ROTORS OVER GLOUCESTERSHIRE

Paul Cornu's primitive helicopter makes an early tethered proving flight. This image is from card 6 of the Brooke Bond tea "History of Aviation" series of the early 1970s.

Although a rotary winged toy appears in a 14th Century Flemish document now preserved in Copenhagen, it was in 1907 that two French teams - one led by Paul Cornu and another jointly by Louis Bregut and Professor Richet - both proved that helicopters were - just about - a practical reality. Cornu's machine used two rotors belt-driven from a central 24 hp engine to rise one foot in the air for 20 seconds near Liseux on 13 November 1907.

However, both these machines were heavy, underpowered, unreliable and unstable and when the Gloster Aircraft Company (GAC) tried to build a helicopter of their own in the late 1920s they did not fare much better. In a 1955 edition of the GAC staff magazine "Pinion" works engineer Mr A. K. Laverton recalled the machine "as looking like a tin shed with horizontal paddle wheels on top." The tin shed did actually heave itself into the air, but was grossly underpowered. A more powerful engine was then installed and then, according to an eye witness, the craft "Rose rather unsteadily, finally rolling over on one side when one of the rotors caught in an overhead roof girder; and the machine was left suspended from a tangle of rotor and shafting".

Early helicopters faced the twin problems of the fuselage spinning in the opposite direction to a single rotor and of directing the craft up, down, forward and backward. Russian designer Boris Yuriev first proposed a small vertical rotor mounted on the tail to stop spinning in 1912 while Argentinian designer Raul Pateras de Pescara discovered rotor blade pitch variation and cyclic control.

Parnall's experimental military C10 ( RAF serial J 9038) had a 30' diameter rotor.

Since the single pylon-mounted rotor was not directly driven by the engine ( which was mounted conventionally at the front to provide forward thrust ), but needed wind blowing through its four blades, the C.4. could not take off vertically but could land in a very small space. However, the freewheeling rotor of the Spanish aviator's machine meant that it could hover slowly and - unlike a single rotor helicopter - did not require a tail rotor to balance the torque applied to the horizontal blades through a driveshaft from an engine.

Juan De La Cierva himself wrote an article for the U.S. Services magazine " Wings of Tomorrow" in which he described the handling of his invention:

"The take off in itself is effected exactly like that of an aeroplane. One may dive and climb at will, make vertical turns, and so on. The autogiro flies exactly like any aeroplane. The real sensation that I experienced was in landing. Cutting off the motor 1,000 feet directly over the field, I pulled the stick back and proceeded to fly, on my first landing, about thirty miles an hour coming into land. The descent was about an angle of 45 degrees and on touching the ground I did not roll more than ten feet without any application of the wheel brakes whatsoever. I took off again and landed to become accustomed to this strange craft. It intrigued and thrilled me. I now had enough experience to attempt a more vertical descent.....it is quite a sensation for a pilot who has been flying a fast aeroplane that lands between 60 and 70 miles an hour and that must be manoeuvred carefully into a field, making sure his judgment is accurately managed, to step into a machine and fly right over the centre of the field, shut off his motor and then drop right straight down into the circle which marks the centre of airport."

Juan De La Cierva had cured the tendency of the Autogiro to roll over in flight in 1922 by incorporating a flapping hinge for each blade. This produced greater lift as the advancing blade automatically moved up with increasing airspeed, but movement of air relative to the blade was changed, angle of attack reduced and lift decreased. Simultaneously an opposite process was working on the retreating blade, resulting in lift forces on all blades being balanced, thus rendering the system stable.

Following Juan De La Cierva's move to Britain in 1925 and the formation of the Cierva Autogira Company in Britain during 1926 some early Cierva machines used an Avro 504 fuselage with the rotor replacing the upper wing of the biplane. These were assembled at A.V. Roe's Hamble works, but two machines - the Cierva C10 and C11 - were ordered from George Parnall & Co and completed in 1927.

The experimental military C10 ( RAF serial J 9038) had a 30' diameter rotor with four paddle shaped blades, the outer portions of which were built up on a ribbed aerofoil section. The fixed rotor head, supported by struts and bracing wires, was located above the forward fuselage in front of the open cockpit which had no windscreen. Braced 17' span stub wings were fitted to the lower front fuselage with the aeroplane type tail unit having a rounded fin and rudder with rectangular horn balanced elevators. A cross axle type fixed main landing gear and long tailskid were also provided, with power coming from a 70 hp Armstrong Siddeley Genet I radial engine applied through a two bladed wooden propeller.

Taxiing trials began at Yate in April 1928, but the autogiro was badly damaged after turning on its side. Repairs were carried out and further test made at Andover, but on 5 November 1928 J 9038 crashed on takeoff and was abandoned.

J9038 was badly damaged after turning on its side during taxying trials at Yate in 1928.

G-ACIN was one of the first C.30 Autogiros and had a simple design of undercarriage. It was also the subject of Britain's set 1392 ( below ), a good condition boxed example of which sold for £ 1 800 at Christies in June 2006.

The C.30 Autogiro was also used by the Royal Air Force ( where it was known as the Avro Rota 1 ) from 1936 and went to war in 1939 for use in calibrating British radar stations on the east coast.

One of these machines, HM580, formed part of the Skyfame Museum at Gloucestershire Airport, Staverton, from 1964 to 1978.

It had been built by the RAF during 1941-2 using spare parts recovered from private civilian owners of the type ( all civil flying having been banned and private aircraft impressed into RAF service following the outbreak of hostilities ) and from parts supplied direct by the manufacturers.

Much of the content of HM580 came from C.30 Autogiro G-ACUU which had been registered to Air Service Training at Hamble on 26 June 1934. On 2 May 1938 G-ACUU went unserviceable and the Certificate of Airworthiness ( C of A ) expired. It remained in storage until impressed into RAF service on 2 September 1942.

HM580 was taken on charge with 74 Wing at Duxford on 9 September 1942 and gained the code "KX-K" on joining 529 Squadron (formerly 1448 Flight) at RAF Halton on 23 June 1943. It then suffered what was at first considered a "Category E" accident when Pilot Officer Fillies crashed on landing in bad weather at Thornaby on 18 October 1943. The pilot was unhurt and later examination found the damage to be repairable. HM 580 was in fact repaired by Cunliffe-Owen aircraft of Eastleigh.

HM580 was back in service with 529 Squadron on 24 January 1944 - staying with them after the unit's move to Crazies Hill near Henley in August 1944 - and on 26 November 1945 became the last Avro Rota ever to fly with the RAF when it arrived at 5 Maintenance Unit, Kemble, Gloucestershire, for storage pending sale. All ex RAF Avro Rota / Cierva C.30A autogiros similarly passed through 5 Maintenance Unit, Kemble en route to being "demobbed".

HM580 was restored to civilan ownership and re-registered to the Cierva Autogiro Company Ltd of Swaythling, Southampton, on 3 December 1946 as G-ACUU. This was despite an initial allocation of the identity G-AIXE, the original G-ACUU having been allocated to constructor's airframe number 726 between 1934 and 1938.

G-ACUU was sold to Mr Guy Spencer Baker of Ludlow, Salop, on 29 April 1950, to replace his C.30 G-AIOC which had been wrecked at Rearsby on 10 June 1949

After being displayed by him at the 50 years of flying exhibition held at Hendon in 1951, Mr Baker moved G-ACUU to Elmdon - now Birmingham International Airport - in 1956 before it ceased flying there in April 1959.

In fact Elmdon was quite abuzz with Autogiros in the 1950s. A company by the name of Rota Towels Ltd operated at least two of them including G-AHTZ which had a rather tragic demise when it turned over and caught fire right in front of the then Lord Mayor of Birmingham on 4th March 1958. This aircraft was formerly G-ACUI of the Autogiro Flying Club and served in the RAF as HM581.

G-ACUU - formerly HM580 - poses with Skyfame's Hawker Tempest

Sadly the Skyfame Museum closed at the end of the 1970s and the preserved G-ACUU went to the Imperial War Museum at Duxford where it remains to this day in the military guise of HM 580 with the code "KX-K".

Initially HM 850 was repainted in an early wartime scheme with a yellow underside that would have applied to Duxford based rotorcraft before it was created. In 2001 however a more correct all-over camouflage livery was applied, although the squadron code KX-K should have been in larger letters and coloured dark red instead of the light grey used.

In contrast, the ex Shuttleworth C.30A G-AHMJ (RAF serial K4235 with the code KX-B) was sold to Kermit Weeks of the United States in November 1998 and will probably never be seen in Britain again.

The Cierva C30A with the A.V. Roe Newton Heath construction number 715 was first registered as G-ACWM on 24 July 1934. It was first sold to Mr Albert Batchelor on 18 February 1935 and based at Ramsgate Airport in Kent.

After a number of changes of civilian ownership during 1939, G-AACWM as flown to RAF Hendon on 1 December that year to become the first aircraft in the then secret trials unit set up to calibrate the United Kingdom's coastal radar defences. Fellow C.30As G-ACWP and G-ACWS arrived the next day for similar attachment to 24 Squadron for "wireless calibration tests" working with a Dr Kingsley. However, G-ACWM was not officially impressed into RAF service - as AP 506 - until 31 December 1941 although on 2 February 1941 it suffered a taxiing accident on arrival at RAF Hawkinge when the tail wheel strut fell into a pothole and collapsed. Pilot Officer G.C. Turner had flown the rotorcraft to Kent from RAF Duxford in Cambridgeshire and - once repaired - AP 506 joined 74 Wing, 1448 Flight and 529 Squadron before its final flight to 5 MU at Kemble on 6 June 1945.

The erstwhile AP 506 reverted to the civil registration of G-ACWM on its sale to Mr H.R. Philip of Herne Bay on 24 May 1946 and some 19 years later it arrived at Staverton under the ownership of Mr D. Butcher, who had first acquired the Autogiro in 1953. The plan of Mr Butcher and his partner was to restore the machine with a new identity - G-AHMK. However, due to damage in an arson attack, AP 506 was to spend the two decades from 1983 in the rafters of a private garage in Tewkesbury. Then, in 2003, AP 506 was purchased by Elfan ap Rees and is now displayed as a dismantled airframe at the British Rotorcraft Museum at Weston Super Mare.

Recognition silhouettes of the Westland Dragonfly - based on the Sikorsky H-5

Although the R-4 was used to evacuate casualties during the closing stages of World War II, the first extensive military use of helicopters came during the Korean conflict of 1950-1953. While the Gloucestershire Regiment were earning their United Nations Distinguished Unit Citation in the struggle against Communism, aircraft such as the Sikorsky H-5 were busy taking wounded soldiers to mobile army surgical hospitals, plucking downed airmen from the sea or making daring rescues behind enemy lines.

Recognition silhouettes of the Bristol Type 171 Sycamore

From the Mark 2 version, a 550 hp Alvis Leonides power plant was fitted while the Mark 3 saw accommodation rise from three to five passengers. The main production variant Mark 4 had taller landing gear, four doors and the pilot's seat moved from port to starboard. Sycamores served with all three British armed forces, many overseas air arms and British European Airways.

A Bristol ( later Westland ) Belvedere of 26 Squadron Royal Air Force evacuates British troops. 26 Squadron were based at Aden during the Radfan crisis of the 1960s and also inserted Royal Marines from HMS Centaur into Tanganyika during the 1963 rebellion

Despite being rolled out of the construction hangar in 1951 the prototype G-ALBN - with its steep dihedral tailplane, fixed four-wheel landing gear and large windows - did not make its first proper flight until 24 August 1952. This was due to ground resonance problems and the tendency of the machine to take off at a steep nose-high angle and fly backwards.

After appearing at the 1952 SBAC Farnborough Air Show, G-ALBN was re-identified as XF785 for RAF and Royal Navy trials. These led to the replacement of the original three bladed rotors with four bladed versions and a new straight tailplane with vertical oblong fins. Ironically though, a second prototype ( G-AMJI / XH379 ) had the original upswept tail reinstated. First flown on 31 August 1953, this machine was designated Type 173 Mark 2 and was built with castoring front wheels and stub wings fore and aft.

A Mark 3 prototype - XE286 - built at Weston Super Mare first flew on 9 November 1956. This featured 850 hp Alvis Leonides engines, taller rear pylon, shorter fuselage and longer stroke landing gear - anticipating a Royal Navy order for what was to be known as the Bristol Type 191. However, the 65 production airframes powered by Napier Gazelle turboshaft engines were cancelled when the Lords of the Admiralty plumped for the Sikorsky S-58: later built under licence by Westland as the Wessex.

Bristol Belvedere XG 461 lifts another Bristol product - a rocket/ ramjet powered Bloodhound surface to air missile complete with trailer. Note the vertical fins used on the Belvedere tailplane at this early stage in the aircraft's career. These were to be immortalised in the 1/72 scale Airfix kit but later replaced with the version seen in the colour image of the 26 Squadron Belvedere reproduced above.

A for ability! Bristol Belvedere XG 456 of 66 Squadron - based at Seletar, Singapore - recovers Westland Wessex XS 117 of 845 Naval Air Squadron. The Fleet Air Arm could so easily have had Belvederes of their own - and The Royal Air Force would not have twin rotor lift capacity from 1969 until the arrival of the Boeing Vertol Chinook in 1980. 66 Squadron had previously flown Gloster Gauntlets and Meteors.

The first of these was written by Penny Juckes of 4A in the 1962-3 issue.

"While I was on holiday with my married sister who lives in Beverley, Yorkshire, I was invited up to the RAF station by my brother-in-law, who is a Sergeant in the Helicopter Air Crew. I had a look round several aeroplanes. They were the Anson, Chipmunk, Hunter jets and Lightning jets. I then went round to the Crew Room and met the pilot and navigator of the Air Sea Rescue Crew. My brother-in-law is the winchman. The pilot then asked me if I would like to go up in the helicopter, and I said "Yes please". I was given a helmet with earphones and a microphone which fastens round your throat. We went out for an hour and we went to Bridlington, a seaside town near Beverley where we received an emergency call. We landed in a field near the coastguard hut and the coastguard told us that two fishermen were in difficulties but when we went to investigate we found that they were only tangled up in their fishing nets!"

What an evocative list of old RAF aircraft – although Lightnings would have been brand new then!

A Westland Wessex V from RAF Chivenor in Search and Rescue colours from 1980 ( above)  and a model of Westland Wessex V XV730 from the IPMS show at Churchdown in 2010, below.

"In November, the Royal Navy came to the school to give us a display. They were stationed on the ground as well as in the air. They had a Landrover and a trailer. First the helicopter landed on a rugby pitch, then flew off leaving a man behind. The helicopter came back and picked up a trailer, putting it down on the other side of the field. Then a man sat in a dinghy, pretending to be at sea, to be rescued by the helicopter team. I thought it was very exciting to watch, particularly when the helicopter waltzed around the field. It was funny when the man sat in the dinghy in the middle of the field and when later, dangling from the helicopter, he looked like a spider!"

I personally remember this event well, not least because the Royal Navy always seemed to have the slickest careers presentations of the three services. The rotorcraft in question was a blue Westland Wessex HU5 with the letters P and T in white either side of the blue and red roundel on the rear fuselage. Did this stand for Presentation Team perhaps? Perhaps someone made a note of the number too. What I always regret is going home to eat – as usual – that day. Apparently some of the Sixth Formers were given a ride during the lunch hour!

Aerospatiale 350BB Squirrel HT1 ZJ 274 - similar to the visitor at Cranham - photographed at the Fairford International Air Tattoo in 2002. This aircraft from the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury has the alternative civilian identity G-BXKR

When head teacher Jane Thompson's son said he would be dropping in to visit the school to chat with the pupils about his job he wasn't kidding. Lieutenant Oliver Stead, of the 2nd Regiment Army Air Corps - whose mum is head teacher at Cranham Church of England Primary School - made the flying visit this week in the Squirrel helicopter he is learning to fly. The former Marling School pupil contacted his mum and asked if pupils at the school would like to have a look at the aircraft as part of a route planning exercise he was undertaking with colleague Andrew Higgins. Mrs Thompson said: "Oliver and Andrew were given the opportunity of planning a route which takes in the school, and he asked me if we would like him to bring the helicopter in so that the children could have a look." After gaining permission to land the craft on nearby playing fields, all 51 of the school's pupils, aged between four and nine, gathered to watch as the chopper landed against a backdrop of small village houses. They were then taken, one year at a time, to have a closer look at the craft, which is capable of travelling at almost 150 mph, and to sit in the pilot's seat. The aircraft travelled from its base at Middle Wallop in Wiltshire, via London and Stoke on Trent to the school. the journey was planned down to the minute and arrived on time at 2.15pm to applause from the assembled school children and parents. Pupils spent the morning coming up with questions they would like to ask the pilots, who were happy to be quizzed by the youngsters.

Boeing Vertol CH-47 Chinook ZA682 of 7 Squadron RAF similar to the one that visited Upton St Leonards

Children at Upton St Leonards Primary School were delighted when an RAF Chinook helicopter touched down on a visit. And it was all thenks to a high flying dad whose children attend the school. The large helicopter arrived with tremendous noise and caused a flurry as it landed. All 433 pupils got a chance to go inside the helicopter - which took two hours in total - thanks to a parent of children at the school. RAF Squadron leader Giles Peeters, whose children Hannah and Toby go to the school, set down the chopper on the grass after flying it from Salisbury Plain. "The children thought it was absolutely fantastic - they got to go inside and see it land and take off" said head teacher Stuart Campbell. "The strength of the wind it created was incredible and it was very noisy. The children were all given a demonstration and talks on what the Chinook is and about the Royal Air Force. A lot of the children wanted to go up in the helicopter as well - I know I certainly did. And some of them have said they now want to be helicopter pilots in the future." Officers from the RAF had come to the school in the morning to give a talk and show a video, then the Chinook arrived in the afternoon.

The CH-47 Chinook was designed for the US Army in 1959 and is the largest twin rotor helicopter outside Russia. Weighing 46 000 lb it can fly at nearly 200 mph and carry either 44 fully armed troops or a 12 ton external load. During the war in Vietnam, Chinooks recovered no less than 10 000 crashed aircraft and the type has also served with the Royal Air Force in the Falkland Islands and Afghanistan. However, on 31 March 2007 the Daily Mail reported:

A £ 260 million fleet of RAF helicopters which has never flown beacuse of technical hitches is to be made operational - by being downgraded. The eight RAF Special Forces Chinook Mark 3 aircraft were ordered 12 years ago. They cost £ 32.5 million each. But the project ran into problems. Now the Ministry of Defence is to spend £60 million and two years ripping out the special equipment and fitting standard instruments, Defence Secretary Des Browne announced yesterday.

Meanwhile, the most powerful twin rotor helicopter remains the Mil Mi-12 which, on 18 June 1967, lifted a 40 tonne load. The Mi-12 uses the same engines and many components of the Mi-6 "Hook"- also designed by Mikhail Leontevich Mil and the World's biggest single rotor helicopter. Mil is also responsible for the load carrying Mi-26 "Halo" Mi-8 "Hip" and Mi-10 "Harke" as well as the Mi-24 "Hind" assault helicopter.

Bell 412EP Griffin HT1 ZJ236 of Shawbury based 60 Squadron Defence Helicopter Flying School is a development of the Bell UH1 "Huey" famously used by the United States armed forces in Vietnam. Its alternative civilian serial is G-BXBE. 

Student pilots either join the Royal Air Force directly or as graduate entrants and complete a 30 week officer training course at Cranwell, Lincolnshire.  This is followed by 60 hours of Elementary Flying Training which leads to a Final Handling Test and streaming into further traing specific to fast jets, mutli-engined aircraft or helicopters.  At the DHFS, rotary wing students spend around 70 hours on the Eurocopter Squirrel before 65 hours learning to fly the multi engined Griffin.  Prospective Sea King pilots then spend a further 15 hours on the Griffin.

Two interesting features of the helicopter that rescued the cricket match were the American registration - N600RN - and that it uses jet efflux rather than a rotating tail rotor.

Frocester cricket club went to extraordinary lengths to ensure their National Club Knockout match against Harborne went ahead on Sunday - by using a helicopter to dry the wicket at Pounds Close. And the efforts of Alan Smith, a club sponsor from Smith's Gloucester Ltd, ensured skipper Nick Trainor blasted a club record score in a crushing victory. "What Alan did was fantastic" said Trainor, who was only 13 runs short of breaking his top score of 191. "It goes to show what extremes we will go to at this club to get a game of cricket on. It was a great gesture for him to do what he did at such short notice." Smith hovered above a saturated ground for 30 minutes in front of a throng of enthralled spectators and his efforts, alongside those of groundsman Nev Gardner, one of the more protective workhorses in the business, allowed the umpires to reduce the game to 36 overs a side despite torrential weekend rain." And Trainor led Frocester to 308 for six after pummelling the Harborne attack.

Bond Air Services registered County Air Ambulance Eurocopter 135 T-1G-WMAS hovers over its base at RAF Cosford. A preserved Gloster Javelin is just visible in the background betwen the two hangars.

When there are sufficient public donations, the flying time will be extended to seven days a week, up to 12 hours a day. This is expected to happen within six months.

Fundraising to support the new service is being undertaken by two new charities working together. The Great Western Air Ambulance Charity is handling donations and a new charity - the Melvyn's Trust - has been set up to raise funds from its recycling scheme in support of the air ambulance. Together they are looking to raise the £ 1.3 million needed each year to run the service.

Tim Lynch, Chief Executive of Great Western Air Ambulance Service (GWAS) said:

"The new air ambulance will save lives - and complement the existing paramedic teams on the ground."

Steve West, operations director of GWAS, said:

"The new air ambulance will enable time-critical patients to arrive at the right hospital for their needs far quicker than a land ambulance."

The new air ambulance is expected to attend up to 130 incidents a month during the summer and up to 100 incidents a month in the winter. there will be a pool of 16 crew members - six doctors and 10 critical care paramedics.

John Christensen, chairman of the Great Western Air Ambulance Charity said:

"I would appeal to the community to get behind our appeal to raise those vital funds for this life saving service."

Donations should be made payable to Great Western Air Ambulance Charity ( Charity Number 1121300 ) Cheques and postal orders should be sent to :

Great Western Air Ambulance, Air Operations Office, Bristol Filton Airport, Filton, Bristol, BS99 7AR.

Western Counties Air Support Unit Aerospatiale AS355 F2 Twin Squirrel G-OASP

The police helicopter is celebrating its 10th anniversary after helping save almost 200 lives and assisting in more than 3 000 arrests. The Western Counties Air Support Unit had an immediate impact on crime when it was launched in 1995 and has spent 9 665 hours patrolling Avon and Somerset and Gloucestershire. Marking its first decade by quashing ram raids overnight, the police helicopter has helped to find 232 missing people and recovered more than £ 1 million of stolen property. Inspector Nigel Tinsley-Such said "During the last 10 years the helicopter has dealt with more than 23 000 tasks and spent 9 665 hours airbourne. It is a valuable resource which has proved itself both as a lifesaver and as a crime fighter."

Based at Filton the police helicopter, jointly owned by the Avon and Somerset and Gloucestershire Constabularies, is an Aerospatiale AS355 F2 Twin Squirrel. The crew normally consists of a two police observers and the pilot. All have received specialist training for their respective roles.

Built in France in 1981 as an executive/VIP transport, the Twin Squirrel was bought in May 1995 and underwent a major conversion for police use with the installation of some of the latest high tech equipment. This includes a thermal image (TI) camera: a highly sophisticated surveillance device which detects temperature difference between surfaces and displays this as a picture on a cockpit television monitor. Used primarily at night, due to its ability to 'see in the dark', this equipment can, in certain circumstances also be effective in daylight and is capable of detecting creatures as small as a rabbit and can easily identify human beings. Mounted with the TI camera is a high definition colour video camera with zoom facility, used to monitor incidents and events. Both cameras are contained in a chin-mounted gyro stabilised pod, which is remotely controlled by the front observer and produces broadcast quality pictures. All TI and video images can be recorded by an on-board VCR and preserved for playback as required, eg for evidential or briefing/debriefing purposes. A microwave downlink transmitter is fitted, which enables the live transmission of TI or video images from a scene directly back to any control room equipped with a downlink receiver. A 30 million candlepower Nitesun searchlight is carried for scene illumination. Remotely controlled from within the cockpit, this light can be adjusted from spot to flood and is invaluable at night for illuminating search and incident scenes for ground units. A comprehensive VHF and UHF radio is installed which holds all police national channels plus those of other agencies, such as ambulance, fire and rescue services, coastguard etc. Linked to the radio fit is an airborne public address (PA) system called skyshout, which can be used by the crew to pass messages to persons on the ground or, alternatively, can relay radio messages from officers on the ground over the PA system for instance at public order incidents. The Tracker stolen vehicle recovery system is carried to enable the tracing of stolen vehicles in conjunction with similarly equipped police vehicles, although the coverage from the aircraft is considerably greater due to its operating height. A stretcher can be fitted in the aircraft to assist in the rapid transport of casualties to hospital or to an ambulance which cannot reach remote areas. Other equipment includes gyro-stabilised binoculars, high quality stills camera and a moving map global positioning system (GPS) which assists with enroute navigation. Recently added to the helicopters avionics is a Traffic Collision and Avoidance System generally referred to as 'TCAS', this will give the crew vital seconds to react to another aircraft in the vicinity or on a collision course. The £30,000 system partly funded by the Home Office was installed following a mid-air collision near Wookey in 1997. All the above equipment is necessary for the helicopter to be at its most effective in its task of providing the best possible support to police officers on the ground, whenever and wherever they may need it.

Three views of the Royal Navy version of the three engined Westland Merlin seen at the Southport Military and Air Show on Saturday 10 September 2005.

"A state of the art RAF helicopter flown by a Gloucestershire pilot has arrived in Iraq following a 3 500 mile four day journey through snow and storms. Flight Lieutenant Penny Grayson, from Painswick, was part of the crew on board the Merlin troop carrier when it made the unprecedented journey from the UK to the Middle East. Speaking from Basra in Iraq, Flt Lt Grayson, 32, said "It was hard work but enormously rewarding. The Merlin is a very sophisticated and capable aircraft and has performed extremely well in a whole range of conditions". The helicopter flew last week from its base at RAF Benson in Oxfordshire for its first operational tour in the Middle East. The Merlin's main role is as a troop carrier capable of transporting soldiers anywhere in Iraq. its superior range also makes it a good reconnaissance helicopter. The aircraft, which is equipped with two general purpose machine guns, has a unique rotor blade design which makes the aircraft less noisy. This, combined with its infra-red heat imaging equipment, makes it ideal for surveillance and low level night time flying. The former Archway School pupil has been in touch with her family since she arrived in Iraq. Flt Lt Grayson's father Robin said she seemed in good spirits when they last spoke. "We always worry about Penny but we support her as this is the job that she has chosen to do. During the journey they made several stops as the helicopter does not have the capacity to fly such a distance." Flying is a family tradition in the Grayson household. Mr Grayson flew executive fixed wing aircraft for Rolls Royce during his career as a commercial pilot, while Penny's mother Stephanie was a ground steward for Air Canada during the 1960s.

Click on picture for more on helicopters in the Gloucestershire Floods of 2007

Gloucestershire Airport is home to both helicopters and fixed wing aircraft. G-BKUE is a SOCATA TB9 Tampico owned by Flying Web Ltd while black liveried Robinson R-22B helicopter G-IHSB is owned by Patriot Aviation Ltd.

The Citizen's Business Week supplement of Tuesday 19 January 2010 carried the following story:

Bond's £6m deal to create 10 new jobs.

Bond Aviation Group of Staverton has won a £6 million deal to provide twin-engined helicopter services to the gas fields off of the south coast of Ireland.

Staverton-based Bond Aviation Group has won a £6 million deal to provide twin-engined helicopter services to the gas fields off of the south coast of Ireland.

Bond, which employs 175 people in Gloucestershire, has struck a three year contract with Irish energy firm, PSE Kinsale Energy Limited - a wholly owned subsidiary of PETRONAS.

Bond will provide the helicopters to transfer crew to the gas field from Cork Airport where the company is making a significant investment in new passenger handling facilities.

Bond has introduced a new Eurocopter EC135T2i helicopter for the operation and it is the first time that this aircraft type is being used in European oil and gas offshore operations.

The contract, which was last held by Bond in the late 90's, has created ten new jobs including pilots, engineers and operational staff.

Peter Bond, executive chairman of Bond Aviation Group, said the company's operations in Ireland were growing.

"Our contract win with Kinsale Energy complements our recent contract award to provide up to three air ambulances in Ireland and provides a springboard for future business development in the country, as part of our overall growth strategy," he said.

"Our choice of aircraft represents a highly economical and innovative solution to Kinsale Energy's requirements, whilst maintaining the high levels of safety and comfort expected from the oil and gas industry's exacting standards."

He said Bond had 36 years of experience in the transfer and movement of people and equipment in support of the offshore oil and gas industry.

Mr Bond added: "Our success in this sector has been down to the fact that we provide the total solution, including the provision of the best aircraft and highly trained pilots and engineers, complete with full maintenance support."

Bond Aviation Group is privately owned by brothers Stephen and Peter Bond and currently turns over in excess of £100 million a year.

It has two main operations – Bond Offshore Helicopters and Bond Air Services, which together transport personnel and equipment for the offshore gas, oil and renewable energy industries as well as providing air support for the emergency services, including air ambulance services and trusts and the police.