Sometimes, we forget just how lucky we are to be flying helicopters for a living. Our view from the office window on the good days is probably way better than must people are able to enjoy and we often forget that. So here’s a few images we’ve grabbed just recently to show some of the places we’ve been overhead and some of the interesting helicopters we share helipad space with at Sherburn Aerodrome. We’ll try and make this a regular update to collect together all our iPhone and GoPro grab shots and share them with you here.
Filming preparations for The Great Yorkshire Show
The Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate is probably the biggest event in Yorkshire each year. It’s just a short hop from our base at Sherburn, so when local TV news need aerial filming help, we are on hand. The shot above was grabbed as pilot Oliver Nicholls flew some orbits around the perimeter to get the cameraman the shots he needed for broadcast later that evening.
Flying amongst the big jets at Newcastle Airport
This picture is taken from one of our Robinson R44 helicopters on final approach into Newcastle Airport on a charter flight to collect some excited guests for a special occasion. On the right is a Jet 2 Boeing 737 waiting for us to pass, while behind us was another holiday jet on long finals to land. We nipped off to the left to the business aviation terminal to collect our passengers for their charter.
After lifting off from Newcastle, a steep climb to safety altitude routed us directly overhead the famous Tyne bridges with our guests. This image below shows the famous landmarks as we passed overhead en route to a country house hotel to drop of our passengers in style for their pamper day. Pleasure flying and private charter is a significant part of our work.
Overhead the Tyne bridges in one of our Robinson R44 helicopters
Later on last month, we called in to our friends at Tiger Helicopters at Shobdon aerodrome. Shobdon has one of our favourite airfield eating stops, the Hotspur Cafe with great menu that includes Rob’s perennial favourite, a Full English Breakfast, cooked properly.
Our Robinson R44 beside Tiger’s Bell 206 Jetranger at Shobdon
Finally for now, this picture below shows a busy scene just last week on the helipads at our home base of Sherburn aerodrome. In the background is the ever-busy Eurocopter Twin Squirrel of the National Grid power line inspection service, while in the foreground is this beautiful, immaculate and almost brand new Agusta 109 that called in for a break. The basic design of the Agusta is decades old now, but the shape still makes it one of the coolest helicopters around.
Brand new Agusta 109 resting alongside a Twin Squirrel at Sherburn airfield
We’ll be posting more images from our daily work on our blog here, so like us on our Facebook page for more updates.