The Penny Drops!
 

.
TRC: BEHG has appeared a couple of times on the Nostalgia thread (with pop-outs) and I didn't think much of it. Then, today, I was sent this image of her wearing shorts and, lo and behold, the penny drops and I recalled that this was the ship used by you and the welly-wearing John Ackroyd-Hunt in the rescue of the Dancer!

On checking the ownership details one discovers that 'HG' was in the 'Willowbrook' stable (a Mann company I think) at the time that the Dancer got into trouble.

I remember that when Col. Bob called up Mann's (probably the Savage) he specifically mentioned that you might be better off bringing a ship fitted with 'highs' because of the depth of the furrows in the field. Then JAH and co. turned up in BEHG wearing shorts and had to fuss around trying to find a firm enough portion of soil with the right amount of slope so as to avoid getting stuck in the mud!

That incident must now be 30 odd years ago!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/__...osiezny%29.jpg
AB206B JetRanger III G-BEHG at Cranfield on 4th September 1981. The craft used by TRC and John Ackroyd-Hunt to rescue Colin Chapman's 206 G-AYTF after it suffered an engine failure. (Photo: Alan Mosiezny).

Sav

Willowbrook
 

Savioa.

The address given in records for this company was in Derby Road,Loughborough, Willowbrook was a builder of bus and coach bodies, the company seemed to have, over time, had Jet Rangers and Agusta A109 in operation in Alan Mann colours,109 HWBK is the first to my mind.
JR's were BEHG,BGGX and BGGY.

G-BEHG

Originally bought new by Greenham Plant Hire to replace their previous 206 - G-BCVZ. Both flown by the late Paul Midgley. He had previously flown the 206 for Streeters of Godalming (reg forgotten - grey/red/white scheme, exported to the US I think).

HG then went to Compass Helicopters in Bristol. Company set up by Gilbert Greenall of the brewery family who did his PPL at Mann's and bought a 47G-3B1 (reg forgotten too).

Compass' pilot was a very pleasant ex-crab called Mike something.

No doubt someone will fill the gaps.

Willowbrook

They were indeed coachbuilders, I think the then MD was a helicopter fan.
They also owned a 206L11 G-HBUS.

Trouble was, the heli-friendly MD retired/resigned/fired/whatever, and his replacement didn't share the hobby.

Eggs and basket comes to mind.

Same thing happened later in my illustrious career with Unipart and hot-air balloons.

Compass CP = Bill Bailey, I think. They later had G-BHXV in the same scheme as G-BEHG above.

Willowbrook heli-friendly MD = George Hughes? (I think that's why it was G-HWBK)

Compass
 

Bill Bailey was at Compass, but I remember Mike being there before him. Not 100% certain though.....

.
Helihub came up with an important discovery (well, to nostalgia fans) on the 'Oldest Helo' thread regarding an AgustaBell 206B G-CPTS.

The craft was bought from Mann's in 1978 by Hothfield Carpets (hence the registration) of Skipton, Yorkshire. Then in 1980 she was registered to Anthony Aspinall (perhaps Hothfield's owner given that his address is also in Skipton). CPTS has remained in Aspinall's ownership to this day - some 31 years on - 33 if Aspinall is the same as Hothfield!.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/__...20Heley%29.jpg
AB206B G-CPTS at Blackpool on 28th April 1984. (Photo: Derek Heley)

Perhaps the boys from Mann may recall some details of CPTS delivery and subsequent operations? Would also be interesting to view a more recent image of her.

Sav

Bruce Aspinall was in the owner/MD of Hothfield Carpets and is credited with introducing "Berber" style carpets to the UK. The business was sold to the Gaskell Group. The mill closed in the 1990s.

Planemike

G-CPTS
 

Don't recall that one at all..

OK, here are some AMH thoughts to get some more of you adding to this thread.

• Four AB412s registered to AMH in Feb 83, cancelled in Jun 84. G-BKNR/S/T/U and I think I remember a b&w photo of one with its G reg appearing in Helicopter International (Heli1 will know). None ever made it to the UK - why did AMH have these registered in their name for 16 months?
• Four AB206s registered to AMH Jun 81. G-BIZA/B/C/D of which C & D were never reported. BIZA became G-VANG for Vanguard Removals and BIZB was on AMH fleet for some years
• Noel Edmonds - JetRanger G-NOEL, Squirrel G-NOEI in Marlboro colours (cr Silverstone Jan-87), Squirrel G-HMAN in Adidas colours. Was NE still working with AMH when he had Squirrel G-BGIM in gold with "Rainford Group" titles? Had company "Helicopter Management" - hence HMAN reg.
• buying four 47G4As from Bristow - G-AXKK, AXKO in Nov89 and
  AXKX in Feb90 plus AXKU which was sold on immediately to a customer as G-MASH
• a Reigate based 206 landing in fog (vis <50m I recall) c 1990-1 and PPL(H) pilot being confident of landing because he had designed the new DME which was being trialled at Fairoaks
• Star Aviation fleet - JetRangers BAML and BAZN and F1 Twin Squirrel BSSM later replaced with an F2 G-BSLL
• Toleman Group (F1 links) who had JetRanger G-TPTR and swapped it in for LongRanger G-HBUS already referred to. Owner Ted Toleman - (Toleman car transporters) and twin sons Michael and Gary (the latter sadly murdered in South Africa in 1983). Argh, I even remember their car number plates - Ted had ET2 and The Toleman Twins had TTT222 and 222TTT.

There now, that should keep you going for an evening or three!

Willowbrook/Streeters/Gilbert Greenall
 

Hope this will bring memories back to TRC

Streeters had two Jetrangers:-
G-BARO Bell 206B II which went to the US as N47122
G-BFND Agusta Bell 206B II which was sold to Warner Holidays Ltd

Gilbert Greenalls Bell 47 was G-BHAR

In addition to previously mentioned George Hughes - Willowbrook helis:-
J/r G-BEHG, BGGX, G-BGGY
A109 G-HWBK
L/r G-HBUS

he also had G-OAMH 16.1.80 - 3.12.82

Helipixman

More for 'S'
 

Hi Savoia,

Yes, that wonderful character and big lorry man, Tony Walker ... (always laughing & even added a 'smiley' to his cheques!) WAS a client of Spooner when I sold and taught him to fly Enstrom 28a, G-BBHE in November 1973 ... AND yes, it did win a 'concours' event oop north! In fact that year the Enstrom won Fortune Magazine's 'best industrial product of the year' award. Tony Walker changed the Enstrom for the B206 which gave him no end of Allison trouble I seem to recall. Surprise, surprise ... Allison claimed he'd never completed the compressor washes!

Second tack. Streeters of Godalming was also a Spooner client when Nick Streeter purchased B206, G-BASE, but a little less certain on that reg. 'tis the age you see!

Best wishes to all. Dennis Kenyon.

It was a deal between AMH and Agusta. They were for Iran. Agusta couldn't deal with Iran so they were to be laundered through the UK. We were to go out there and fit fire-fighting gear to them, but it fell through for some reason. Pity - we stood to be paid a ton of money each for about a month's work doing the mods.


G-TPTR

Registered as such to stand for 'Toleman Powerboats Toleman Racing'. Had the pleasure of accompanying the great AD on a flight from Fairoaks to Greece in TR to make two episodes of 'Hart to Hart'.


G-BFND

Had to go to Goodwood one cold winter day to replace the fuel tank drain valve when it was owned by Warners. Someone had told them that if the valve doesn't fully shut when you do a drain they should poke a bit of wire up it. They did, a coathanger, and it emptied the tank onto the grass overnight.


G-BHAR

Gilbert wanted to keep it in Army green, but was advised that it wouldn't be too visible. He and I spent ages deciding on the size and position of a number of dayglo triangles that might make the thing a bit more visible.
Ended up with a 12" one on each tank, and a 4" triangle on each door over the inside Emerg Exit decal, and on each side of the vertical fin. Visible from about 50 feet on a bright day of course. He was happy though.

G-BGIM
 

Helihub

Was G-BGIM owned by Noel Edmonds (Rainford titles) or leased ?

I have owner as Lord Glendyne, 14.2.79 - 1.7.88 before becoming G-OKAT.

Helipixman

Helipixman - AFAIK Squirrel BGIM was only managed by his company Helicopter Management. But of course you cannot rely on every change of ownership showing up on the register :)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5296/...01659a49_z.jpg
How the fair oaks of the 'Mannsted' looked in 2009

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/...94058906_z.jpg
Mock-up of the Bell 206 'owned' by Stromberg in the 1977 Bond film 'The Spy Who Loved Me' - now kept at the James Bond Museum in Cumbria.

We touched on this topic on the Nostalgia thread but .. I'm not entirely sure as to whether we resolved which craft was actually used in 'The Spy Who Loved Me'.

It was previously suggested that the craft re-painted in the above colours was G-BAKS. BAKS, we know, played a prominent role in the 1981 'For Your Eyes Only' movie - the flying sequence performed by Marc Wolfe. But, is it safe to assume that BAKS also starred in 'The Spy Who Loved Me'?

As with all the Bond films 'The Spy Who Loved Me' was filmed all over the place but I'm fairly confident that the flying sequences were performed in Sardinia in 1976 by John Crewdson. Can anyone reveal the identity of the aircraft which Crewdson flew? My godfather told me that John wore a wig during the flying sequences - and looked 'very pretty'! I am hoping that with the mock-up being tucked away in Mann's hangar that the lads from Mann may remember the actual aircraft involved.

In the unofficial Bond film 'Never Say Never Again' (1983) I have a feeling that a Mann aircraft was used (ever so briefly) for the landing shot by Miximillian Largo on board the 'Flying Saucer' yacht. The other helicopter featured in that film was a Bo105 which somewhat unceremoniously dropped Bond (or one of his colleagues) into a well!

Anyone in the know - please do enlighten us!

Sav

"The Spy Who Loved Me" is in my DVD player right now. Whoever did the 180 spot turn a smidgen over the top of the Lotus was a cracking pilot!

Dunno how well John Crewdson stood in for Caroline Munroe -she was, and probably still is, a very attractive woman!

Fixed wing maybe, but "Eveything But The Flak" is a book worth seeking out if you are interested in John Crewdson.

.
Treadigraph: Thanks for the book tip, will certainly check it out!

John Crewdson's handiwork in the 'Spy Who Loved Me' posted below with Treadigraph's 'spot turn' appearing at 3:20. More about Crewdson on the Nostalgia thread.


TRC: No more details on the voyage with TPTR to Greece? Got to meet Stefanie Powers in the mid 80's in Kenya on a number of occasions - a dinner followed by a snooker game at the Muthaiga Club especially stands out in my memory. A thoroughly pleasant woman.

Sav

I've just spotted the breakdown in my thought process between the first two paragraphs in my previous post! Well, I had spent the evening at a leaving do, so I'm surprised it is lucid at all...!

"Everything But The Flak" was written by Martin Caidin by the way and is about bringing three B-17s over the Pond to film "The War Lover" - more here...

G-BOLA
 

Picture for Savoia

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5078/...52e600c3_b.jpg

Picture from Helipixman collection

G-BOLA
 

That'll be the Bernard Ashley machine, then. Good one too. Also one to which we fitted a (primitive by modern standards) glass cockpit. Weighed tons! And the equipment wasn't too happy with heli-vibrations as I recall.
VFR