Jacques Gasselin
 

Hello John Whales, I'm Laurent Gasselin, son of Jacques, I'm looking for picture photo or paper of his pro job during those 40 years passed ? And I'm very glad to see this page (from you but coming from Nick Bill on facebook) Many thanks. I'm on facebook with other pictures.... Do youhave an history ? If yes how can we meet ? My father his arround 70 years old and I wanted to do a big birthday sometime before .....

Thanks many thanks your site

all the best
Laurent

PS: I went to UNST on 1994 before he left.
:)

Hi Laurent

Welcome to pprune. There is lots of information & photos here from Jacques era at Bristow Helicopters including some of Unst on page 8. Perhaps you might like to show him the pictures here &, if he has any of his own, post them here for us to enjoy.

Ask Jacques about the lightening strike he had while flying from the Ninian to Unst one winters night causing one rotor blade to fly about 60 cm out of track causing a massive vibration. I understand Jacques considered ditching the aircraft but on seeing the size of the waves decided to nurse the aircraft back to Unst.

TTO

Sunrise, defo.
 

Dave Ed,

Sunrise, Duri, new hangar. IMHO of course.

Sunrise
 

Looks like an early morning at Redhill:)

Improvisation

Have you noticed that most of the "heavy" major component failures/scheduled replacements are never within range of a hangar with an overhead crane.

If I remember rightly, didn't a 212 get dropped by a crane during a skid change in the one of the Northern Isles contracts UK. Came back to Redhill for straightening!


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ovisation1.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ovisation2.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ovisation3.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ovisation4.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ovisation5.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ovisation6.jpg

Coming soon........when I get time!

Just when I was about to wind down the skyweaver website, I was really lucky enough to end up in the Amazon delta with a Bristow Tiger and thankfully some excellent pilots and engineers.

It was a rare situation in Bristow history where someone actually recorded an operation from start to finish.

There are 50 odd pics in this collection and it covers the operational aspects, the enviroment, an S61N, Tiger, S76 and Bandeirante, bars and most importantly the people who helped us and worked with us.

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...apatrailer.jpg

There are many Bristow pictures still lurking in filing cabinets and under desks at Redhill. As managements change over the years the company history gets diluted and forgotten.
There are three "guardians of the Bristow Pics" who make sure they do not end up in a skip during another meanlingless office reorganisation.

Me, LS and SR.

Plans are afoot to get the pics scanned, posted and saved!
More soon.

Hi Laurent

As TTO said, welcome to PPrune.

You can also ask your Dad about AB206A EP-HAR. It was before my time at Bahregan

John

Correct! Malcom ('Stumpy') Innes and a nearly new 212, about 350hrs total time, droped off a crane when the crane mechanism failed during an undercarriage change/inspection, lucky for Stumpy he had just got out from underneath the machine!! all happened in the canvas hangar on the Isle of Skye circa 1982 ish.

Stace

Malcom Innes was badly affected by that accident, it didn't help when JD decided to rob the complete twin pack from his aircraft to fit to a leased 212 that would pass its power assurance checks, but would not climb.
Malcoms aircaft entered Redhill with all the numbers matching, and left with part lifed items.

This weeks competition....................who, where and why!



http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...ran206cowl.jpg

Dave B,

The second question in this weeks competition.

In 1985, if you bought a Bell212 from another operator and wanted to put it on the North Sea. How many Bristow mods would it take to bring it up to "North Sea Standard" ?

If I remember rightly it was like painting the Forth Bridge trying to standardise offshore 212s. Three different autopilots for a start!

Often, 212s would be passing through Redhill for a "quick" check 2 and leaving six months later after having engine decks, lift beams, and usually the whole tailboom replaced.

These pics might bring back memories / nightmares.
This is my current project. Although it is an ex Gulf Helicopters machine, we ripped out about thirty old Bristow mods to be replaced by 30 new Bristow mods!!! The saga continues :bored:

My own worst memory was that awesome nightshift on G-BJZS when 12 avionics were trying to complete 72 items in the handover diary so the aircraft could fly the next day.
We nearly achieved it if it hadn't been for the incident where "Smokey" shorted out the battery bus panel, causing a fire in the centre console and one of the sheeties jettisoning a fire extinguisher into the pedestal:{
I was dreading telling JD the next morning BUT he took it well saying "I had a dream..........!!!!


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...Lotsofwork.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Spaghetti.jpg

Dave Ed

A classic picture. It sums up Bristows in toto.

http://i866.photobucket.com/albums/a...g?t=1268413592Dave
There was no such thing as a standard 212, especially buying used. We had one being flown by an experienced Pilot, who said the tail controls were too stiff. When we opened it up, we found the Automatic Flight Control SI, which nobody had seen before.
Pictured is a typical purchase, this aircraft first went through Redhill, being converted to a water bomber, on its way to Australia.
A couple of years later, I got a phone call saying, "can you go to Fairbanks California to look at a 212", I said "you bet give me 10 minutes to pack". I went to get a ticket, and found that actually Fairbanks was in Alaska, and this was January.
The Aircraft was typical used, so it was purchased, on the way back I stopped at vancouver to look at a 61, which the company did not buy. However it introduced me to the delights of vancouver, and we have been going back there on holiday ever since.

Sounds like the machine that became 5N-AYX, si 212-47 mixing between, collective, tail rotor and cyclic controls ferried to Nigeria with Bob Roffe and de-moded about a year or so later to si212-48

S

.......which then threw a stuck TR servo on me. Because of the mod status of the aircraft, collective change also moved the TR pedals but didn't actually change TR pitch - caused a few interesting moments.

5N-AYX
 

A quick check online confirms that Dave B's photo is indeed #30599 which was the famous 5N-AYX, as posted on Page 36 of this thread.

No-one really understood the collective to cyclic mixing until the Check 2 when the famous hellhole crack was fixed. We had stopped using 5N-AYX for No.1 Hydraulic failures after a rather abrupt arrival to the old helipads on a base check.

I guess this was a useful piece of kit....


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...Bellhoist5.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...Bellhoist4.jpg

http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...Bellhoist3.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...Bellhoist2.jpg


http://i967.photobucket.com/albums/a...Bellhoist1.jpg

The vertical fin on the cabin roof, (from memory SI 66), is a good example of international standardisation. The FAA said it must be fitted, the CAA said it must not be fitted.
How two authorities can come up with diametrical opposite opinions like that is beyond me.
I never found a pilot who noticed any difference one way or the other, perhaps someone may know differently.

Bell maintenance hoist
 

Dave Ed,

It was a very useful bit of kit and the one in the Eket pic looks a lot like the one Howard Wood and I threw in the sea off Funiwa. c. 1993

Oh how we laughed:uhoh:

Eket group;- Barry Pettit, Stacey Shilling, Sunday Gibson & 'Name Escapes me' (Senior moment)

Stacey