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Able Seaman 'Sheedy' taking in the view of the Airshow from the comfort of a rotor blade on a Royal Australian Navy Seahwak helicopter.
You can just see the rotor blade straining under all that weight... not ;)
Members of the United States Coastguard SAR team "rescue" Rob Reider from the tarmac at the 2009 Cleveland National Air Show.
Development (Wikipedia)
The SA366 G1 Dauphin version was selected by the United States Coast Guard in 1979 as its new short range recovery (SRR) air-sea rescue helicopter, replacing the Sikorsky HH-52A Sea Guard. In total 99 helicopters, optimised for the USCG's search and rescue role tasks and given the designation HH-65A Dolphin, were acquired. The HH-65A is not able to perform water landings.[1] The HH-65 normally carries a crew of four: Pilot, Copilot, Flight Mechanic and Rescue Swimmer.
The Dolphin was manufactured by Aerospatiale Helicopter Corporation (now American Eurocopter) in Grand Prairie, Texas. Textron Lycoming (now Honeywell) built the Dolphin's LTS101-750B-2 turboshaft engines in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and Rockwell Collins manufactured the HH-65's electronic systems in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[1]
The HH-65 Dolphin is used for homeland security patrols, cargo, drug interdiction, ice breaking, military readiness, pollution control, and search and rescue missions. The HH-65 is known for its Fenestron tail rotor and its autopilot capabilities, which can complete an unaided approach to the water and bring the aircraft into a stable 50 ft (15 m) hover, or automatically fly search patterns, an ability which allows the crew to engage in other tasks.
In order to comply with U.S. regulations relating to local content (based primarily on the value of individual components of the aircraft), engineering changes were required — notably, the SA365's original Turbomeca Arriel engines were replaced with LTS101-750B-2 powerplants, which at the time represented the cutting edge of turboshaft design. Unfortunately, initial teething problems with this engine worsened as the HH-65's weight grew, resulting in several in-flight loss-of-power events. The USCG funded a program to improve engine reliability, but the resulting LTS101-850 failed to meet expectations.
In 1994, the USCG therefore held a fast-track competition to select a new powerplant, and in March 2004 the Guard announced the selection of the Turbomeca Arriel 2C2-CG, already installed on the EC155. This upgrade began in 2004, and has resulted in a safer and more capable aircraft. These modified HH-65As and HH-65Bs, which also gained new avionics and other enhancements, have been designated as HH-65Cs.
Design
The HH-65A's minimum equipment requirements exceeded anything previously packaged into one helicopter weighing in at less than 10,000 pounds. 75% of the HH-65's structure — including rotorhead, rotor blades and fuselage — consists of corrosion-resistant composite materials. Some Coast Guard pilots have nicknamed the Dolphin as "Tupperwolf", a portmanteau of tupperware (because of the aircraft's high composites content)[2] and Airwolf (from the 1980s TV series).
Also a unique feature of the Dolphin is its computerized flight management system, which integrates state-of-the-art communications and navigation equipment. This system provides automatic flight control. At the pilot's direction, the system will bring the aircraft to a stable hover 50 feet (15 m) above a selected object. This is an important safety feature in darkness or inclement weather. Selected search patterns can be flown automatically, freeing the pilot and copilot to concentrate on sighting & searching the object.[1]
A distinctive features of the HH-65 is its tail rotor. Its 11 blades spin inside a circular housing at the base of the helicopter's tail fin.
Certified for single-pilot instrument flight rules (IFR) operation, the HH-65A was the first helicopter certified with a four-axis autopilot, allowing for hands-off hover over a pre-determined location.
Source: Wikipedia
c/n 102
Built 1979 as Westland’s own demonstrator and trials aircraft. At one time painted as ‘ZA500’, which was actually a Northrop Shelduck target drone, she was later actually allocated the military serial ZB500.
In 1986 she was modified with BERP (British Experimentl Rotor Programme) rotor blades and on 11th August that year she achieved a verified speed of 249.09mph, a new world record for a conventional helicopter and one which still stands today. “Revolutionary new rotor blades” was how the blades were described on the BBC news, and they weren’t joking!!
She first went on display here in 1995 and permanently joined the collection in 2000. I mean no disrespect to this fine museum, but personally I think that as a World Record holder she should actually be part of the Science Museum collection (just my opinion).
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
Following initial orders placed for the Lynx AH1 by the Army Air Corps and the Qatar government, Westland built their own demonstration and trials aircraft to encourage export sales and develop new armament options. Assembled in September 1978 the airframe was first moved to the experimental build shop at Yeovil for the installation of weapons hard points and electrical fittings and, on 6th November 1978, was allocated the civil registration of G-LYNX before being completed and painted in an overall gloss camouflage colour scheme in early 1979. It first flew on 18th May 1979 and the following month was displayed at the Paris Air Show, prior to departing to Colmienar in Spain in Military markings (ZA500) for a fire-powered demonstration. This was followed by a Scandinavian demonstration tour in October 1979.
During the winter of 1979/80 the aircraft was re-engined with uprated Gem 4 engines and, in May 1980. It continued to carry the civil registration for non-military demonstration flights. Following tours in Sweden, Switzerland and the Middle East, the aircraft was used for various equipment trials until 1983, when it was fitted with two Gem 60 engines for tests. Following these it was stored for two years before being re-worked in mid-1986 for an attempt on the Helicopter World Air Speed Record.
Modification included the addition of water methanol injection to the specially rated Gem 60 engines, an unprated Westland WG 30 main gearbox, aft exhaust jet pipes, installation of the tailplane and offset vertical fins from the WG 30 prototype to counteract the increased torque, and a general clean-up and sealing of the airframe to minimise drag. The single most important change however was the installation of an early set of BERP (British Experimental Rotor Programme) main rotor blades, a unique design using composite materials to shape the blade profile and allow the rotor to produce more lift and power. This profile included a swept 'paddle' tip which slowed down the local airflow and kept speed below Mach 1, preventing the build up of airflow turbulence which normally destroys the aerodynamic lift at higher speeds and thus stops a helicopter from going faster. (The BERP blade concept is now standard on the Lynx and EH101 helicopters).
Following the modification work G-LYNX was reflown on 1st of August 1986 and, following several trial runs, made the actual record attempt on 11th of August over a measured 15km (9 mile) route between Hartlake Bridge and West Huntspill, on the Somerset Levels. The final speed, verified by the FAI, was 400.87 km/h (249.09 mph), a nine percent increase over the previous record set in 1978 by a modified Russian Mil Mi-24
After setting the new world speed record, G-LYNX appeared at the 1986 Farnborough Air Show, and then went into storage except for a brief static appearance at the 1988 Farnborough Air Show, with a mock-up Lynx Mk.9 wheeled undercarriage. The in 1991 the aircraft was modified for flight tests with new 1350 shp LHTEC T800 engines, first flying with this powerplant on 25th September 1991. Later that year, as ZB500, the aircraft was repainted into a new matt desert camouflage colour scheme, but the trials ended soon afterwards and by mid-1992 the helicopter was again in storage with the engines and transmission removed.
In late 1994, Westland agreed to transfer the stripped aircraft to The Helicopter Museum for display and on 19th January 1995 it was relocated to the Helicopter Museum. Although initially on loan for continued spares recovery, ownership was transferred five years later and, so G-LYNX became part of the permanent collection in January 2000. The Museum had meanwhile sourced a main rotorhead, main gearbox, the original BERP blades and other missing components for restoration back into the record-breaking configuration. For this purpose, the original WG30 tail unit and other special components modified for the record attempt, plus two Gem 60 engines, were sent with the aircraft to Westland for installation. The helicopter remained at Yeovil until 8th July 2011 before returning to Weston-Super-Mare for permanent display.
c/n 2028
Built 1982 and operated only for Bristow Helicopters until she was retired in 2014. She was donated to the museum in 2015.
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“The origins of the Super Puma lay in a French Defence Ministry specification, issued in 1962 for a twin-engined tactical transport helicopter capable of all weather operation. Development began in 1963 under the designation SA330 and the first prototype flew on in April 1965. In l967 the aircraft was selected as part of an Anglo-French helicopter agreement, under which development and production would be shared by Sud Aviation and Westland Helicopters. The name Puma was jointly adopted and the aircraft entered service with the Royal Air Force and French Army Air Force (ALAT), with eventual production reaching 679 before ending in 1982
In 1974 Aerospatiale, which succeeded Sud Aviation in 1970, began design work on a growth version, using a Puma fuselage matched with an uprated transmission and two new and more powerful Makila engines. Designated the AS331, this prototype first flew at Marignane on 5th September 1977 and was followed a year later by a more definitive prototype, the AS332 Super Puma. The AS332 further introduced an optional cabin stretch and a strengthened landing gear to allow an increase in payload an increased fuel capacity, an improved main rotor system and revised fin and elevator contours to counter the effect of the lengthened cabin. The first AS332 made its initial flight on 13th September 1978 and was initially followed by five pre-production aircraft including one designated the AS332L. First flown in October 1980 this featured a further cabin stretch to accommodate four extra passengers.
Meanwhile, UK offshore transport operator Bristow Helicopters was discussing a variant for its long range oil and gas transport operations. This introduced a large rear baggage compartment, enlarged cabin windows, in-flight music entertainment, foldable passenger seats, automatic emergency door jettison and large capacity life-rafts. Bristow also subsequently introduced a Health and Usage Monitoring System (HUMS) on the aircraft developed in partnership with Plessey/GEC Marconi and allowing engineers back at base to analyse and identify potential failures in the engine, gearboxes, rotorheads etc. HUMS later became an industry standard for commercial helicopters.
On 31st December 1980 Bristow ordered 35 of the bespoke aircraft, named the variant the Bristow Tiger, and took up almost all of the initial production slots as a condition of the purchase. The order represented the biggest ever placed by a commercial operator and the first AS332L export order for Aerospatiale. Deliveries of the Tiger began in March 1982 with G-TIGB; subsequent Tiger deliveries took up all the registrations from G-TIGC through G-TIGZ.
The aircraft in the museum collection, G-TlGE was the fourth Tiger, delivered to Bristow on 19th May 1982 but initially ferried to Erith in Kent for fitting out by Metair. Transferred to Bristow and christened 'City of Dundee' it then entered service at Aberdeen
By August 1983 G-TIGE was carrying out three trips daily to the Brae Alpha oil and gas field 249km (155 miles) north east of Aberdeen under a contract with Marathon Oil. Over the next 30 years G-TIGE logged over 39,500 hours and by the end of 2013 had totalled 41,815 flight hours. All the Bristow Tigers in service were retired in the first half of 2014 and G-TlGE, now flying from Norwich Airport, was grounded at 42,000 hours total flying time, when it would have been due for a major overhaul. Instead it was traded in to Airbus Helicopters and moved on 27 March 2015 by road to Vector Aerospace at their Fleetlands Gosport facility. Subsequently the aircraft was offered to The Helicopter Museum where it arrived on 30th November 2015.”
c/n 10618
Built 1972 and served with the Polish Air Force as ‘618’.
Retired in 2007 and arrived at the museum in February 2010.
Currently wearing false Russian markings which were applied in 2019 for filming of the movie “Black Widow”.
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“First flown in the early 1960s as Russia's first turbine-engined medium transport helicopter and with a large open cabin with rear ramp access, the Mil Mi-8 family was an important military and commercial helicopter during the Cold War period, providing the Soviet Union and her Warsaw Pact neighbours with a valuable assault transport capability, but also helping to open up the Siberian oil reserves and connect remote communities. The design also represents the transition and development of Russian helicopter technology in the 1960s and complements its piston-engined predecessor, the Mi-4 which The Helicopter Museum also has on show.
The Mi-8 and its derivatives soon became the standard Soviet and Warsaw Pact countries' military utility and assault helicopters, some with increasingly varied and heavy weapons fit, though the weight of these armaments, which included rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles, made it necessary to reduce the number of troops that could be carried. Many passenger versions have been sold to civil operators worldwide. A rugged stalwart, the aircraft was later further developed into a wide range of variants under the Mi-8/Mi-17/Mi171 banner and continues in production today, with more than 12,000 built to date, serving with both military air arms and civil operators, some supporting the United Nations and other aid organisations in a number of countries and around the world.
About fifteen of the Mi-8P, Mi-8PS and Mi-8S passenger variant helicopters, with rectangular windows, were supplied to Poland. Serial 618 was manufactured in the Kazan factory, in the then Soviet Union, in June 1972 and delivered to the Special Air Transport Regiment (SPLT) of the Polish Air Force in Warsaw, as a Mi-8PS, in the red and white national colour scheme, in September 1972. It was used, initially, as an executive transport but was later modified to Mi-8P configuration with green and sand camouflage, for use with 37 Air Group, Leznica Wielka, as an air ambulance, an airborne command post and as a troop transport. It was withdrawn from use in 2006 and parked in open storage at Leznica.
Following a personal request to the Polish Minister of Defence, the aircraft was later allocated to The Helicopter Museum in 2007 but complications in clearing the donation and organising movement of the 18 m (60ft) long aircraft delayed delivery. Eventually clearance was achieved via the Polish Aviation Museum and fuselage arrived at Weston-super-Mare on 5 February following a three day journey by road. Major components including the main rotorhead, gearbox, blades, tail rotor pylon and main landing gear arrived the following day. Reassembly began almost immediately but was prolonged due to other restoration priorities. Meanwhile the aircraft went on display in the Conservation Hangar before finally going on permanent display in the main hangar on 3 September 2011.”
c/n 13347
Built in 1960 as the 5th Prototype.
Used for trials by the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down and also by Rolls Royce. Joined the RAF in 1967 but almost immediately allocated the maintenance serial 7997M and used for ground instruction by No.2 School of Technical Training at RAF Cosford. Moved to RAF Ternhill in 1972 for fire practice but luckily survived and was purchased privately in 1973. She arrived here in November 1974 and was allocated the civil registration G-BRMB in 1978. She remains in a long-term restoration.
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“Built 1960 at Weston-super-Mare, constructor's number 13347, heavy transport twin- rotor helicopter, powered by two Napier Gazelle 100 turboshaft engines of 1,650shp each.
The Belvedere tandem-rotor helicopter was the culmination of ten years work by the former Bristol Helicopter Company on this type of rotorcraft lay-out. Originally designed to meet a Royal Navy of requirement for a carrier-borne search and strike helicopter (hence the legacy of an almost window-less cabin, a high front undercarriage, and the ship-dictated dimensions), the Belvedere was eventually ordered for the Royal Air Force, and served with distinction during the Indonesian confrontation of the mid-sixties. Only 26 were built, all at Weston-super- Mare, and XG452 is one of only three remaining examples.
XG452 was originally the 5th prototype, first flown at Weston Airport on 26th February 1960. After trials at A&AEE, Boscombe Down, it was flown to Gatwick Airport in June 1960, for a series of record-breaking flights to Libya. Leaving Gatwick at 4.30 a.m. on 14th June XG452 reached Rome in 8 hours 13 minutes, Malta in 12 hours 6 minutes, and Idris in 13 hours 57 minutes. After trials in Libya and the French Alps, XG452 returned to England for the 1960 Farnborough Air Show and then flew back to Weston-super-Mare, where it was based as an experimental aircraft until 1967. It was then refurbished for delivery to the RAF but was declared surplus to operational requirements soon after re-flying in August 1967. XG452 was eventually delivered by road to RAF Cosford for use as a training air-frame and in 1972 was moved to RAF Ternhill for fire practice.
In 1973 it was purchased privately by Elfan ap Rees for preservation and on November 5th, 1974, was delivered by road to Weston-super-Mare where a specially formed Westland Belvedere Preservation Group had undertaken to restore the aircraft at Weston-super-Mare's Oldmixon factory. Initial restoration work concentrated on refurbishing the cockpit and cabin area and recovering missing components including engines, rotorheads, rotorblades and other parts from a variety of sources, including Singapore, where most of the Belvedere fleet was scrapped in 1969.
In June 1978 XG452 was registered G-BRMB and transferred to The Helicopter Museum for further restoration. Brand new rotorheads, a spare new nose section, engine, and other parts are currently held in storage. Total flying hours: 487.”
Built in 1931 and is the world’s oldest surviving helicopter.
She is allocated the British Aircraft Preservation Council identity BAPC 10 and was originally restored by Westland apprentices in 1961. She was later displayed at Old Warden before moving to the Torbay Aircraft Museum. She arrived at ‘W-s-M’ in 1979 and was donated to the collection in 1996.
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“Today the world's oldest surviving helicopter, the Hafner R II design dates back to 1928, when Raoul Hafner put onto paper his ideas for a helicopter at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna.
In conjunction with his business partner Bruno Nagler, and financed to the tune of £10,000 by Major Coates (a Scottish cotton millionaire) construction of the prototype R I got underway in 1929. This helicopter had a 3-bladed low solidity rotor of 30ft diameter and was powered by a 30 hp ABC Scorpion engine. The rotor torque was balanced by two large vanes situated aft of the cockpit in the slip-stream of the rotor. The rotor was rigid (wire-braced), and for control purposes the rotor blades had only one degree of freedom of movement which was in pitch. A large diameter bearing (swash plate) provided collective and cyclic pitch control. It proved difficult to master the large gyroscopic movements in the rotor and only short hops were achieved.
In 1931 a second improved helicopter was built, using a 40 hp Salmson engine, but otherwise similar to its predecessor with rotor blades shaped from laminated ash sections. This was the R II. Initial tests in Vienna proved little more successful than those with the R I, and in 1932 the team with the R II moved to the UK and Heston Airport in Middlesex. This bought Raoul Hafner in contact with Cierva and his successful 'Autogyro', and as a result the R II rotorhead was modified and new rotor blades, with flapping freedom, designed and fitted. This improved the control in roll and pitch materially but the R II was still too under-powered to do more than just hover inches off the ground. Nevertheless, in a technical sense, it did 'fly'!
Hafner turned his attention temporarily to autogyros and his RIII Autogyro successfully flew at Heston in 1935. It incorporated pitch and cyclic control independently varying the pitch of each blade rather than tilting the hub as in the Cierva. During WW2 he developed the Hafner Rotachute, a rotary parachute to be towed behind an aircraft, for landing agents in enemy territory. This was followed by a rotor-equipped jeep. Neither project progressed past testing. In 1944 he joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company to set up a new helicopter division, the first product of which was the Bristol Sycamore. This was followed by the Hafner family of tandem-rotor designs which culminated in the Belvedere. By this time the Bristol Helicopter Division had moved from Filton to Weston-super-Mare; in 1960 it was taken over by Westland and Hafner became their Technical Director (Research) until his eventual retirement in the early 1970s. He died in a yachting accident in the Bristol Channel on 14 November 1980.
Meanwhile the R II was rediscovered at Weston-super-Mare in a crate in 1961 and was refurbished by Westland apprentices to appear in a local carnival. During this process the original rotor blades were found to be infested by woodworm. One was salvaged for display at the Hafner family home but the other two were thrown onto a local scrap dump. Subsequently they were rescued and put into storage, and one has now been restored for display inside the museum. Following its appearance in the carnival the R II returned to temporary storage but was then loaned to the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden Beds, who, finding themselves short of space, sub-loaned the aircraft to the Torbay Aircraft Museum. Here it remained until 1978 when it was spotted by an ex-Westland apprentice Peter Oerham who suggested to The Helicopter Museum that the R II should return to Weston-super-Mare, where it could be displayed alongside the Sycamore and Belvedere.
Following discussions with Mr. Hafner and the two museums involved this was agreed in October 1978, but it was not until 20th May 1979 that the R II was finally re-united with its original rotor-blades here in the Helicopter Museum.”
c/n 039
Built in 1971 and registered as N4329G before operating for Bahrain Public Security with the identity BPS-3. She came to the UK in 1982 and was allocated the civil registrations G-BKKL and then G-BLGI before becoming G-ORVB in 1989. She was reregistered as G-HEKY in 2007 but never flew as such and is still painted as G-ORVB. She joined the museum here in 2008
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“This small two-seat autogyro was designed by a Serbian immigrant to the United States, Drago Jovanovich, who helped to found the Helicopter Engineering Research Corporation in Philadelphia PA in 1946.The company initially developed a small tandem-rotor helicopter design, the JOV-3, which was taken over by the McCulloch Motors Corporation in California in 1951 and further developed into the MC4 two-seat helicopter. Although this was eventually abandoned, the forward main rotor system was adopted for the Hughes 269 two-seat helicopter in 1955, which Jovanovich designed for Hughes Aircraft before turning his attention to designing an autogyro with the same rotorhead. This he envisaged being able to operate from areas no larger than a suburban driveway. The result was the J-2, which married the three-bladed rotor system with a two-bladed Sensenich fixed pitch propeller. The rotor could be spun to over 500rpm before takeoff, but was not powered in flight. As the Jovair J-2 the aircraft first flew at Culver City in California in June 1962.
In 1969 rights to the design were taken over by McCulloch who continued development and secured a Certificate of Airworthiness for the aircraft in May 1970. Production was undertaken at Lake Havasu City in Arizona, where 96 J-2s were built over the next three years. In 1974 McCulloch Aircraft was reorganised as Aero Resources Inc and attempts made to market the Super J-2, replacing the original two-blade wooden propeller with a three-bladed Hartzell variable-pitch metal propeller. However none were sold and production was then abandoned.
Unfortunately the use of a modified helicopter main rotor and a non-optional propeller resulted in poor performance and the J-2 never achieved its designer's dream of really short takeoffs and was able to only carry a limited load over short distances. Nevertheless it was a brave attempt to produce a two-seat enclosed-cabin autogyro, one of only three such designs to receive certification to date.
Although a number of J-2s still survive in the United States and overseas, the museum example is one of only two imported into the UK and the only surviving example in the country. Built in 1971 it was originally sold to the Bahrain Public Security Force for police duties. In 1981 it was imported into the UK but flown very little before being purchased by the museum with the aid of a PRISM fund grand in December 2008. It is the only J-2 in the country and one of only three known examples outside North America.”
c/n 13347
Built in 1960 as the 5th Prototype.
Used for trials by the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Boscombe Down and also by Rolls Royce. Joined the RAF in 1967 but almost immediately allocated the maintenance serial 7997M and used for ground instruction by No.2 School of Technical Training at RAF Cosford. Moved to RAF Ternhill in 1972 for fire practice but luckily survived and was purchased privately in 1973. She arrived here in November 1974 and was allocated the civil registration G-BRMB in 1978. She remains in a long-term restoration.
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“Built 1960 at Weston-super-Mare, constructor's number 13347, heavy transport twin- rotor helicopter, powered by two Napier Gazelle 100 turboshaft engines of 1,650shp each.
The Belvedere tandem-rotor helicopter was the culmination of ten years work by the former Bristol Helicopter Company on this type of rotorcraft lay-out. Originally designed to meet a Royal Navy of requirement for a carrier-borne search and strike helicopter (hence the legacy of an almost window-less cabin, a high front undercarriage, and the ship-dictated dimensions), the Belvedere was eventually ordered for the Royal Air Force, and served with distinction during the Indonesian confrontation of the mid-sixties. Only 26 were built, all at Weston-super- Mare, and XG452 is one of only three remaining examples.
XG452 was originally the 5th prototype, first flown at Weston Airport on 26th February 1960. After trials at A&AEE, Boscombe Down, it was flown to Gatwick Airport in June 1960, for a series of record-breaking flights to Libya. Leaving Gatwick at 4.30 a.m. on 14th June XG452 reached Rome in 8 hours 13 minutes, Malta in 12 hours 6 minutes, and Idris in 13 hours 57 minutes. After trials in Libya and the French Alps, XG452 returned to England for the 1960 Farnborough Air Show and then flew back to Weston-super-Mare, where it was based as an experimental aircraft until 1967. It was then refurbished for delivery to the RAF but was declared surplus to operational requirements soon after re-flying in August 1967. XG452 was eventually delivered by road to RAF Cosford for use as a training air-frame and in 1972 was moved to RAF Ternhill for fire practice.
In 1973 it was purchased privately by Elfan ap Rees for preservation and on November 5th, 1974, was delivered by road to Weston-super-Mare where a specially formed Westland Belvedere Preservation Group had undertaken to restore the aircraft at Weston-super-Mare's Oldmixon factory. Initial restoration work concentrated on refurbishing the cockpit and cabin area and recovering missing components including engines, rotorheads, rotorblades and other parts from a variety of sources, including Singapore, where most of the Belvedere fleet was scrapped in 1969.
In June 1978 XG452 was registered G-BRMB and transferred to The Helicopter Museum for further restoration. Brand new rotorheads, a spare new nose section, engine, and other parts are currently held in storage. Total flying hours: 487.”
c/n 12892
Built in 1951 and used as a demonstrator. She became VR-TBS in 1958 but returned to the UK in 1959. She was later part of the Skyfame Collection at Staverton before moving to Duxford and then joining the museum here.
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“The Type 171 Sycamore was the first all-British helicopter to receive a civil certificate of airworthiness and was developed at Filton, Bristol as a five-seat utility transport helicopter.
Efficient aerodynamics, including carefully shaped ply-wood rotor blades and a unique rotorhead 'spider' control assembly, gave the Sycamore a superior performance over its contemporaries. First flown in 1947 it was developed for both civil and military use, and178 were built before production ended at Weston-super-Mare in 1959.
This early example (G-ALSX) was built as a company sales demonstrator, appeared at the 1951 Paris Air Show and the Festival of Britain in London, and was often used to fly various VIPs into unusual venues as well as being used for trials work. In 1953 it was flown to the Netherlands for flood rescue relief and in 1957 carried out deck landing trials on the Canadian Navy aircraft carrier HMCS Magnificent. In 1958 the aircraft was sold to a diamond mine owner in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), but returned to the UK in 1959 and was based at the Bristol Helicopter Division here at Weston-super-Mare until 1969.”
So I was going to do a four bladed MD520. But I think I can do a six bladed MD600N. Another project for The Queue is well on its way.
please follow me on Facebook Rotorhead photography
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After a morning of parting out sets, the obvious solution to storing the additional earth green and tan plates was to give the huey gunship another try.
The biggest changes to the model since the last build are a new engine nacelle and rotorhead, which teeters a lot more realistically now. The tie-downs were thrown on for the photo and they work surprisingly well too.
Comments and criticism are welcome, and keep an eye out for updates.
Built in 1931 and is the world’s oldest surviving helicopter.
She is allocated the British Aircraft Preservation Council identity BAPC 10 and was originally restored by Westland apprentices in 1961. She was later displayed at Old Warden before moving to the Torbay Aircraft Museum. She arrived at ‘W-s-M’ in 1979 and was donated to the collection in 1996.
The Helicopter Museum
Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, UK
2nd October 2020
The following information is from The Helicopter Museum website:-
“Today the world's oldest surviving helicopter, the Hafner R II design dates back to 1928, when Raoul Hafner put onto paper his ideas for a helicopter at the Technische Hochschule in Vienna.
In conjunction with his business partner Bruno Nagler, and financed to the tune of £10,000 by Major Coates (a Scottish cotton millionaire) construction of the prototype R I got underway in 1929. This helicopter had a 3-bladed low solidity rotor of 30ft diameter and was powered by a 30 hp ABC Scorpion engine. The rotor torque was balanced by two large vanes situated aft of the cockpit in the slip-stream of the rotor. The rotor was rigid (wire-braced), and for control purposes the rotor blades had only one degree of freedom of movement which was in pitch. A large diameter bearing (swash plate) provided collective and cyclic pitch control. It proved difficult to master the large gyroscopic movements in the rotor and only short hops were achieved.
In 1931 a second improved helicopter was built, using a 40 hp Salmson engine, but otherwise similar to its predecessor with rotor blades shaped from laminated ash sections. This was the R II. Initial tests in Vienna proved little more successful than those with the R I, and in 1932 the team with the R II moved to the UK and Heston Airport in Middlesex. This bought Raoul Hafner in contact with Cierva and his successful 'Autogyro', and as a result the R II rotorhead was modified and new rotor blades, with flapping freedom, designed and fitted. This improved the control in roll and pitch materially but the R II was still too under-powered to do more than just hover inches off the ground. Nevertheless, in a technical sense, it did 'fly'!
Hafner turned his attention temporarily to autogyros and his RIII Autogyro successfully flew at Heston in 1935. It incorporated pitch and cyclic control independently varying the pitch of each blade rather than tilting the hub as in the Cierva. During WW2 he developed the Hafner Rotachute, a rotary parachute to be towed behind an aircraft, for landing agents in enemy territory. This was followed by a rotor-equipped jeep. Neither project progressed past testing. In 1944 he joined the Bristol Aeroplane Company to set up a new helicopter division, the first product of which was the Bristol Sycamore. This was followed by the Hafner family of tandem-rotor designs which culminated in the Belvedere. By this time the Bristol Helicopter Division had moved from Filton to Weston-super-Mare; in 1960 it was taken over by Westland and Hafner became their Technical Director (Research) until his eventual retirement in the early 1970s. He died in a yachting accident in the Bristol Channel on 14 November 1980.
Meanwhile the R II was rediscovered at Weston-super-Mare in a crate in 1961 and was refurbished by Westland apprentices to appear in a local carnival. During this process the original rotor blades were found to be infested by woodworm. One was salvaged for display at the Hafner family home but the other two were thrown onto a local scrap dump. Subsequently they were rescued and put into storage, and one has now been restored for display inside the museum. Following its appearance in the carnival the R II returned to temporary storage but was then loaned to the Shuttleworth Trust at Old Warden Beds, who, finding themselves short of space, sub-loaned the aircraft to the Torbay Aircraft Museum. Here it remained until 1978 when it was spotted by an ex-Westland apprentice Peter Oerham who suggested to The Helicopter Museum that the R II should return to Weston-super-Mare, where it could be displayed alongside the Sycamore and Belvedere.
Following discussions with Mr. Hafner and the two museums involved this was agreed in October 1978, but it was not until 20th May 1979 that the R II was finally re-united with its original rotor-blades here in the Helicopter Museum.”
Photo taken by Norbert Kröpfl. Kindly provided from the NK slide collection by Stephan Barth.
München-Riem
November 1981
DU-105
MBB BO-105CBS
S-434
Dubai Air Force
This BO-105CBS was delivered to Dubai Air Force in 1981 and flew with Irish Helicopters as EI-LIT from 1998 until 2011 when it was donated to the Dublin Institute of Technology. Reportedly, it was scrapped by February 2014 (source: www.dtvmovements.co.uk/Trips/Trips14/Ireland/IrelandAH.html).
Registration details for this airframe:
www.mbb-bo105.de/bo105_s421_s450.html
DU-105 at Dubai in July 1992 along with DAW Agusta-Bell 206B DU102:
This airframe as EI-LIT with Irish Helicopters on Rock-a -Bill island in May 2007:
www.flickr.com/photos/53277566@N06/38961390475
Excerpt from 2011 Irish Helcopters press release:
Today Irish Helicopters donated their BO-105 helicopter EI-LIT to the Department of Transport at Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street.
The department provides courses to the Irish Aerospace Industry, from aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul apprenticeships.
Training and Examinations manager at Bolton street Mr Ivan Sheridan said, “Dublin institute of Technology are delighted to accept the donation of the BO-105 from Irish Helicopters.
We hope to make use of the functioning basic Instrumentation and Navigation equipment on board the aircraft to enhance our students learning experience."
EI-LIT first went on the Irish register 1996 and entered service on 22nd of February that year.
It completed 5710.8hrs during its service with Irish Helicopters, and the majority of hours were flown in support of the contract with the Commissioners of Irish Lights.
Its last flight was completed by Capt. Colm Martyn from the Kish lighthouse to Dublin Airport on the 16th Sept 2008."
(Source: pprune.org/rotorheads)
Scan from Kodachrome slide.
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Fireman René Del Alto helps flight mechanics at Air Station Houston attach a rotor head and conical housing to a freshly delivered main gearbox for an MH-65D Dolphin helicopter Feb. 27, 2015. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Andrew Kendrick)