you had been off them for five years. The main problem was Group A en-route. At those temperatures it was about 1,000 ft. at 10,300 which meant that we could not use the route taken by the 332s around the north of Hong Kong and coast out at Sesan, an island well east of Myers Bay, then south for about 80 miles. Instead we had to route around the west via the Pearl River almost to Macau to keep clear of Kai Tak traffic. We were always on the knife edge for fuel which brought the problem of Huantien, Shenzhen international. Our route took us across their centreline almost as a soon as we were airborne and getting clearance for this was a nightmare. We tried getting clearance before we taxied and even before start-up but it was quite often rescinded. This meant that you had to taxy back, offload the pax and refuel. Eventually COHC cured the problem in the Chinese way. They took the whole of Huantien ATC out for a slap up banquet and after that we had no trouble.
The problem with the S76 offshore is that the customer can never be sure of what they could put on for the return trip. We use to pass them a payload for the return trip after we had calculated the max offshore take off weight about ten minutes before we arrived having got the platform weather.
I left the Chinese S76 operation in 1995 and came back shortly after on the 332L Soon after that SZ had gone and LY was replaced by BG a few years later. One of the major operations there during the summer were Typhoon Evacuations and Remannings. This could never be planned ahead because the different oil companies used different weather forecasting agencies so they got differing forecasts. In the worst case you could be remanning a platform whilst next door they have just started evacuating. The crunch came to the S76 about the summer of 2005.
We were evacuating the Phillips 24/3 and the 76 had gone out on its first early morning trip and as usual had passed a return payload. On the subsequent flight some three hours later the temperature had gone up somewhat so he passed a new, lower payload. This threw the platform because they had worked out the whole days programme using the initial payload. I was in the office awaiting my aircraft, a 332, to come back and I took the call from Phillips and they were not happy. With my ears still ringing I pulled out the 76 performance charts and I could see what the problem was. The situation wasn't helped by having the heaviest S76 flown by the heaviest pilot in Bristow. The remanning came a couple of days later and I could see the writing on the wall because they omitted the 76 from the program. One week later they terminated the contract.
I cannot remember whether it went to Singapore or on a boat to somewhere else but it disappeared quite quickly. I was glad to see it go. There was always the chance that it would be convenient for me to strap it on if one of the established pilots fell over. I’d had enough of throwing helicopters off the side of helidecks and relying on gravity to bring on VTOSS.
Last edited by Fareastdriver; 31st Oct 2013 at 21:21.
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Savoia,
Not trying to be picky, but that picture of BISZ is of an A Model with Allisons.
The A+/++/C etc have the engine cowling with the flat deck plate of the
cowling only at the back 2 feet or so,like the picture in your earlier posted
picture of G-BYDF.
Not trying to be picky, but that picture of BISZ is of an A Model with Allisons.
The A+/++/C etc have the engine cowling with the flat deck plate of the
cowling only at the back 2 feet or so,like the picture in your earlier posted
picture of G-BYDF.
Thread Starter
FED: Thank you for your summary of Far East S76 ops, most interesting!
UL: You are not being too picky, just accurate, and which I greatly appreciate.
Based on your recognition pointers .. the craft below should hopefully be an A+
S-76A+ G-BHLY at Malta International Airport, Luqa, on 10th January 1992 (Photo: Jospeh Tonna)
As flown by Industry Insider to Southend prior to her shipment to China where she would be flown by FED.
UL: You are not being too picky, just accurate, and which I greatly appreciate.
Based on your recognition pointers .. the craft below should hopefully be an A+
S-76A+ G-BHLY at Malta International Airport, Luqa, on 10th January 1992 (Photo: Jospeh Tonna)
As flown by Industry Insider to Southend prior to her shipment to China where she would be flown by FED.
I believe at least one of the Bristow S76A+(+) had a glass cockpit so could that be an A+++ and the Bond/CHC S76C's had analogue cockpits so maybe an S76C-.
Last edited by ericferret; 25th Oct 2013 at 15:00.
I flew all the BHL S-76s in A form and A+ form until 1995 and at that time there were none which had glass. The only different one was G-BIBG with a Sperry Autopilot, all of the others were Hamilton Standard AFCS phase II which had no holds, not even a simple heading hold.
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Industry Insider
If my memory serves me correctly, the Five ex RJAF aircraft had AFCS Phase 111.
G-BIBG had an overhead panel that one CAA surveyor was always grumbling about,as he thought it was a danger to the pilots head. We had to respectfully remind him, that it was an approved mod., and we were not about to rewire the whole cockpit. Also BA had Five aircraft like this. Had to agree with him though, it was a danger.
If my memory serves me correctly, the Five ex RJAF aircraft had AFCS Phase 111.
G-BIBG had an overhead panel that one CAA surveyor was always grumbling about,as he thought it was a danger to the pilots head. We had to respectfully remind him, that it was an approved mod., and we were not about to rewire the whole cockpit. Also BA had Five aircraft like this. Had to agree with him though, it was a danger.