Irish Helicopters Ltd
 

Another one of our machines (Irish Helicopters) ended up in Nigeria .

EI-BFH - 5N-AJL Bell 212 30878

Sadly I learned the she crashed in a river delta there , in 1998 I think . ALl hands lost !!!

Sad , amazing how you can get attached to a particular machine .

Anyone know what happened to her , the cause of the accident . I heard it was fire I think .

Irish Helicopters Ltd
 

So , post your stuff here folks .

I worked with them for awhile at Cork Airport , mech and structures .

Ive lost contact with almost everybody . I did have some contact with Pat McCarthy , but sadly my email addy got hacked and I lost all my addresses too .

Anyone know how these folk are doing ?

Jim Egan , Stan Horan , Brendan White , Mick Bowe , Dick Murrey , Mick Whealan , John Carney , Mick Fitzgerald , Mick Connelly , John Cooper , Stanley Lane , Rockey Foster , Guy Perrim , Mick Hennessy ?

Most of these people lived either in or around Carrigaline , Co.Cork .

I hear Captain Connelly is now retired .

Pat McCarthy is a Snap-On dealer somewhere in OZ .

Post yer pics and stories folks .

This should be good !!!

Re EI-BFH
 

Theguys at Irish Helicopters said they thought she had shed a main blade, but other sources including the Griffin Helicopter accident database listed it as main gearbox failure.
Thats the ship the Pope was flying around in during his 1979 visit to Ireland and if I recall correctly spend her later years on the Kinsale gas field flying out of Cork.

It was neither - it was a sheared bolt in the swashplate rotating drive link that resulted in one of the blades losing pitch control. The vibration was so severe that the tail boom detached and the MGB tore itself from its mounting bolts and remained attached by the lift link - though somewhat free to move around.

They fell into the river near Onni Port, with no control at all. There were survivors (5 I think) but I think 6 died including the RHS pilot. The pilot in the LHS (who was actually a pax, but on a management visit) survived and is on these forums. He described the descent as like being in free-fall and remarked that he found it surreal to watch bits of the aircraft fall past him on the way down (such as the exhausts!)

I won't describe the cause of the bolt failure, but it was gross negligence that probably warranted a manslaughter charge!:ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

so it was'nt a pitch control rod but something further down underneath that? Just curious because I once spoke to a mechanic in the hanger in cork who was working on that machine who told me that its pitch rods were interchangable with the bell 205 and that it was 205 pitch rods he had fitted on that occasion for that reason. My memory though timing wise is not accurate and that could have been anytime in the the few years befroe it finished with Irish Helicopters. I do recall though that it had new main blades fitted in the months before departure for Nigeria or wherever it went to, and being told it had airframe hours of 10000 around that point.

Definitely nothing to do with the PCRs.

212 I totally agree with your last comment, unfortunately the individual involved is back in aviation and working in a Quality Department!!!

I remember that one and as you say Stace, thats where that type usually end up.

Naa ..... that was EI-BFH ..... the popemobile . Spent all her time on the Kinsale gas line after slinging the pope around .

Sad story ..... :mad:

I did my US ATPL ride at the Bell factory in a Bell 412 with an air stair door that had been used by the Pope....and also delivered the first South African bound 58T to the Liverpool Docks after a very interesting ferry flight and revenue flight out of Blackpool. I will have to dig out the log book and see who was with me on that bit of fun. Memory says it was Bobby Herbert.

Sorry , my mistake , EI-BFH was the popemobile .http://www.google.com/imgres?q=irish...w=1280&bih=749

Redirect Notice

You can see the papel crest on the exhaust cowling .

yes it was definitely EI-BFH that acted as the Pope's main helicopter during the visit. There was a Bundesgrenschutz Puma from the German Border police hired by the Irish police and a pair of Sikorky S61N's from KLM, I think one of them was PH-NZK but odnt remember the ohter registration, anyone got pics?

EI-BFH was the Irish Helicopters Bell 212 that transported the Pope during he majority of his visit. I believe Sean Oakes was one of the pilots. The floats were removed and steps were fitted to the skids. I don't know if the interior got the V.I.P. treatment.

Irish Helicopters BO-105 EI-BDI was also used to transport additional personnel (Bishops, I believe) during the Papal Visit although it didn't carry any special markings.

PH-NZD and PH-NZK were the pair of KLM S-61Ns leased by Irish Helicopters for the visit. They carried "Irish Helicopters" and "Aer Lingus" markings along with the Papal Crest. PH-NZK carried the Pope on three occasions during this visit with -NZD on standby as a reserve. They must have been running behind time on the last flight in this helicopter from Greenpark Racecourse in Limerick to Shannon because the pilot shot a slightly spectacular and beautifully executed quick-stop onto the ramp next to the Boeing 747 taking the Pope to the U.S.A.

The Gardai borrowed three Pumas from the Bundesgrenzschutz, with one of them being D-HAXT. I believe the crews for these helicopters consisted of the pair of German pilots along with an Irish Air Corps pilot acting as observer. These Pumas carried large "GARDA" titles in white.

The Irish Air Corps used the Alouette III during the visit in support of Army Operations.

I can recall being present at Ballybrit Racecourse for the visit and enjoying the exotic array of rotorcraft on display, even as a seven year old!

500 Fan.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E...man%252529.jpg
Irish Helicopters Bell 212 EI-BFH photographed on 9th July 1988 in Dublin prior to the Papal visit (Photo: Fergal Goodman)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p...oni%252529.jpg
EI-BFH departing Dublin on 1st October 1979 with HH aboard (Photo: Gianfranco Gorgoni)

I have an image of EI-BFH (replete with the late John Paul's Coat of Arms) in my private collection from my days in Eire and which I shall fish out next time I'm over in Blighty.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6...%252520S61.jpg
John Paul II disembarking a KLM 61 during his Irish visit in October 1979

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...ham%252529.jpg
PH-NZK departs Knock with HH aboard (Photo: Tim Graham)

The Puma I saw was D-HAXS, I honestly was not aware there was three of them, I thought there was only one. This thread is getting interesting

Interesting that first photographer Fergal Goodman, I wondewr if it the same Fergal Goodman who was completing flying training at Wexford aeroclub as I was beginning mine? That was fixed wing on a beagle pup and ralleye morane.
Of interest also is the absence of any fod defelctors on the s61 in those days.

Sean Oakes ..... LMAO . I was workin down in Eket (Aqua Ibom , Nigeria) with Bristows , and there was a video playing in my bedroom at the Princess Suites , 5 star my arse !!! I was lying on the floor when I heard his beedy little Irish voice :eek:

My mouth hit the floor when Sean Oakes was on the TV , in the video . He was acting the part of a helicopter pilot , in the hanger at QIT (Qua Ibo Terminal) an oil storage facility ..... the movie was something about a Ju-Ju and he had to rescue some bird with his chopper . I remember the line was something like this .

The bird in question asked him was he a pilot , and he told her that he had a helicopter waiting outside just for her :rolleyes: ..... I laughed for 6 weeks .

That doesnt sound like him , rescueing women with his chopper !!!

About that Puma ..... I thought there had been only one leased too . Obviously wrong again .

Irish Heli's were busy in dem days . Bloody disgrace that they disapeared . Great company to work for , brilliant crew with a lot of laughs .

I hear Joe Durnan passed away too ?

Whats Mick Connelly doing these days , still flyin Bolkow's ?

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...1/IMG_0077.jpg

Here is Capt. Conneely heading out for another week's flying on the Irish Lights contract in June 2008. I believe he has indeed retired.

500 Fan.

Captain Connelly ..... :D I never called him that .

I remember going out with him and a bunch of others one night , near Kinsale . We went down as a convoy , he had a light blue Fiat 127 .

We all got tanked up and when heading for the cars for the way back to his house , we spotted his car and decided to steal his back seat . We threw the seat in the back of the car we were in . Got back to his house and put the seat in his back garden . Sat out there drinking a beer watchin all the girls peeing in his garden and chuckleing to ourselves , they didnt see us .

I asked some of the people who came back in his car "how was the journey" ..... they said it was fine . Man , I was getting confused at that point . So I went outside for a look at Connelly's car and the seat was still in the back of it !!!

Turned out there was a 2nd light blue Fiat 127 at the pub ..... we had nicked the wrong seat from the wrong car !!!

Always wondered what the owner thought . The radio was still there , wheels and all , but his back seat was gone . We laughed for ages about that .

Whats Guy Perrim doing now . He used to be the storeman for IHL in Cork , then he ended up buying the company and opperating outta Dublin . Does he still own it ?

Stan Horan ?
Brendan White ?
Mick Whelan ?
Dick Murrey ?
Mick Bowe ?
Rockey Foster ?
Jim Egan ?

I know Pat McCarthy is in OZ now .

I guess their all retired now ?

EI-BLD is still flyin !!! I used to work on that too . She must be pretty high time now .

Patrick McCarthy now there's a name I've not heard in a long time. My name would have been mud with him in the early 80's when I was called as the lead witness in a case over a mis-installed Sperry AH in EI-BHI. The owner refused to pay the repair bill for the AH after it caught fire en-route to his home after being 'serviced'. In their wisdom IH decided to take their client to court. The client just happened to be one of the country's leading attorneys and, needless to say, IH were .. well how can one put it - not successful.

One day at Ballydoyle stables in Tipperary (probably 1980) an Orange 206 came batting in (the driver's flying reminded me of the late Chalky White) but it was a chap named John Barnicle (an American I believe). As it happened I was to ride with him back to Westpoint (Dublin) where I was to meet my godfather who was bringing back EI-BFK (Vincent O'Brien's 206) from maintenance.

Barnicle had this routine worked-out of lighting a cigarette by leaning forward to the cyclic where his right hand held a match or lighter. Personally I always found that wedging the cyclic between one's knees enabled one to do something or other for a few seconds but there we are, we each have our quirks!

I presume Mick Conneely is or was entitled to the title of "Captain" given the vast number of hours he has flown during the course of his career. I'd imagine, though, that he is far too modest to ever expect anyone to address him as "captain". He is the only pilot I have ever seen flying with a flat-cap!

I believe -BLD is still active occasionally with Irish Helicopters as the relief ship for their EC135 when it's down for maintenance. I saw it during the (so-called) summer this year, floating around over Ballymun, presumably waiting for permission to cross the active for Knocksedan.

500 Fan.

I worked for Irish Helicopters for a year on detachment from June 91 to April 92 from Lee-on-Solent on the Shannon SAR.

Checking my logbook I flew EI-BLY and EI-BHO. It was on the 19th August 1991 that I flew the most hours in a day in my life -11 hours 20 minutes of which 7 hours 5 mins was at night

Great memories of a great place with great people :ok:

John Whale

Connelly ..... Modest ..... NO !!!

But yes , he started in Vietnam war as a crew chief on the 204 , later was in the US Army with 204 and 205 as a pilot ..... lots of hours and I still wont call him captain !!! :)

What was the head winchmans name !!! Was it Noel ?

Your chief eng was John Cooper . Remember big Dermot on his scooter !!!

BLY was the standby machine . We modded her up ourselves in Cork , but she didnt have the electrickery that BHO had . Autohover and what not . I think it was called the Huey Newmark mod ?

Was the chief winchman called Noel or Sean ..... age thing now !!! His nickname was "sauce" .

He had about 700 boxs of matchs in his house in Shannon . He used to place a chair on top of the kitchen table and sit on it , so he could see over the wall around his house . The objective of this exercise was he could see the Aeroflot hosties walking to the corner shop . Then he would promptly jump down and scurry across the street and buy matchs , as an excuse to chat them up . He was very successful in that department !!!

Remember a small british eng called Bruce Humphries ..... I lost his addy too .

Did you by any chance know Des Tweedy ?

Yeah , the FOD/ice shield ..... IHL didnt use them at first . It wasnt until we modded up BLY at Cork for the standby SAR machine that we fitted the cone type . I remember looking at the structure , there was a lot of very rough field mods done . She had been loggin (Okanagan) before that and all kinda weird stuff was done to her . Even her cargo door had been paneled up with aluminiun sheet to save weight . All had to come off as it wasnt legal to the SRM . I think it was a requirement for the SAR machine though , the FOD/Ice cone mod .

Same with the HF antenna poles . That was gotten from a wrecked British Airways 61N ..... canabilised is the word . Farnborough I think the wreck was . I remember fitting the effing thing ..... I had to crawl down the inside of the tail boom , right down to the end . I couldnt do that now ..... too round !!!

Bruce Humphries
 

E
Bruce is (or was 6 months ago) down at Lasham, with Nick Cook's operation, ATC. I don't have an addy for him but Google gives [email protected] as a contact. Bruce is/was taking care of all things rotary, AS350/355 and doubtless others (I haven't been down to see him for ages) - VFR :O

Mick Connealy retired 3 months before the new EC135 came into service, he was going to retire to Arizona but I believe may have remained in castletownbere.
Sean Oakes retired some years back, ex training capt on bo105d
Michael Hennessy was selling and acquireing choppers during the years of the celtic tiger but dont know what he is doing or where currently.

Eket, I know bolkow EI-BLD had accumulated 15500 hours some 4 years or so ago, so multiply at the rate of around 46 hours per month? I reckon she is nudging the 18000 airframe hour mark currently. Dont know where LIT has gone, was'nt she going to become an air ambulance?
Sean Oakews son Cathal Oakes is a captain on the CHC S61N out at shannon.

I think Brendan is working out of Doha now. Last I knew Stan Horan was working down in Midleton.

...I know you can find Brendan on Bookface.

Bruce Humphries
 

Thanks for that , Ive just written to the addy you posted . Hope for a reply .

John Barnicle
 

He was Irish , got his licence in OZ ranching cows in the outback . Had an OZ accent .

Other names that spring to mind , as were talkin about people .

John Todd , Toddy , I hear be was flyin for IHL in 206's .

Pat Joyce ..... he wore a cravat and was building an autogyro in the hanger . Toddy and Joyce used to tow the thing up and down the ramp at Cork Airport ..... wonder did it ever fly !!!

Ive tried lookin up Brendan White on facebook , but there are way too many brendan White's , many without pics . So its pretty impossible .

Todd is the only employed pilot at IH at the moment I think!
All the rest are contractors I think, ie, C Martin and some other chap ?

Ah well, perhaps this accounted for his spirited arrival over the Ballydoyle estate! Either way he seemed a pleasant enough chap.

Vincent O'Brien's craft was maintained by IH who would sometimes drop in to the estate (near Cashel in Tipperary) for fuel. I remember on one occasion one of the IH drivers was instructing the chap flying the 206 acquired by Anglo-Irish Meats and they came to Ballydoyle where I assisted fuelling them.

IH reciprocated in that we would sometimes use fuel from some of their stashes. If memory serves then one such occasion was when we were driven out to sea in the most foul weather and had to creep along the coast until we reached a small pad at a place called Castletown Berehaven where I think we uplifted some of IH's stock.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-I...aag%252529.jpg
Irish Helicopters Bell 212 EI-BAM at Cork on 12th July 1977 (Photo: Chris Haag)

PPRuNer Speechless Two had an image of Bristow's G-BALZ in a predominantly green livery before she was sent to Eire (I think on contract to IH?).

John Barnicle is American (Chicago) of Irish descent who served in Vietnam. After IHL he went on to be one of the co-owners of Celtic Helicopters.

I have another pic of a 212 G-BIGB that IHL leased from Bristow . It was overall white with a fin up on the roof ..... but I dont know how to upload the thing !!!

try lifting the collective slowly?

If memory serves me correctly Paddy Joyce died in a jet ranger accident near Gort in Galway years ago, the aircraft was EI-BMP and hit a hill in fog whilst on a regular trip taking american passengers from Ashford Castle to Shannon Airport. I remember Kevin Marron writing an article about him in the Sunday World, having used his services and helicopter earlier that week. Then some months alter Kevin Marron and a number of other journalists died in a plane crash in the UK somewhere?