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Helicopters

Jersey whooper swan falls in love with a £6million chopper

The Daily Mail has a rather bizarre story about a whopper swan in Jersey who lost his mate a few years ago and has fallen in love with a £6million Eurocopter EC155. Even more strange is the fact that although dozens of different choppers fly in and out of the runway every week, the whooper only has eyes for the EC155. He even recognizes the chopper’s engines when it flies in, chases it down the runway and then sits and nestles by it until the chopper’s owner flies off again!

Since the pilot and local airport officials were afraid the swan would fly into the chopper’s rotor blades, they decided to have a vet clip his wings. And while there are many swans in the area, there aren’t any other whooper swans.

A local employee told the Daily Mail:

‘He seems very happy but I would like to find him a female white swan – but this is Jersey and there aren’t many around.

‘So if anyone can help me find him a mate that would be brilliant. It would also stop him flying around the airport when his feathers grown back.’

So if you know of a lonely female whooper swan in need of a mate, please contact the Jersey Airport or the nearby Les Mielles Golf and Country Club before his wing feathers grow back and this love affair ends in tragedy!

Did you know that Pope Benedict XVI is a chopper pilot?

While now ex-Pope Benedict is the first pope to have embraced modern technologies like Twitter and mobile phones (not that there have been many popes in recent years…), the Catholic News Agency has reported another rather unusual and startling fact about the former pontiff:

Pope Benedict XVI has a pilot’s license for the papal helicopter and likes to fly from the Vatican to the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, but the pope does not have a driver’s license as he never learned to drive a car.

Apparently, Pope Benedict had never saw the need to learn how to drive as throughout his life, he could always get to where he was going though other methods – like flying the papal helicopter or presumably riding in the back of the popemobile in latter years.

No word on when Pope Benedict became a pilot or much else about his flying experience. Aviationclub does have the following picture of what appears to be Pope Benedict at the controls of the papal helicopter:

Dramatic video of a helicopter crash while filming “Top Gear Korea”

A dramatic helicopter crash was caught on video during the filming of the Korean version of the hit British TV show “Top Gear” as reported by several British papers like the Guardian and The Independent along with GrindTV which picked up the video from Top Gear’s YouTube channel.

In the video, “Top Gear Korea” presenter Kim Jin Pyo was racing an AH1 Cobra helicopter while driving a Corvette ZR1. At around the one minute mark, the helicopter does a loop in the air with the pilot apparently losing control and coming down hard on the ground – kicking up a huge cloud of dust. Apparently, no one was seriously hurt, but we can probably assume that the helicopter will be grounded for awhile or perhaps permanently.

The latest news about the London helicopter crash

Yesterday, two people were killed and 12 were hurt when a helicopter crashed into a crane shrouded by fog on top of The Tower, One St George Wharf beside the Thames at around 8:00 am in the morning.

Here is the location of the accident:

London Helicopter Crash

The CAA has already issued a brief statement about the incident which pointed out:

“Helicopter operations in central London are strictly controlled. Single engine helicopters are required to fly along designated routes, which have been selected to provide maximum safety by routing helicopters along the river Thames, avoiding flying over built up areas as much as possible. Twin engine helicopters can operate in wider areas, however all aircraft operating in central London are subject to air traffic control clearance.”

“There are requirements for lighting on tall structures. In addition, where appropriate, very tall structures are also notified to pilots for flight planning purposes, as was the case with the crane that was involved in this morning’s accident.”

Yahoo! News has an article about the type of helicopter that crashed, an AgustaWestland 109 (AW109) – a model that was used in the London Olympics opening ceremony and was described as being lightweight and versatile.

As for the people touched by the tragedy, the Daily Mail has an article about the two crane operators who were both lucky enough to have overslept for the first time in years. Had they not overslept, they would have been inside the crane when the helicopter hit.

Finally, this is Lincolnshire has pointed out that pilot Peter Barnes had worked as an air ambulance pilot in Lincolnshire while This is Derbyshire has mentioned that he also flew the air ambulance in Derbyshire. Apparently, Peter was known to be a highly skilled pilot with 25 years of flying experience plus his TV and film credits have included the 2002 James Bond movie, Die Another Day along with Saving Private Ryan, Tomb Raider II and the BBC show Coast.

James Bond’s helicopters: The AgustaWestland AW101 and AW159

David Cenciotti, the blogger behind the Aviationist, has brought our attention to the  AgustaWestland AW101 – one of the major toys in the latest James Bond movie, Skyfall. The helicopter, known as “Merlin” in aviation circles,  is used by Bond’s enemy but its also being used by the militaries of several countries around the world, including the UK. In addition,  the movie also featured an AgustaWestland AW159 Wildcat which has been ordered for the British Army and Royal Navy. GolfHotelWhiskey.com - AgustaWestland AW101

According to Wikipedia, the  AgustaWestland AW101’s origins date back to 1977 when the UK Ministry of Defence issued a requirement for an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter to replace the Royal Navy’s Westland Sea Kings. The helicopter was then jointly developed by Westland Helicopters in the UK and Agusta in Italy as well as manufactured in facilities located in Yeovil (south Somerset) and Vergiate (Italy). The AW101 ultimately replaced many older helicopters like the Sikorsky S-61 for medium-sized transport and anti-submarine warfare roles.

The AgustaWestland AW159’s origins date back to 2002 and its an improved version of the Westland Super Lynx military helicopter. Its intended roles include battlefield utility, search and rescue and anti-surface warfare.

AgustaWestland itself is playing up the James Bond connection with a dedicated page on its website that notes the aircraft in the movie were flown by their test pilots and filming required very precise flying due to the proximity to the film set and camera helicopter. In fact, 15 hours were spent rehearsing and shooting the scenes involving the helicopters and they have even put together the following video posted on the AgustaWestland YouTube video channel: