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Trinity House Bolkow Ops Penzance 1987
Climbing over Gulval and rare Cornish snow behind the Heliport 25 years ago
http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...ouseBolkow.jpg |
Yoyo: Another wonderful shot, bravo!
Geoff: So BCalH began their S61 maintenance department with a grease gun and with what looks like a wheel-nut spanner - lol! Didn't realise that David Sale had been among BCalH's early crew. The last time I saw him would have been c.1990 at Hayes. I was visiting McAlpine's on behalf of a client who was interested in a 365N and David had been collared by their sales team to demonstrate the type. At the time he was CP for P&O. Could this be David first in the line-up below (seem to recall he had red hair) only that he appears a little different (I suppose younger) than I remember him: http://lh6.ggpht.com/__dRpfF8qlVM/TR...air%20crew.jpg |
Not David Sale - that's the Boeing 707 crew who flew the Pope from the UK to Rome at the end of the Papal visit in 1982.
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That is Geoff Chandler in the photo & he did move to West Australia & worked for several companies. Top bloke & excellent engineer; must be retired by now & probably still in Perth.
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C16: There's a bespectacled chap in the image on the previous page who also appears in the images when HH is moving about the UK aboard BCal's S61. One can see him again (behind HH's shoulder) in the photo below:
http://lh6.ggpht.com/__dRpfF8qlVM/TR...bin%20crew.jpg |
Looking at the BCAL website it would appear his name is Ray Searle, the airline's Security Services Manager.
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Thanks Charlie.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2...Logo%2520s.png One knows that squirrels like nuts but .. https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...0Oram%2529.jpg AS355-F1 TwinEcureuil G-NUTZ (registered to 'Powersense Ltd') as seen at Hickstead on 31st May 1987 (Photo: John Oram) |
Apologies to Geoff......
........Chandler that is, it must be my age. Speechless Two, Charles Pemberton and Chris Powell and Chris Hunt were of course reinforcements once we got our first contract and then I went over to Evergreen's HQ in McMinville, Oregon to check out another S61 which became G-BIMU once it had been through Marshal's hands down in Cambridge.
Another S61 found in Buenos Aires (remember main line BCal provided scheduled DC10 services to BA) turned out to be the ex-president's ex-VIP transport and had been painted Olive Green and had no paperwork to speak of so that was given a miss. I believe it turned up in South Africa with Court Helicopters but not sure about that. A quick trip to Greenland provided another ship and then there were three: G-BHPU - Leased from KLM first flight in BCal(H) colours April 23rd 1980 G-BIHH - ex Greenlandair, first flight in BCal(H) colours January 9th 1981 G-BIMU - ex N8511Z Evergreen, first flight in BCal(H) colours in May 1981 G-BFPF - came along in July 1981, it came from BA but it was leased by them from Court and they did not extend the lease. I collected it on 3rd July 1981 after doing a test flight at Beccles on June 2nd. G. |
I would like to issue a belated "Thank You" for the Blue Eagles photographs a few pages ago - absolutely superb!!!
:D :O :D |
P6D: Hope to be able to drop in some more to compliment Amos' wonderful shots!
Geoffers: Most interesting about BCal's first 61's. Did you happen to meet Del while in McMinville? Last time I saw him was in the lobby of the Anaheim Hilton - he was having a 'tipple' with Col. Bob (another Smith) and Mr Suggs (another Bob) lol! More from the Papal visit: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-2...2520Flight.jpg This states that F. Coulshaw (who was he please) and Chris Hunt were flying G-BFPF (which Geoff collected in 1981). I wonder where they landed in Canterbury? Seem to recall a long strip of grass alongside an ancient section of stone wall that could have been used or perhaps they made use of a school ground etc. (My mother used to enjoy drinking 'Lapsang Souchong' tea from the County Hotel in Canterbury where we would visit together on my exeat weekends .. accompanied by toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches!!!). Chris Hunt was the person who piloted me on my first ever helicopter flight and which occassion is recalled earlier in the thread. A wonderful chap. |
Torrey Canyon
The Torrey Canyon was a supertanker capable of carrying a cargo of 120,000 tons of crude oil, which was shipwrecked off the western coast of Cornwall, England in March 1967 causing an environmental disaster. At that time, the tanker was the largest vessel ever to be wrecked.
When laid down in the United States in 1959, it had a capacity of 60,000 tons but the ship was enlarged in Japan to 120,000 tons capacity. At the time of the accident it was registered in Liberia and owned by Barracuda Tanker Corporation, a subsidiary of Union Oil Company of California but chartered to British Petroleum. It was 974.4 feet (297.0 m) long, 125.4 feet (38.2 m) beam and 68.7 feet (20.9 m) draught. The ship left the Kuwait National Petroleum Company refinery at Mina al-Ahmadi on its final voyage on 19 February 1967 with full cargo of crude oil, reaching the Canary Islands by 14 March. From there the planned route was to Milford Haven. On 18 March 1967, owing to a navigational error, the Torrey Canyon struck Pollard's Rock on Seven Stones reef between the Cornish mainland and the Scilly Isles. An inquiry in Liberia, where the ship was registered, found Shipmaster Pastrengo Rugiati was to blame, because he took a shortcut to save time in getting to Milford Haven. "Ashore on Seven Stones, require immediate assistance." This was the message which began the drama of the break up of the 118,000 dwt tanker the Torrey Canyon on Saturday 18th March 1967. Initially the report of the vessel running aground on the Seven Stones Rocks said that seven cargo tanks had been holed and that some 30,000 tons of crude oil had escaped. The inspection made on the second day of the drama showed that the damage was a lot more serious than first stated and that 14 of the 18 cargo tanks had been holed. A fleet of four tugs and equipement was at the site but the master did not agree to there salvageing the vessel at first and this caused considerable delay. On the Sunday it was`realised that the rocks had ripped through the bottom plating beneath the forward and aft fuel tanks. At this stage the lifeboats and the Search and Rescue helicopters had lifted off most of the crew and only the Master and two other crew members remained on board. The British Government and the salvage company tried to salvage the vessel in one piece and equipemnt was placed on board the Torrey Canyon to try to float the vessel and good progress was made through the Monday and Tuesday but then an explosion happened in the engine room and the salvage crews left the vessel and during this process the captain of one of the tugs was injured and died. On the Wednesday the Royal Navy and the salvage company decided to try again and the vessel was partially floated by the Thursday . However the tanker was stuck firmly on the rocks and the weather started to deteriate. Force 7 to 8 winds were predicted for Friday 24th March so work was hectic to try and reflote the Torrey Canyon. On Saturday and Sunday further attempts were made despite the increasing deteriation of the weather. On the evening of Easter Sunday the vessel broke in two and the stern section started to settle in the water. On Easter Monday, the fore ship, pounded by the enormous seas, broke in two. On the morning of Tuesday the Admiralty ordered everyone off the ship and away from the area and then Fifty three vessels sprayed 5000,000 gallons of detergent, itself toxic to wildlife, onto the slick which covered an area of 35 miles by 22 miles. With the wreck in three sections by this time, it still held about a third of its cargo, 40,000 tons. A decision was made that the RAF would bomb the wreck in order to attempt to set fire to the oil. The RAF dropped 200,000 lbs of explosive , 11,000 gallons of kerosene and 3,000 gallons of napalm onto the wreck The salvage attempt was officially abandoned. In 1982 her entire forepart, still intact, was refloated and converted into an oil storage barge. The 120,000 tonne MV Torrey Canyon runs aground off the coast of Cornwall in March 1967 https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...2520Canyon.jpg Navy Wessex respond to the incident https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3...0Torrey_c6.jpg A Navy Wessex winches personnel from the distressed vessel https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1...rey-canyon.jpg Navy Wessex contine to support the salvage/recovery operation https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C...20TorreyC2.jpg At one point a BEA S61 gets involved https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-9...tlack%2529.jpg Not wanting to be left out the RAF too participate with this Wessex using a car park in Trevone Bay as a staging area (Photo: R.A. Cutlack) https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0...ean%2520up.jpg A 'Dennis Oates' lorry unloads detergent for the clean-up operation in Cornwall . |
Back in the late 80's we had the pleasure of carrying out the last few crew changes on the "sevenstones" light vessel before it was automated....I !!!! you not people it had a moving deck that made a Bolkow look like a chinook :E
Without a doubt on a slack tide it was pound for pound the most difficult landing sight I have ever encountered in 30 years of aviating..:{ That wreck had a lot to answer for...:= |
Early Jetranger photos
Some old 206 photos to jog memories !
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7120/6...74867e7e_b.jpg G-AVVH Agusta Bell 206A (8026) seen during ownership of Autair Helicopters Ltd, 14.8.70 -15.1.73 eventually sold as EI-BEV 15.5.78 http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7218/7...a3ef3124_b.jpg G-AWOY Agusta Bell 206A (8094) cancelled 18.1.74 to SE-HEP http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6047/6...d003d2ef_b.jpg G-AWRV Agusta Bell 206A (8095) Seen at Edinburgh Airport (Turnhouse) 6.6.71 during ownership of Globe Construction Ltd. Eventually sold in France as F-GAJL http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6230/6...6e22f4d8_b.jpg G-AYDK Bell 206A (337) owned by Fairoaks Aviation Services Ltd. Sold as 9J-ACT 5.5.71 http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6045/7...413ecdb9_b.jpg G-AYHN Bell 206A (225) seen at Gatwick 5.10.73 during ownership of Heli-air Ltd, 10.1.73 - 2.7.74 Eventually left the UK as N4802R http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7125/6...5da09973_b.jpg Now for a couple of Bermudan registered Agusta Bell 206A's at Gatwick 7.7.71 VR-BDZ is Agusta Bell 206A (8095) not sure which one is behind it ? Eventually became EP-HAP. Can anyone shed any light on how long they were in the UK. This 206 was never registered on the UK register and I assume it was on contract work and returned to UK for engineering ? all photos from the Helipixman collection |
Re the Torrey Canyon.......
Originally Posted by Savoia
(Post 7100252)
A decision was made that the RAF would bomb the wreck in order to attempt to set fire to the oil. The RAF dropped 200,000 lbs of explosive , 11,000 gallons of kerosene and 3,000 gallons of napalm onto the wreck The salvage attempt was officially abandoned..
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I had the pleasure of being the first helicopter to go to the Torrey Canyon. John Bell, later joined Alan Mann, went first in a Wessex 1 but the float bag on his right wheel blew & duly burst in the cruise, so he came back. I set off in a Wessex 5 which didn't need floatation!! It was my last week or so in the RN & quite a fun way to finish my time. I think I did about 10 flights, mixture of SAR crew, photographers, medics, salvage experts & picked up some ship's crew members plus at least one badly injured. I think he was the one who was hit in the back by a flying hatch when there was an explosion in the engine room. It was truly well stuck on the rocks, so I'm not surprised it couldn't be dragged off.
So long ago!! |
Presented to Nigel Osborn for being 'first on scene' in the Torrey Canyon disaster and for his ongoing efforts in bringing rescue and relief to her crew and salvers . |
Originally Posted by CharlieOneSix
(Post 7100704)
.........as usual the efforts of the Fleet Air Arm Sea Vixens and Buccaneers are omitted.
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Sav!
Interesting! My great golfing friend John Williamson who was duty S&R pilot (RN) on the Wessex 1 has always maintained he was first on the scene. I'll ask him to register and respond. Small world, as I was a 9 year old on holiday on the Scilly Isles at the time, and remember it all unfolding! |
Ciao Estepo!
Please do encourage John to sign-up as we would love to hear his reminiscences of this event. Even better if he has some photos from his Navy days. I'm guessing you would have been following events via the 'wireless' given that live television coverage was somewhat rare in the 60's. The Seven Stones are of course just a stone's throw ;) from the Scillies. I'll prepare another DFA (Distinguished Flying Award) in case John comes up with a good story, lol! |
Classic Culdrose photoshoot Merlin and Seahawk
Stumbled on this shot whilst trying to find images of helicopters with wheels for my grandson (click on pic to get to flickr page)
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4090/5...2ea65f3b_z.jpg A Merlin HM Mk1 helicopter from RNAS Culdrose, with a Seahawk from the Australian Navy by Defence Images, on Flickr |
Frayne Coulshaw, like myself (also called Bob btw!), was one of the 6 pilots recruited by BCalH at the time they took over Ferranti with plans of getting into the North Sea offshore market. I don't know where he is now.
Several of us were involved with helping John Hedges put together bids for offshore contracts in Europe and Africa, but didn't get in to the offices very often as they were still in Shoreham. We often got calls one evening and were asked to be in the office first thing with all the calculations complete. I lived in Sussex at that time so regularly used to fly charters in the 206. We took over the Met Police contract based out of Battersea using Bo105s whilst they were awaiting delivery of their own Bell 222s. We also had one Bo105 based in Falmouth docks for tanker pilot changes in the English channel. The aircraft used to land on a converted railway truck and was then pushed into its hangar by tractor, though passengers were embarked and disembarked from a small helipad. I did my S61 conversion with KLM in Holland, but never flew it for BCalH on the North Sea, having left by then. Speechless and myself also did a lot of work on performance and planning figures for the Chinook as we put in a tender for the Magnus contract for BP. |
Soggy: Many thanks for this background info on BCalH.
Am fairly well versed with the Metpol contract but was unaware of the pilot transfer work ex-Falmouth and which must, one assumes, have been interesting. Did you get the opportunity to fly one of the 206's fitted with Ferranti's SAS and, if so, how was the general handling of the craft when compared with a standard 206? Were BCalH also looking at the 234? Wasps & Scouts .. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/7...89309f60_b.jpg A Westland Wasp from HMS Minerva. Any assistance with a prospective date and location would be most welcome. One presumes that this is the same Minerva that HRH The Prince of Wales served aboard and which frigate was launched in 1964. |
Sav,
It's nice to see the photo of G-NUTZ. I last flew that in 1990 when I was with McAlpine Helicopters. I'll have a look when I'm next home and see if I have any photos of it. The 206 with the Ferranti SAS was lovely, like flying a normal 206 through a bowl of cream, it was so smooth! The pilot transfer work was interesting, but very unprofitable and ultimately a failure. Usually we were only called out when the weather was too bad for the pilots to be transferred by boat. We had one instance where the tanker was pitching and rolling so much the Mast Moment Indicator came on and stayed on and the aircraft had to be flown back to Falmouth like that for a check. I remember driving with Charles Pemberton from Sussex down to Falmouth, where the company rented a small flat above a shop for the crews to stay. We waited for information from the pilot service that the tanker would be in the rendezvous zone (with no radar we relied on the tanker being in a small circular zone, where we would contact it on marine FM, get its latest position and update that on the Decca). We finally got confirmation of an ETA at the RV point and left the docks in very strong winds and low cloud at about 0500 and made our way to the RV circle but could not establish RT contact with the tanker. Falmouth coastguard eventually told us that they had contact with the vessel and that it was hove to in heavy seas with waves breaking over the deck some 60 nm from where we were. Fuel would have been very marginal and we were not willing to risk landing on the deck with waves breaking over it so we returned to Falmouth. The pilot service decided to try and send the pilot by boat and refused to pay for the flight time already incurred. Soon after that the service was terminated. We had options on 2 BV234 with which we were bidding on BP's Magnus contract (we were unsuccessful). When representatives from BV visited, Speechless and I would be left behind at Shoreham airport while John Hedges and Tony Pannell went out for lunch with them at The Sussex Pad :\:\. One of the spin-offs of that was that we set up a joint venture with Kawasaki in Japan and put in a bid for an SAR contract with KV107s for the government of Bahrain. |
SOGGY
Can you tell me the dates that the Pilot Service was running. I was recruited by BCal(H) in late 79 and told I was destined for that project but having done my Bo105 TR with CP and a week or so on the MetPol contract Frayne and I were 'lent' to North Scottish for their newly won Shell contract out of Sumburgh.
You will be amused to know that having arrived on day one of the Sumburgh venture I was able to put my woodworking skills to good use and built all the office furniture and fittings for the Ops Office with some plywood sheets ferried up from ADN and a box of tools bought with the petty cash in Lerwick. FC and I even flew together on one occasion thereby claiming the first flight on the North Sea by a BCal(H) S61 crew. After 3 months we came back to Shoreham and prepared to set up ADN with G-BHPU. G. |
Soggy,
The sussex pad did the best bacon buttes Ive ever had..period :ok: A heart attack in every bite (of dripping) :eek: |
Originally Posted by Savoia
(Post 7111945)
A Westland Wasp from HMS Minerva. Any assistance with a prospective date and location would be most welcome.
The location is reminiscent of Yeovil with similar housing to the north of the airfield. |
And the guy on the extreme left is Brendan Gleeson's dad.
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With my thanks to Steve Aubury who has contributed the following to the Nostalgia Thread:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k...+Aubury%29.jpg S61N ZS-HDK belonging to Court Helicopters as seen in Cape Town in December 1972. The craft flew in the UK for a time as G-BFPF (Photo: Steve Aubury) https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M...+Aubury%29.jpg S55 ZS-HCR belonging to Court Helicopters as seen over Mossel Bay on 21st July 1973 (Photo: Steve Aubury) https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...+Aubury%29.jpg SA318C SX-HAI belonging to Olympic Airways off the coast of Kavala, Greece aboard the drillship the MV "Wodeco V" on 15th November 1975. The "Prinos" oilfield was situated between Kavala and the island of Thasos (Photo: Steve Aubury) |
Distant memories
I happened upon this site a couple of days ago and haven't stopped reading it since. WOW! So many distant memories- names, tales and aircraft from my past. :D
My first flight in a helicopter (G-BAKT) flown by Tony Boulter in 1978 whilst working for Burnthills. 3 days after starting as a 17 year old apprentice I was standing underneath it hooking up aircon units for a new supermarket. Fully trained and briefed of course! Pics of the rock star in front of an unidentified blue AS350 (G-GINA I was shouting)- and TRC was right- it was the late RK piloting it in the later pic. RK was my boss for 4 years from '79 where I played with all of the early AS350Bs plus Mr. Kenneth's SA341 G-BBHW and Carl Beaman's 206 G-BBBM. I then did a spell at Colt Executive Aviation with the likes of Robert Kellie, Mark Trumble, Pete Turner looking after the G-?ORR's, including the black and red G-MORR which morphed into G-NOEI. I would later pick up the pieces of that aircraft from Silverston whilst working for AMH where TRC christened me "Marcel, mechanicien de Le Cochon Plastique". I then did many years at PAS with Mark Trumble and his successors taking care of the G-PAS? fleet of AS355s, Bo105s and MD902s. Fantastic times, great memories and lots of stories to tell- and quite a few pics stashed away somewhere which I must dig out. Swing that lantern! |
Bonjour Marcel.
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Bonjour me old fruit.
I've just been digging around in the loft and found a photo of just about the entire AMH team in 85, perhaps 86. You may recall the occasion- Jack was departing AMH and we got everybody outside the hangar with G-BBRI, G-TPTR and an upturned trolleyack for a good old pose as a leaving pressie. I'll get it scanned and posted. |
Greetings from sunny SE Turkey.
Yes, post it. Let's see how many on here can workout the relevence of an upturned trolley-acc. Only those that were there will really know...... Answers on the back of a £10 postal order. |
LCP: Welcome to PPRuNe and to the Nostalgia Thread specifically!
There was TRC giving me grief about my use of nicknames and what have you (abbreviating Jet and Long Rangers to Rangers and calling Air Gregory .. Gregorious etc.) and all along he was doing the very same thing!!! :p I shall ensure that his drinks are appropriately 'spiked' when eventually we hook-up for our shindig in the UK! ;) Extraordinary that we should have shared the same girl .. "Katie" (ie. G-BAKT) in taking us across the threshold of 'rotary virginity' - I guess mine was a couple of years before yours! She was a lovely craft, one I can never forget. I suppose you heard that old man Mann recently passed away? Here is an excerpt from an email I received from his son Henry a day or so after his passing: "Thank you for your kind words of condolence. The memorial service will take place on 3rd May at noon in Romsey Abbey, Hampshire. There will be a reception afterwards at the house. All are welcome. All the best Henry Mann" An up-turned trolley-ac .. hmm .. could it be helpful in starting this: http://www.artlet-blog.com/wp-conten...69a09f78_i.jpg LCP .. you are going to have to explain what prompted TRC to christen you so! Rgds Sav |
More BCal ..
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...Heley%2529.jpg
S-61N G-BIHH at Aberdeen's Dyce Airport on 3rd April 1981 (Photo: Derek Heley) https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...t%25201982.jpg S-61N G-BHPU at Coventry Airport on 30th May 1982 having delivered HH JP II Can anyone advise which call sign BHPU used while flying HH? I think BFPF was also seconded to this assignment. https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...520line-up.jpg BCal line-up: 1-11, 747, 61 |
Trolley-accs etc
"Only those that were there will really know......"
Ah yes, I remember the trolley acc incident, one of those things that I believed had passed into the obscurity of history............:cool: LOL I also remeber the difficulties of horrisson, horiizon, hurizone in LBE's too (subsequently designated AH, 'cos it's easier :uhoh:) And today it is NOT sunny in Essex-by-the-Sea it's hissing down :ooh: - VFR |
Katie
Savoia,
I don't recall Katie being quite the gentle lady that you do. I remember one of my early dates with her where we flew from Glasgow to Edinburgh to deliver a washing machine. My extensive underslung load training hadn't extended to static electricity and grounding wires so when I hooked up the load in pouring rain she gave me an almighty belt. That's how I learned most things back then- the hard but fast way. However, she did infect me with the rotary wing disease (I was in danger of embarking on a plank wing career path at the time) so she was a major influence in my life. Re LCP. When I joined Manns in '85 I found an unshaven, trogloditic collection of life forms locked in a small dingy hangar full of ancient helicopters. I mean- they were all made of metal and covered in grease nipples and oil leaks. Yuk! G-NOEI (AS350) had just turned up- an advanced peice of French technology made mostly of plastic and left over Citroen bits and AMH needed somebody who was wise in the ways of such modern things. So, I became Marcel and G-NOEI was Le Cochon Plastique. I always thought there was an element of jealousy in the air. (Lets see if that gets a bite or two- it always used to!) Really good answer re the upturned battery cart, but wrong. That's the sort of silly answer that TRC would come up with :rolleyes: I'll stick the Class of '85 pic on the AMH thread- thanks for the steer. Anyway. Back to the washing machine. We were delivering it to a woman who had won it in a local supermarket competition and having it delivered dangling below a helicopter into the supermarket car park was all part of the PR. Event over, the assembled crowds quickly dispersed due to the rain and as we climbed out of the car park towards the 200 foot cloudbase I can still picture the poor woman, all on her own now, thinking "how the hell am I going to get this washing machine home". |
Two pics of the Jacques Cousteau's Calypso Schweizer 300C (N6129E) taken during their Danube Expedition 1991 when they visited the Nature Park Kopacki rit. Photos taken at Cepin airfield near Osijek, Croatia where the bird stopped for refuelling.
http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/9484/n6129e.jpg And last but not least: Congratulations to the Nostalgia Thread for reaching a quarter of a million views in less than 24 months! This is one of PPRuNe's great threads and brings a lot of satisfaction to many readers. Please keep the stories and photos coming. :D |
Here are some nice early Hughes 500s. VH-BAG served previously in the Antarctic with Vowell Air Services.
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3165/5...d1593ccb_b.jpg Here is a 500C belonging to Sloane. All sizes | G-BDFP - 1975 build Hughes 500C, later re-registered as G-OAIM | Flickr - Photo Sharing! 500 Fan. |
LCP: Thanks for filling-in the gaps, great stuff! :ok:
500 Fan: That is a great shot of VH-BAG, well done. Both BAG and PPRuNer Palma's G-BDFP have featured on the thread in pages past. Its been a 'Hughesy' sort of day on Nostalgia so I shall continue the theme below. Zis: I am one of those who is unable to view images hosted by Imageshack .. I still don't know why but .. here is something to compliment your contribution: More Cousteau .. Cousteau's first research vessel, the RV Calypso, went through a string of 300's. Those we know of include: N9672F, N102CS and N6129E and I think there were a further two craft (also 300's) which served aboard the vessel: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...au+Bahamas.png N102CS about to depart the Calypso in Nassau, the Bahamas, in 1975 All of the Cousteau 300's were given the name .. Félix! https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--...ue-Calpyso.jpg The RV Calypso passes in front of the Oceanographic Museum in Monaco where Cousteau was a member The RV Calypso was a BYMS (British Yard Minesweeper) Mark 1 Class Motor Minesweeper, laid down on 12 August 1941 with the yard designation BYMS-26 and launched on 21 March 1942. It was commissioned into the Royal Navy in February 1943 as HMS J-826 and assigned to active service in the Mediterranean Sea, reclassified as BYMS-2026 in 1944, laid up at Malta and finally struck from the Naval Register in 1947. The Irish millionaire and former MP, Thomas "Loel" Guinness bought Calypso in 1950 and leased it to Cousteau for a symbolic one franc a year. He had two conditions, that Cousteau never ask him for money and that he never reveal his identity, which only came out after Cousteau's death. Cousteau restructured and transformed it into an expedition vessel and support base for diving, filming and oceanographic research.Calypso carried advanced equipment, including one- and two-man mini submarines developed by Cousteau, diving saucers, and underwater scooters. The ship was also fitted with a see-through "nose", an observation chamber three meters below the waterline, and was modified to house scientific equipment and a helicopter pad. The Calypso underwater camera is named after this ship. https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a...Helicopter.jpg Old man Cousteau aboard Félix https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...he+Calypso.png N102CS rests aboard the RV Calypso https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-g...n-Cousteau.jpg Cousteau looks out from Calypso's wheelhouse over an Arctic scene with N9672F resting on the helideck https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Q...BBraunbeck.png Félix's helicopter pilot Bob Braunbeck aboard the Calypso in 1975 Bob Braunbeck doesn't sound like an especially French name but he sure dresses (if that's the right word) like a Frenchman. I always felt one had to have balls to wear those briefs back in the 70's! ;) |
Add Rod Hall-Jones (NZ) and Jim Stock (USA) as drivers for J-Y Cousteau.
As Jim told me the uniform of "budgie smugglers" and beanie was "de rigeur" on the good ship Calypso. |
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