Bootneck Miri
 

Well, actually it fell over about the 20th may '83, I picked it up and put it onto a barge on about the 24th, for some reason my log book doesn't have a date of the lift, I have a photo though, taken by someone else. Reg 9M-SSJ. It was re-built and then flown home by Dick Houry who sadly died a few days after.

Droopy
 

Yes you are correct it was the E23, see my previous link

Alan Biles and C of G
 

Mention of Alan and C of G reminded me of Christmas day 1981:

Who remembers what was going on here?

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z...ec1981Alan.jpg

Phil77 - I'll say hi to Mike when I see him.

Hel1aviator - I'd rather have been flying it to Vietnam!! As for the footage making your ferry look mundane, it's amazing what a bit of music can do. Also I edited out the other 33 hrs 52mins of straight and level! And as for Ian behaving?.....of course he didnt!!!

Stacey_s - Ian is with us here in Ghana, I'll pass on your regards!

Budgie 75 - I think it's your round. I'll be in ABZ late December!

Pofman - As for "so much in 8 years" : there is a lot to be said for "being in the right place at the right time."
The Newbies (I still feel like a newbie) at the Academy, as it is now called, certainly do have lots to look forward to.
From the sponsored courses HP55/56 or JAA1/2 the variety in career path is wide. Having all had the North Sea initiation, 8 years on a couple are flying EC135 for UK Air Ambulance, one flying S92 for HM Coastguard, two flying the AS332L2 Offshore SAR, one flying S61 for the Irish Coastguard, and another being the Chief Pilot of Bristow Trinidad.
I'll try to find some photos taken while on the course 8 years ago. (Don't worry lads, sober pics associated with flying only!)

212man - You must be able to do that trip with your eyes closed. With regard to being a little lower than you at some stages......we had a better tailwind down there....honest.

bootneck/stephi
 

Hi Bootneck, recognise the photo can't remember all the name! Stephi de-camped to OZ we lost contact about 10 years ago, does that help?
Dont forget my baby monkey in Miri......

AP

Khasab 204B and Seletar 205
 

Huanhunglo.

"I remember Alan fell out of 'puff' while giving a lunch box to some passengers, despite hanging on the monkey harness under the helicopter he didnt let go until the suprised pax took the box from him".

Hmmm. Well not quite but I can't deny that I fell out.

"Also while I was learning the area he walked on the port skid tube to tap on the windscreen, the CofG ws interesting".

Can't deny that either. Young and foolish but it was good fun.

"bob has I understand passed on".

Really sorry to hear that.

Were you in Khasab or Muscat?

--------------
He1iaviator

PK-HCD (30017) had just been through the refurbish programme run by a work party headed up by Angus McLeod in the Singas hangar. I think we'd just done a comp wash when the Argosy needed to get by. Rather than put wheels on and move out of the way it was much easier all round to put some weight on the tail, hence the throng of filipinos and others helping me hold it down.

Muscat 1980
 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...cat19Feb80.jpg

Setting up on Day one at Medina Qaboos. We were taking over from Jim Sommerscales (sp?) who'd been flying and maintaining a 206 with Crescent Helicopters.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...melumpyrun.jpg

The lunchtime 'lumpy run'. It was one of these runs that I managed to fall out of whilst handing an Igloo of water to a worker at one of the pylon sites. Sometimes the ac was so full on departue I had to stand on the skid until there was room to sit in the door.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...ngconcrete.jpg
Pouring concrete into the shuttering around the pylon base.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...uptrestles.jpg
Hooking up a bunch of trestles. These were used to keep the conductor off the ground before tensioning.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...hedarticle.jpg
The finished article. We assisted in the construction of 48 of these.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...gbacktoDXB.jpg

Packed up and ready to leave Medina Qaboos for Dubai. We operated from this pad from Feb to August 1980.

Admittedly before they were with Bristows but does anyone recognise these faces from the mugshots:

http://www.flyingmarines.com/Other_R...ures/Parry.jpg

http://www.flyingmarines.com/Images/Streeter.jpg



Answers here & here.

How sad to hear that Bob Innes has died. I've been trying to contact him on my last couple of leaves and was rather worried that something may have happened after I failed to get a Christmas card from he and his 'mummy' last year. If anyone knows how to contact Doris, please PM me. Bob and I flew 58Ts together when I first joined Bristow and served together on many operations over the years. He was always such an enthusiastic pilot and I always remember sharing a 'schlafwagen' with him when we were on the Prakla Seismos contract in Iran. He would always have difficulty negotiating the way to the ladder for his top bunk, so sometimes slept on the floor for an hour or so first before wetting the desert and then going to bed. He slept flat on his back and on waking sat up straight always exclaimed, "Seisshaus mouse, it is so good here and the lumpy is magic!". His command of German was legendary and I'll always remember his explanation to Herr Ochse, the Prakla manager as to what the problem was with one of our helicopters - "Ah her Ochse, the helicopter is abgefuched!".

Only 2 years ago he had bought a new BMW motorbike, but skidded on a roundabout on the ice and broke his collarbone. His 'mummy' said it was time he stopped riding bikes, but he was just cross because he'd scratched the expensive paint job on the fairing!

RIP old friend

I've done quite a few ferry flights to and from Nigeria in a variety of helicopters and I'll try and find some of my old photos as all the ones I have done in the last few years have been for Schreiner and Caverton. Even though it's not a Bristow photo, did you see this island in a lake in Mali Rosh? It's not marked on the old TPC maps I've always had, though it's on my Michelin motoring map! It's pretty much on the direct track between Banjul and Bamako:

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ndinlake-1.jpg

I really liked your vid Rosh and wish I had something like it. I hope I'll one day have a final chance of another ferry or two before I reach my sell-by date. It looks as if you had to make quite a few fuel stops. I was lucky on my first S76 ferry when I brought the first 76C+ to Africa as we had the Schreiner ferry kit with 4 drums of fuel in the cabin and pumped fuel through the modified aft cabin bulkhead direct into the tanks via another modification in the baggage compartment. The flight was from Stockholm, Arlanda to Lagos. We had a few trials and tribulations along the way as 45 minutes south of Stockholm, IMC with a faulty autopilot and GPS we had an MGB chip warning, necessitating an emergency landing in Skavsta. We also had to spend a few days in Helsingborg for a turbine module change as one engine was consistently failing PA. After that we routed to Osnabrück for fuel and on for a night stop at Troyes, near Reims. The next day we got to Perpignan non-stop but had a problem with oil consumption which had to be sorted before continuing. We wanted to try the ferry kit the next day and made Perpignan to Malaga via overhead Barcelona (when it seemed our transponder had failed) in one go. Next day we went direct to Marrakech but as Western Sahara was closed in those days, had to route direct to Fuerteventura for our next night stop. We had the fuel to route from there direct to Nouadibhou for fuel and on for a night stop in Banjul. From there direct to Bamako was another long leg, followed by a shorter one to Ougadougou for a night stop. The leg from there to Lagos seemed very short! I still like that route better than the long drag we used to have to take across the Sahara.

H i Shag

Also sorry to hear thr old Yarpie has passed on, have fond memories of him from Muscat with Mr Biles and myself, also some time offshore Brent, Good friend and true gent, did you ever see the tie trick done with such aplomb!!!

Stace

PS please PM with details

Sorry to hear Bob passed on,will always remember the great parties at No 1 Hardbrakes and how the locals were amused when he came to work on his motorbike in shorts in September in Shetland!!!!
He also entertained everyone with his tie trick at my stag night in the Portapub Happy Days.
nessboy

Sogs dear boy....."sell by date"?

Obselete and destined for the dung heap you are Laddy!

Except for the chickens pecking on ya...it ain't all bad out here.

Perhaps I will have to post a Kodak moment of a pair of 21 year old legs disappearing into the icebox on the boat to give you an idea of what I mean.:ok:

I always wanted to adopt a child.;)

from http://shetlopedia.com/Sumburgh_Airport
 

BEAS/Bristow:
http://shetlopedia.com/images/thumb/...EAS_Helic..JPG


G-BHOG leaving the "taxi rank" Lerwick:
http://shetlopedia.com/images/thumb/...Bristow%29.jpg

http://shetlopedia.com/images/1/11/Oscarc3.jpg

What ever happened to John (aka Frosty)Tanagawa of BEAS fame?






Frosty......a Nip in the air....giddit?

Frostry: now there's a name from the past!

This tail rotor is on show at Weston Super Mare: anyone privy to the full story?

http://gallery.me.com/johneacott/100...CN3532/web.jpg

http://gallery.me.com/johneacott/100...CN3533/web.jpg

RIP Bob,

Remember Bob from back when I was a baby baggage handler with Bristow in Shetland circa 1978, very funny guy...

Tail Rotor.... Is it a S55? Anybody know who the Griffiths was in the Trinidad portion of the blade? :confused:

look like a 47 tail rotor, isn't it?

Forgot a name.
 

There was a 50th anniversary do at the museum for Bristow about 5 years ago, I guess this is to do with it, I went to the evening reception and three of the names on the 47 T/R were there, Cliff Saffron, Sharkey Ward and John (the Wad) Waddington. Some really old names there, I lodged with Ron Hodge when I did my RAF resettlement course at Redhill in 1969 and he was just about retired then.

That is a really interesting tail rotor and has brought back so many memories.
Tony English, (one of Nature's gentlemen) and John Waddington, two very nice guys, both ex Peru and I met them in Indonesia, Duri, when they were flying the 205. No mention of John Odlin or Bob Potts?
I see the name Baker there, was that 'Bent Nose'? or am I mixing things up?
Bill Farnell I first met in Iran in 1968, what a character! ex WO Pilot from the RAF, would sit in a horse shoe shaped bar in Tehran when on time-off and casually ask someone near him, :"And when did you first realise you were homosexual?"
Cliff Saffron, another great guy, was our chief engineer in AUH when we had G-ANJV, WS55Series3, played a handy game of darts, and would be heard calling out "arrers mucker!" to any team member who needed support.
Peter Gray was an instructor at Middle Wallop when I was there in 1964/5, sure it is him, also from Fernando Po, I think?
The K.Bryant rings a bell, was it Keith Bryant? sure I met him somewhere!
Keith Wilkins, we first met in Tehran in 1968, it was the Iranian New Year and we had to get to Khorrmshah so Ken Bradley, the area manager, said, "No problem, you can deliver the company Peugeot station wagon", and so we did, Keith drove, Liz and his infant child in the back and me with a map, only one road anyway, so it didn't matter much but the drive up through the mountains and than back down to the top of the Gulf is a journey I'll never forget, (and Keith's driving was good!).
On arrival in Khorrmshah we were met by Horst Voight, another really nice person who I met again on Das many years later.
The only Griffiths I remember was John Griffiths, ex RN and South America who set up the WS55 operation in Abu Dhabi before returning to England.
Thanks for that picture of the tail rotor, really got the memory bank going!

Could the Griffiths be John, ex MP Trinny and then Personnel Supt before he retired ? He did my interview and Steve Medlin was the tea boy who also delivered the internal mail !!

The boy done good............

NEO :ok:

Steve Medlin......ah yes....indeed!

Perhaps he should have stuck to the tea and post.:rolleyes:

Scanned from "Airliner World" December 2008
 

Khasab 1980
 

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...1980VR-BDX.jpg
VR-BDX

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...0Hookingup.jpg

Hooking up. Ron Moxham underneath while I stood by idly taking pictures. No change there then.

G-BCLC
 

There are some interesting pictures of what Carson's are doing to ex-Lima Carlie on the "Life in the old girl yet (S-61)" thread.

Alan

ref your last picture of VR-BDX why is the cowling around the main gearbox missing?

Missing cowlings
 

TTO,

To save weight. The TRDS covers, the xmsn-driven Stby Generator, most if not all of the pax seats and the P2 seat (if not reqd) went the same way. Occasionally the pax doors would go too. We toyed with taking off the engine cowlings but they had firewires on them so we drew the line at that.

All so it could get off the ground with me in it!:) Some of the locations we flew into were 'hairy' to say the least and we wanted to be as light as possible.

.....all that and that was before you blossomed to all your current glory!

Khasab 1980
 

This is the last of them. Well actually there's loads more but this thread can only take so many pictures of the same aircraft....

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...TypicalPad.jpg
One of the more interesting pads we flew into.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...owwithload.jpg
Positioning a 3-pole on the Bukha side of Fine Peak.
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...ypicalload.jpg
Another 3-pole being held in position while the ground crews secured ropes to hold it in place after we'd let go.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...BDLTristar.jpg
Back in Dubai for Christmas 1980. 'DX, 'DL and a passing Gulf Air Tristar.

Alan, Great photos, I was surprised to see DL on wheels, do you know why it wasn't on floats? Didn't you take over DPC about that time?

Has Dave Edwards Bristow site gone? Tried to access today, but nothing. Anyone in touch with him to keep it going?

Bristow 50th site
 

I can confirm it was there just a few days ago so it might just be a temporary problem.

I've just googled it and all you can get is a cached copy of the site dated 21 November. Tim Collins was supporting it at one time, perhaps the credit crunch has kicked in.

Hello fellow ppruners, i'm a Duri native - which we like to call a Durian - and i was wondering for those who have more old Duri photos just to remember the old times. My dad worked for Caltex Aviation and Travel (Aviatrav) dept back then....

Cheers...

Welcome tawibowo, I was at Duri 71/72. What's happening there every square inch of the concession must have been drilled by now?

Oldlae,

Ref 'DL on wheels - no idea. Maybe Mr Shilling can cast some light as he was at DPC at the time. Stace? And no I didn't take over DPC. When the Khasab job was running down in Jan '81, they plucked me out and sent me to Duri. Sh*tty job but somebody had to do it.;)

Selemat pagi Tawibowo dan apa kabar?

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...upof205206.jpg
Caltex Duri hangar & fleet on a quiet Sunday in 1984. Looking at Google Earth it would appear that the hangar is still there but the 'hill' has been built over.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...nthehangar.jpg
A bit of work going on. I believe the legs belong to Chris Tait.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...teCawthorn.jpg
It wasn't all work. This is me, Iain Smith, Pete Cawthorne and Mrs B having a silly hat competition on Pulau Rawa in 1984.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...veAtkinson.jpg
Graham (Boots) Conway and the late lamented Dave Atkinson in Duri.

'DL' was on wheels in '78' working up in the Hajar mountains at the back of Dubai when I first arrived there in June that year, we were flying geologists and drill rigs around, bit difficult on floats!!, pilots were Martin Bull and 'The Glove' Alan Price.
I believe the transition from floats to wheels took place early 78, there was another '55' there when I arrived (cant remember the reg) that was still on fixed floats.

Alan

I disagree. Your pictures are fascinating & backed up by interesting commentary & anecdotes from arguably BHLs heyday. Do keep them comming.:O

Mr R
www.skyweaver is back up again now.

Abu Dhabi 1973/4
 

A small avalanche in the attic yesterday evening revealed this selection.....

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...l212VR-BEJ.jpg
Bell 212 VR-BEJ shut down offshore. This aircraft is currently in Belize with FBHeliservices as ZJ969. Pushing 30K hours.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...BDarSpalty.jpg

Bell 212 VR-BFB shut down on the same platform with Dar Spalty.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...lDarSpalty.jpg

Abu Dhabi. The late Alfie Hill assuring Dar Spalty that he (Alfie) is a good chap.

http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...bi1974FWHC.jpg

An old licensed engineer. Serious shades or what?

Alan,

Dave Adams recently told me that Dar Spalty has died of cancer in the past few months.

Bought some model aeroplane tools (thats my fetish!!) from Dar Spalty a couple of years ago here in AUH, never knew he was an ex Bristow chappie, we should all wear that on our sleeves, best Company ever, and I say that unasamedly? (correct spelling?:)

Stace