Leading from the Front: Bristow Helicopters: The First 50 Years - Hardcover

Healey, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0752426974 ISBN 13: 9780752426976

Publisher: The History Press, 2003

Synopsis

This is the definitive history of the company which grew from inauspicious beginnings to become one of the largest independent helicopter fleets in the UK, serving the oil rigs of the North Sea as well as charters. The firm of Bristow was founded in 1952 and has grown to be the largest civilian helicopter fleet in Europe with over 120 aircraft. It provides support for the offshore industry as well as search and rescue services around the British coast. The company operates in many parts of the world and is truly a global business.

About this title

From the Author

When I left the Navy in 1982, I thought that Bristow operated only over the North Sea -- and I had done my time flying like that. If I had had any idea of just how diverse this company was, and still is, and where I might have gone after serving a North Sea 'apprenticeship', I would have joined like a shot. The first half of my book reads, I think, more like an adventure story than a corporate history, and the second half gives an idea of just how much Bristow has contributed to the lexicon of helicopter flying over the past half-century.

About the Author

Andrew Healey learned to fly helicopters, like Alan Bristow, in the Royal Navy. Later in his career he again followed Bristow's footsteps by setting off to the Antarctic, as a pilot aboard the Navy's Ice Patrol ship, HMS Endurance. A year later, Andrew left the Navy and joined an established helicopter charter operator in the south-east of England. There he flew passengers, film crews and photographers before an accident in 1985 prematurely ended his flying career. Since then Andrew has written for his living, both for the aerospace press and as a freelance travel writer -- predominantly for the London Evening Standard but also for most British national broadsheets. He has also written and published company newsletters, organised helicopter air shows, presented travel films for the BBC and authored web sites for the BBC and Channel 4.

Edition details

• Publisher: The History Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0752426974
• ISBN 13: 9780752426976
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192