FO 'Bear' Helier

Back in the Air with Uncle Melvyn & Friends!

2009-08-22T12:45:00.006+01:00

Well, I had been taking a well-earned break and putting my paws up for a bit which I needed after another visit to the Army Air Corps! But, time does not stand still and neither does this bear, so it was off to deepest Surrey to meet up with Melvyn Hiscock again. Melvyn has two addresses, one is a house and the other is his local pub, guess where I met him? The Crossways pub in Churt made me very welcome (their Guinness is superb as is all their beer) and I met up with Melv on Sunday 16. He immediately took me over to meet the chaps at Airbourne Aviation at Popham.

Airborne (http://www.flymac.co.uk) are one of the biggest microlight training schools in the country and have eight aircraft and one gyrocopter. The aircraft are two Eurostar, low wing metal micro lights that look great fun (not tried one yet) and six Ikarus C-42.

I started off with a trial lesson in a C-42 with Alan Hitchcock, one of the instructors. The C-42 is great fun to fly and lively as it has the same power as most light aircraft on a much lighter frame. I also got the chance to investigate the famous Airbourne biscuit tin and meet up with the staff including Grahame Hills, the operations manager and Shelley Smith, Shell is the daughter of founder Mac Smith and I will admit I have a bit of a crush on her although her Jack Russell seems to think I want to play all the time and he might be a bit rough.

While at Popham I also met up with the Antonov AN-2 club and Chris Thompson and Bill ‘ten bars’ Learey too me on a display practice. That was fun in such a big old aeroplane. Incidentally, Bill is called ‘ten bars’ as when they take the aeroplane back to Hungary for maintenance he noticed you get better service if you have officers epaulettes on your flight suit. Bill decided to go for more stripes than anyone else to see if he got better service. He did!

From Popham I also jumped into Melvyn’s lovely Rearwin Cloudster for a flight to Panshanger airfield near Hatfield (home of the famous de Havilland company) for a vintage car and aeroplane do. We were ushered into the static park rather than parking with the other light aircraft which was fun. There were two Spartan Cruisers there too and I rather fancy a go in one of them, they are from 1939 (like Melv’s Rearwin) and are sleek and fast looking. There were also some nice looking cars at the event and one or two rather nice ladies who seemed to like a well-dressed bear…..

Back at Popham I managed to grab another couple of flights in the C-42s from Airbourne and got out over the New Forest to look at the old airfield at Stoney Cross which was used by the RAF and USAAF during World War Two.

On Thursday 20 August Melv took the day off and came with me to the Starlight Childrens event at Popham. This is an incredible event organised by Starlight for disabled, sick and terminally ill kids and their familes. Local pilots turn up in good numbers to give kids rides and there were several helicopters doing the same. Bear in mind some of those cost hundreds of pounds per hour to fly and they are there all day giving kids rides and you’ll start to see why it is such a good event. There is not only a lot of flying, but also a lot of stuff on the ground. Each kid gets a toy and a goodie bag when they arrive (I got a T-shirt which is a bit big) and there are also rides in an old bus, hovercraft, vintage and classic cars as well as flash cars (I saw a nice Bentley and a convertible roller!) and the Bristol Hell’s Angels turn up in force and give Harley rides. They may look scary but what a great bunch of blokes, they also hold a raffle and raise money too.

I got to ride in Melvyn’s Rearwin a couple of times with some great kids and I also got a ride in Tony Purslow’s Cessna 182. Tony is a local Mercedes dealer and takes the day off every year and flies kids all day. I also got to fly in a Eurocopter EC102B, G-VIPR which was a lot of fun too. It was a great day (despite some high winds) and it was great to see the work of another charity.

After a quick night’s sleep, we whizzed over to the former RAF and British Aerospace airfield at Dunsfold. This was where the Hawk I flew in was made and where a lot of Harriers and Hunters were also built. As we drove around the Peri track Melv pointed out the house where the great test pilot Neville Duke used to live, inside the airfield boundary! He then introduced me to Larry Culver and the good people of the Surrey and Sussex Air Ambulance and that is where I am now, tapping this out on my laptop and looking forward to some interesting flying over the weekend. The work of the Air Ambulances is hard but they seem a good bunch and I know they do great work that really does save lives. I will report more later!

My friend Elwood

2008-12-02T17:52:00.001Z

I got an email today i thought i would share with you. It was from my friend Elwood Bear.

From: ElwoodBear
Sent: 02 December 2008 17:51
To: bear@jerseyairdisplay.org.uk
Subject: F/O Helier

Hello,
I've just found your site and I thought I would say Hello once again. You may remember we flew together in Hunter F.58A G-PSST at Duxford on 7th September this year with Uncle Jonathon "Flapjack" Whaley.

Here (attached) is the photo we had taken all together afterwards. I can send a higher resolution jpeg if you want to print it out for your photo album.

I have visited Jersey twice now, but it was before I had been introduced to you; however, it would seem that you don't spend a great deal of time there these days as you are busy hurtling around the sky. I have been doing that for a number of years now but as I get older I find I much prefer the more sedate aircraft as pulling lots of g tends to affect my fur now. I still keep my hand in, mind you, and a reheat run down the runway in a Lightning F.6 just after seeing you was great fun.

Anyway, just wanted to say Hello once again and look forward to flying with you again next year.
Happy Landings,
Elwood Bear
Traveller Extraordinaire

Elwood is a great aviating bear, he has lots of experience and could teach me a thing or too. The many aircraft he has flown include the Hawk solo display, the Chinook and he has been wing walking, which is something i would love to try! Look out for my friend at UK air shows!

Newark Air Museum

2008-11-08T22:08:00.002Z

Today, on my way back up to Dishforth (can't believe they're sending me back; its cold up North!) I stopped off and visited Newark Air Museum. http://www.newarkairmuseum.org.

Although this isn't a particularly big museum, there is plenty to see. It was great to wander around all the aircraft, including; de Havilland Sea Vixen, English Electric Lightning T.5, Gloster Meteor T.7, Hunting Jet Provost T.3A, HS Gnat T.1, SAAB Draken, North American F-100 Super Sabre, and Avro Shackleton. I won't carry on, at the risk of sounding like an "enthusiast"....but I really fancy flying the Draken and I think I would enjoy some time with the Army Historic Flight, the Sioux looks quite roomy and on seeing it I couldn't help but burst into song; singing Suicide is Painless loudly and with gusto....much to the surprise of the visiting public!

There was a Sim there (50p a go!) and it proved a bit of a giggle listening to one chap (who obviously fancied himself as a good pilot), crash time after time. Terrain! Terrain! Pull up! Pull up! I hope I don't see him in the cockpit any time soon.

FO Bear Helier vists Popham

2008-11-07T17:35:00.004Z

Popham Airfield in the North Hampshire downs is a great place. With two grass runways and a great atmosphere it is a very popular destination for weekend fliers and this bear was no exception. Because Popham attracts to many good people it was only natural that it would attract a top bear as well.

Among the great selection of very nice aeroplanes based at Popham is Melvyn Hiscock’s Rearwin Cloudster. This is unique in Europe and one of only about five flying anywhere in the world. It was completed on 12 October 1939 and was delivered to California by Ken Rearwin, son of the company founder Rae Rearwin, during November of 1939.

It spent many years flying in the US before being sold to England where it provided an engine for a World War One replica. The remains were bought by Melvyn and restored over a five year period with it’s first post restoration flight on 9 May 2005.

Since then it has been based at Popham and provided your favourite bear with a great flight out around the Isle of Wight, across Southampton water and the New Forest stopping for tea and buns at Old Sarum airfield near Salisbury and then back to Popham.

As Melvyn said “What a real pleasure it was to fly with such an accomplished and polite bear, it was a nice flight and I hope to introduce him to some more people at Popham, and some of the other airfields in the area, in the not too distant future!”

Update from the AAC

2008-11-04T15:03:00.001Z

The lack of updates for the Blog have been down to FO Bear Helier's busy flying tempo. His trips to date have included: two low level trips through the Lake District; he has flown down the Tyne; through the London Heli lanes twice; multiple low level training trips around the Yorkshire moors; and 2 aircraft pick ups from Fleetlands. He has completed his Lynx Mk7 and 9 conversions, and his list of airfields visited is growing......So far in the Lynx he has been to: RAF Cranwell, RAF Cottesmore, RAF Leeming, RAF Linton on Ouse, RAF Topcliffe, Fleetlands (Vector) and Fairoaks.

Helier has gone green!

2008-10-24T17:43:00.004+01:00

FO Bear Helier is thoroughly enjoying his time with the Army Air Corps and loves his new flying suit. He will post details of his activites shortly.

Facebook!

2008-10-11T10:44:00.001+01:00

FO Bear Helier has joined facebook. Add him as your friend and keep up to date his activities, and talk to him about his travels.

06 October 2008

2008-10-06T10:33:00.000+01:00

FO "Bear" Helier has officially arrived at Dishforth, having had an unusually long stay at the postal depo. Slightly dehydrated after his travels, the AAC showed their hospitality by rushing him straight to the mess bar. Bear was outraged as their was no Guinness on tap.......he had to settle for lager.......after 8 days in a box too! Bear has been promised some flying this week as well as some sim training. Hopefully the AAC will keep us updated on his progress. After all he is yet to do his conversion to rotary.

5th October 2008 ~ MISSING IN ACTION

2008-10-05T11:03:00.003+01:00

Sadly, FO Bear Helier is lost somewhere on Dishforth Airfield. Having been delivered on Wednesday 1st October, he has consequently mysteriously disappeared. Possibly Bearnapped? Perhaps he saw the AAC flying and went AWOL?

Army Air Corps Posting

2008-09-28T12:31:00.005+01:00

Today FO "Bear" Helier is leaving Jersey for a posting with the Army Air Corps. He is off to Dishforth Airfield, and looking forward to some Lynx flying. As Dishforth is near (ish) RAF Linton-on-Ouse, RAF Topcliffe, and RAF Leeming he is also rather hoping for some more fastjet experience, perhaps on the Hawk, or some further training with the Tucano. Look out for updates of where he is and what he is doing on the blog.

Look out for French Customs!

2008-09-25T12:28:00.001+01:00

Today i flew a light aircraft, another first for me (a PA 32, Cherokee 6).Leanne, the Jersey International Air Display Events Co-ordinator and her friend David Brown, flew with me to Caen. Enjoyed practicing my French. Couldn't believe the landing fee was only five euros, will have to go back for a longer stay! Customs were funny, made me go through the x-ray machine and show my passport. Sadly, they refused to sign my logbook!

Civvy Flying

2008-09-24T12:24:00.001+01:00

Today i had my first experiences of Civvy flying, in a Flybe Dash 8 Q400 and Blue Islands Jetstream 32. Enjoyed clocking up over four hours flying time in one day. The Dash was called the Matt Le Tissier, and had a picture of him on the side. Imagine my suprise when i saw the passenger manifest and discovered he was on board. We had our picture taken together and he signed my logbook.

Have you seen my stuffing?

2008-09-11T12:19:00.001+01:00

Recovered after the Kingair Flight. Pint of Guinness settled my tummy and i went with the Paris crew for their display. Loved flying the Morane-Saulnier MS-760 Paris , although i did think my stuffing was going to come out of my bottom on the run and brake. Awesome manoeuvre!!!

Jersey International Air Display 2008

2008-09-11T12:06:00.001+01:00

Still at the Jersey International Air Display. Went up in the Kingair today, and for the first time ever, i was sick. I have never been sick in an aircraft, i just don't understand it. Must have been a dirty glass......how humiliating

7G ~ Awesome!

2008-09-10T12:04:00.001+01:00

Today i have flown with the Patrouille de France 2008 Team. What a ride!!! Had a few butterflies in my tummy during the show, because i didn't know what they were going to do next! CO said i had outstanding resistance a 7g.....RESULT!!!!

The Doolittle Bear

2008-08-30T11:59:00.001+01:00

Just been flying with the The Duke of Brabant Air Force, in their B25 Mitchell at Shoreham. They have made me an honorary member of their team and given me a flight patch. What a brilliant day out, i felt ready to go on the Doolittle raid at the end of it!! I really love this historic aircraft.

RAF Waddington Air Show

2008-07-05T11:58:00.002+01:00

RAF Waddington Air Show

I got to fly in the Vulcan, great to see her flying again, and what a unique trip for me. Shame about the met though.

T-Bear

Chinook

2008-05-18T11:57:00.001+01:00

T Bear says: Really enjoyed my trip in the Chinook at Duxford. Those boys are fab!

A Day with Air Traffic

2008-04-04T11:55:00.000+01:00

04 April 2008

ATC REF Leeming

Sat in the ADC's position at RAF Leeming.

T Bear says ~ Glad i'm a flyer!!!!

Hawk Flight

2008-02-13T11:53:00.000Z

February 13 2008

HAwk T1A

"Hawk Familiarisation Practice Intercepts ~ FO Helier was happy at 7.5g ~ good show!"

T Bear says ~ I really enjoyed this flight, but found it a little tame

December 2007

2007-12-29T11:08:00.000Z

Certified correct for period 01 Oct 07 to Dec 07
OC 617 Sqn ~ RAF Lossiemouth

Section 5 ~ FO "Bear" Helier Logbook
" Assessment of Ability: Well above average
Remarks: An outstanding first tour. Combat ready in all major Tornado GR4 disciplines. Shows great promise for all future aircraft types. An asset to any squadron. All the best for your aviation career. Thank you for your contribution to 617 Squadron"