For Scilly, Penzance, and Lands end, with a terminal VOR/DME virtually in the St Just circuit, plus an NDB on Scilly and PZ The Island route was quite well provided for both 'route info' and airfield locating. The real limitations were the size of the relative airfields/heliports which had no real approach lighting (over the sea) therefore when you were at decision height the 'visual' requirement for landing was rather hindered. The S61 was quite well equipped with two crew (and engines) Decca, VOR/DME, Radar, Rad ALT, ADF, and was able to offer an excellent all year service with a good load capacity. The alternative fixed wing operations were far more limited,(and still are). The main issue for the 61 was the availability of a suitable diversion when PZ went out, especially at w-ends when Culdrose was not available at short notice. If the 61 went tech on a Saturday then the Scillonian ferry would quite often do an extra trip to get the passengers across. If Lands End was 'out' on a Sat then the company Scillonian would pick up the load. Here we are decades later and lots of money spent, but no real improvement, and a difficult situation to make it all pay its way. The service will always require sea 'back up' to account for tech/weather issues.

The main problem with Scilly and PZ is advection fog, usually sitting on the deck and a couple of hundred feet thick - even a PBN/PINS approach isn't going to get you in then.

I agree. I, like many others, was required to partake in the PBN training course despite flying an aircraft not legally capable of flying a PBN approach even if a PBN approach existed (and at the sites I operated from, it didn’t), or lose ALL IR privileges, despite having held a U.K. IR for twenty years and non CAA IRs for forty years. To date, two years on, I have never flown one of these approaches and I probably never will. The only people benefiting from my hard earned cash were the people running the very much overpriced PBN course.

Having said that. We were flying DECCA TANS approaches to off airfield sites in RAF helicopters in 1979….

Er, Sainsbury's?

Heliport to Foodstore
 

Post 72 covered that (keep up chaps)

When the original Heliport opened (built on a rubbish tip) the area was development free and had clear approaches close to the sea. After the 400 ft base at Lands End it must have seemed like Xmas every day.
The new site is more hemmed in with development and has to comply with the latest regs (no grandfather rights there) but still stays open when LE is clamped. I think the most difficult part of any rotary operation for the route is the cost factor for the limited no of seats, and it needs at least 15-20 seats to make it work. The 61 set the benchmark for the route, and will always be remembered for its 'bus like' service and it seems very difficult to find a modern machine to replace it, well in Europe anyway.

TANS - there’s a blast from the past! Ten waypoints storage, with numeric names, so needed to be written down so you knew which was which. If more than ten waypoints in the route you deleted the early ones and added new ones as you went along!

Had the same TANS in the Lynx but without the added 'accuracy' of the Decca - just had a doppler feed. Much like the LWNA in the Gazelle, very much an area weapon.......

TANS - let you know which Ocean you were in!!

Decca Danac let me know if I was near Wales when I was on the lights coming from Cornwall, that was about as good as it got, unless i tried to change the roll single pilot on the Bolkow 😮‍💨

IMC or at night was a bit challenging 😱. Pilots today don’t know they’re born etc etc.

Surprised nobody has mentioned consol

Yet!,

Popped in to PZ today to check on current schedule, S76 does one morning and one afternoon return flight. Closed Sun.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....51a3eb43a.jpeg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....109b33cfd.jpeg

Griffo flew with me when Tans was not something our employer bought but came to the fleet upon it buying out another smaller operator.

He and I shared some rather interesting flights back in the day.

Young ones today should not be fooled....those were not the "good" old days.....just the "old" days.

Yes....I have used Consol in those "old" days.

It’s ‘effect’ not ‘affect’ …….

From the statement it would seem that it is a frame problem and not something with a rotable component otherwise you would just change it out.

Some "affection" may be required to get someone out of retirement to fix it!
76's aren't getting any younger and are slowly disappearing along with the "knowledge" to keep them going.

The "body language" in the picture does not exactly inspire.

Probably because a lot of them go and fly the VVIP machines they operate for other customers in sandy places. Sort of a no brainer in this day and age.

Does that really matter ???.

https://helihub.com/2023/07/05/stars...-scilly-route/

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attrac...l_England.html

That's not good news for them - perhaps buying two aircraft, that have almost immediately had technical issues, from Nigeria wasn't the smartest option - were they cheap by any chance?

Presumably they were properly surveyed before they were bought?

The Scillies shuttle has enough to contend with thanks to the weather down there without serviceability problems making it worse.

I remember back in the mid 80's with 2 x VIP "A" model machines we used to work on about 10 maintenance / service / turnaround support hours per flight hour until you get them settled down. Customisation and MOD Status was always fun. Plus they are all "hand made" and I doubt any of them are the same, similar maybe at best. You need the minimum of at least one "blackhander" LAME and a "moon goon" Avionics tech per 2 machines permanently at their base of ops. Things may be better with the Safran engine but still.