Hemsley Moors to see a live Bell 212 August 2021, Richard Bowater
With Spain off the
trip menu for the obvious reason I didn’t think I was going to
see any Bell 212s or 205s this year. When I did go to Spain the
helicopters were back at base so I rarely observed a flying
example.
Dave Thompson gave me
a tip off that there was going to be a Huey working on the moors
above Helmsely and with a bit more enquiry I found the exact
location. The location was very close to a place where I had
once landed in a balloon near the hamlet of Cockayne on the high
moors.
We set out on the
drive and soon reached the moors and eventually the helicopter
Bell 212 G-BIGB. The crew were having lunch so I enquired about
the operation and obtained permission for some photographs of
the Helicopter which I had seen a couple of times before.
The first time I had
seen it was way back in the 1980s possibly at the Beehive near
Gatwick airport awaiting delivery to a new operator. Then the
second time in Spain as N362EH October 2006 at Palma Del Rio.
The work seemed to be
dropping ballast on the moors from an under slung hopper which
was refilled whilst the helicopter hovered over the loading
station. I watched and photographed about five trips which
seemed to take about five minutes and then decided to move on.
I have passed by
Fadmoor numerous times and never investigated the airfield so
being so close this time I decided to try. From the road I could
see a hangar with an aircraft in it but only the tail. I talked
to a guy in a caravan who directed me to the farm house but
unfortunately there was no one at home, so one for another day.
The next stop was
Helmsley for ice cream and then on to more airfields, the
weather decided to put a stop to that with torrential rain so
trip over and home. The ice cream was nice even in the rain.
