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Credited as the man who broke the cartel of the motor parts industry, Quinton Hazell also changed the way automobile components were manufactured and sold in Britain in the post-war years. At its peak in the 1950s and 1960s his company, Quinton Hazell Ltd, sold to 160 countries world-wide and was the largest independent supplier of automobile parts in Europe.

Previously, motor spares in Britain were available only from automotive manufacturers; they came in separate greasy bits of paper, often with the vital part missing. Hazell's product, a neat box containing all that was needed for a particular job, bore the Welsh dragon as a trademark. In the Far East they were known as "Dragon" products, and since the dragon was a respected symbol they enjoyed an ever-increasing share of the market.

Hazell also developed a chain of wholesalers, and whereas previously such outfits had been anonymous - windows painted over with green paint without and oily counters within - he insisted on window displays, well-stocked stores and tidy assistants. These changes, and many others, became accepted trade practice, and it was not long before motor journals dubbed Hazell "the father of the automobile after market".

Quinton Hazell was born in Burnage, near Manchester, in 1920, and attended Manchester Grammar School where he proved his sporting prowess as an excellent swimmer and rugby player. On leaving, instead of going to university, he chose to embark on an apprenticeship in a chain of garages owned by a family friend in Colwyn Bay. He was 18 when the Second World War broke out and was sent to France with the British Expeditionary Force in 1939. Evacuated from Dunkirk, he finished his service as Battery Quarter Master Sergeant Royal Artillery.

During the war Hazell saw how the Americans presented their motor spares - well- coded and easy to use - and after demobilisation visited the United States to observe how their motor trade was organised. He returned in 1946 and, with the help of a pounds 5,000 legacy, a staff of four friends and his wife Morwenna, set up his own company to manufacture and sell motor parts. Growth was rapid and consistent. By the mid-1950s the company was employing nearly 800 staff.

Over the next 15 years the business continued to expand and probe new markets. In 1972 Quinton Hazell Ltd won the Queen's Award for Industry, for export achievement. The following year the company was taken over by Burmah Oil. Hazell found that life in a big corporation did not suit him and started to look around for new challenges. He took a stake in the Supra Group, a small company making sound insulation, under-seal and paint for the motor trade. A motor component side was added and, never one to do anything half-heartedly, Hazell began competing against his own Burmah-owned subsidiary, Quinton Hazell Ltd.

Outside his own business area, Hazell was well known in the West Midlands for his trenchant views on British industry and the decline of its manufacturing base. He also played an active part in public life, serving for many years as Chairman of the West Midlands Planning Council and being appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Warwickshire in 1982. He was appointed CBE for political services in 1978 and was knighted in 1995.

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Ask him 'What's the name of his ship', then 'what's the cargo'.

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The aircraft was tasked to carry out a marine pilot pick-up from a departing tanker. The flight was conducted by two pilots operating under night visual flight rules. Conditions were a moonless night with no defined horizon, no outside lighting other than from the ship, and a surface wind that was light and variable. The ship was steaming in a northerly direction at 12.5 kts. The flight proceeded normally until the aircraft was established on final approach to the helideck. As the aircraft descended through 500 ft the rate of descent had increased to about 1,000 ft/min. Although the pilot in command increased main rotor pitch, the aircraft's rate of descent continued to increase until just prior to impact with the water. Both occupants were rescued approximately 1 h after they evacuated the helicopter. The report concludes that the standard approach technique used by the pilots, coupled with the prevailing weather conditions, caused the aircraft to enter a high rate of descent shortly after the aircraft started its normal final approach to the deck. The high rate of descent was probably the result of entry to the incipient stage of Vortex-ring state'. A lack of visual cues and inadequate management of cockpit resources prevented the crew from recognising the abnormal situation until the aircraft was well into the descent. Recovery action was commenced too late to prevent impact with the water.

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Ahh de Havilland wrote; A list of the DdeF helicopter fleet:

EI-AVK/G-ASLO Brantley B2 - 9.63-10.75
EI-ARU Brantley 305 - 8.67-1.68
EI-ASW JetRanger - 4.68-12.68
EI-ATY Hughes 500 - 5.69-1.72
EI-AVN Hughes 500 - 2.72-7.93
EI-AWA JetRanger - 12.72-3.85
EI-BPM AS350B 4.85-6.93

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Denis's ... estate at Meoble (Loch Morar)

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TRC wrote: I spent about ten days at Dennis' hunting lodge in Scotland. Had to change the fuel tank in the 206 he had there.

It took that long because the 206 was a Bell and the tank was for an Agusta/Bell (or the other way around, can't remember), and the bolts for all the fittings were too short.

An interesting time.....

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