Classic British Flight Sim

sparked by a bit of conversation..FSX does helicopters much better than FS9 so i would thoght i would give it a go

a couple problems emerge, lack of overland routes and lack of suitable helicopters and lack of oil rig scenary for FSX

well a bit of research to address the lack of routes.

thier does seem to have been a primary route network and it is

Notingham-leicester-Birmingham-Northholt-Heathrow-Southampton (B-171/S-55)

other routes were

Liverpool-Wrexham- Cardiff (S-51)
also
liverpool-Cardiff direct (S-51)

and

Scilly isles-Lands end (S-55)
Scilly isles-Penzance (S-61N)

and

Peterborough-Yarmouth (S-51) (mail)
Peterborough-Norwich (S-51) (mail)

for helicopters thier is no S-51 for FSX and not sure about FS-9, thier is an S-55 (whirlwind we could use) not sure BEA used the S-58 (wessex) overland. again thier is no B-171 (sycamore) at this time

interestly BEA operated a jetranger but i have no idea where it went or what it did so far

i think thier is some basis for using the S55 (whirlwind) on the primary route to boost our distinct lack of heli action (usable in FSX as well as FS9 for sure)

Thoughts ?

first comercial helicopter passenger service in the world apparently

Cardiff dep. 9.45 a.m. Liverpool arr. 11.30 a.m.

Cardiff dep. 5 p.m. Liverpool arr. 6.45 p.m.

(Wrexham arr. 6.29 p.m., dep. 6.35 p.m. Liverpool arr. 7 P;ml

Liverpool dep. 9 a.m. Cardiff arr. 10.45 a.m.

Cardiff dep. 4 p.m. Liverpool arr. 5.45 p.m. ^

(Wrexham arr. 9.23 a.m., dep. 9.30 a.m. Cardiff arr. 11 a.m./

in FS

i guess this would Be

EGGP-EGFF (liverpool cardif -direct) thier is no wrexham but perhaps hawarden EGNR might substitute

B.E.A.'s helicopter flights from Nottingham to Birmingham,

with a stop at Leicester, will begin on July 2. There will be two

services daily in each direction, except for Sundays.

The service operates three times daily—0700, 1205 and i6oohr

from the Hay Mills rotor station, which is some three miles

distant from the centre of Birmingham. The journey to Northolt

takes 70 minutes and the crossing to Heathrow (London Airport) a

further ten. Fares are £2 10s. single and £4 10s. for the return

journey. If seats are available, the service between the two

London airports may be used at £1 each way.

in FS this could be

EGBN-EGBG-EGBB-EGWU-EGLL (Nottingham-Leicester-Birmingham-Northolt-Heathrow)

the worlds first commercial night helicopter service (On 12 May 1948, the British European Airways began a regular mail service from Westwood using Sikorsky 51 and Bell 47 b3 helicopters,)

first night mail run took off from

Westwood field at Peterborough to make a return flight

to Norwich. The timetable is: —

Take-ofi, Peterborough, 22.00 Land, Norwich .. 22.56

Take-off, Norwich .. 01.50 Land, Peterborough .. 02.56

well (RAF) westwood is long gone but i think Connington is the nearer of the two peterborough airfields so

EGSF-EGSH (peterborough-Norwich)

and

EGSF-EGSD (peterborough-Yarmouth)

i cant find the actual times for the southern part of the route to South hampton or Gatwick but the route was

EGWU-EGLL-EGHI (Northolt-Heathrow-Southhampton)

and thier was also a EGLL-EGKK service (Heathrow-Gatwick) again times unknown

thats for BEA...other operators not known at this time (Autair perhaps ?)

The BEA Helcopter division was an experimental division set up to pioneer the use of helicopters in commercial route service

Full of potential and many ideas it found the use impractical where convential equipement could be used.

But they did sterling work devolping routes and trying to make them viable and as with so much up until those times, were paving the way for the rest of the World to follow.

They also did educational flights for schoolchildren and a lot of flying crane work.

In the case of the Isles if Scilly route, the one scheduled survivor, they indroduced a large modern comfortable cabin, a vast improvement over the Dragon Rapide and even today the only fixed wing competitors are either much smaller (Twin Otter) or in the case of the Islander, noisier as well.

It is sadly often forgotten just how big a part BEA played in mapping the civil use of helicopters.

Garry

just found your paints for the S-55..alas Fs9 only..BEA found helicopter flights very practicable...just not very economic..

trying to trace what AUTAIR did with the WS-55's it took of BEA's hands, no luck so far

managed to get a S-51 model working in both FS9/FSX...FSX requires a bit of work...but hey moving forward who knows we may hear the clatter of ancient rotors in CBFSVA skies yet