One of the main Motor Racing events, Silverstone, is looming and as most of you will know attracts thousands of spectators from all over the world. The majority of those descend on the racing circuit by road but quite a few, in fact hundreds, arrive by helicopter. HeliAir have negotiated a contract with Silverstone to be the provider of helicopter services at the racetrack and as the Managing Director is a member of the HCGB he has arranged for private traffic to be able to attend at significantly reduced costs.(Thank you!) All helicopter traffic that flies in must attend a special briefing and fly a practice trip into the airfield to ensure that pilots are familiar with the procedures. There are literally thousands of movements and it is critical that flights are able to enter and exit the racetrack smoothly. There are movements every 45 seconds and you simply have to get it right or the knock-on effect can be quite dramatic. Read More→
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Audrey and Caroline
Apologies for the delay in producing my report but it’s been a busy week. However, now that I’m here I’m pleased to report that the general consensus of opinion is that this years air games (formerly the helicopter championships) has been a resounding success. No fewer than 32 teams competed on the day despite the weather being less than perfect often gusting unto 26kts and bringing with it a biting cold that chilled the spectators to the core.
You will already have seen that my very good pals successfully navigated themselves to the winners podium. This is despite the fact that Steve is traditionally unable to navigate his way from his car to his front door, and is the only person I know that is able to get lost flying inside his home ATZ, with 3 ATCO’s on board the aircraft. Dave on the other hand is the consummate professional and although initially struggling to squeeze his bulk into the cockpit of the JetBox, managed to overcome weight and balance issues to bring the winners trophy home. Who cares if the JetBox flew right skid low? It’s not about elegance is it? Read More→
Steve and Dave receiving their awards
My pals Dave Harwood and Steve Halliwell successfully navigated their way to winning the timed arrival competition at the Helicopter Club of Great Britain Air Games competition at Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire yesterday. Both pilots were first time entrants and had borrowed G-EWAW in order to compete after Steve’s chopper G-LADZ was confined to maintenance. Participants are required to identify features on the ground using an ordnance survey map after finding them using standard OS grid references. An added twist requires you to depart from a starting line at precisely the correct time, navigate the route, identify the features and return to the finish line at exactly the correct time – to the second. In this case all turbine aircraft were allotted 21minutes and 26 seconds to complete the challenge. No more, no less! A sterling effort boys.
What also needs reporting is the absolutely commendable performance given by Audrey Collier who was the navigator for 2 times Women’s Champion Caroline Gough-Cooper. Caroline’s usual team-mate was unable to assist and so asked Audrey to help her. A daunting proposition for any pilot let alone someone who has only been flying for 18 months. Audrey put in an absolutely stunning performance and their team came 4th (arguably, as I’m certain it should have been 3rd) in the slalom event. Awesome, Collier. Simply awesome.
I’ll be preparing a more detailed report shortly.
On Wednesday, I had the opportunity of visiting the Aston Martin Factory near Gaydon, just south of Birmingham on a Helicopter Club of Great Britain organised visit. This event was heavily oversubscribed and was therefore limited to fully paid up members of the HCGB resulting in approximately 40 of us attending and being split into groups for a tour of the facilities and a hands on driving experience. I was keen to go on this trip for a number of reasons, one of which is that I am considering the purchase of a V8 Vantage (the baby of the bunch). This could, therefore, prove to be a very expensive day. The local Heritage Motor Centre had allowed those flying in by chopper to use one of their fields for landing purposes and approximately 14 heli’s arrived on the day. The centre are clearly well equipped and used to choppers as they have their own PPR requirements including indemnity forms, marshaller s and a fire truck. Excellent. Read More→
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