Rotary briefs (From our special helicopter correspondent, Randy Rotorhead) Paul Schweizer, boss of the family helicopter business of that name, commenting at the first joint press conference held with its new owner, Sikorsky: "And I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome Sikorsky to the Schweizer family." "Spotted" at HAI: a booth called "Chopper Spotter". A new organisation for that rarest of breeds, the "rotary only" reggie collectors? Sadly not. It was advertising a clever device for carting around skid-equipped choppers. Overheard at HAI: Brian Bladetip: "At 10.30 there's going to be a demo by the FBI of its new helicopter and the special approach procedure they've developed." Randy: "Special approach? What's it called?" Brian: "The Edgar J Hover." The truth behind the selection of the US101 over the S-92 for the presidential chopper contest finally emerged at HAI. So what was the decider? The 101 cabin provided just enough room for a fully deployed Stetson. Model ambulance LifePort of Washington has been selected by Airfix Aviation of Finland to design, manufacture and certificate an air ambulance system for new Citation 560XLs. The new systems will apparently be available in 1:32 and 1:72 scale and will come with glue and paint included! Rotary express And speaking of "choppers", the UK Ministry of War has had words with a British Army Lynx pilot who apparently dropped in to deliver a pizza to his girlfriend while enroute to a navigation exercise. While they do "not condone" these actions, the cash-strapped warlords are now believed to be conducting feasibility studies into the revenue earning potential of pizza deliveries using much larger machines. "Think of the possibilities. With a couple of Pumas or a Chinook we could supply entire towns in no time," says Sir Basil Armchair, new head of the Pizza Procurement and Delivery Executive. Savvy traveller part 2 Oh dear. Your poor old Uncle is apparently slipping up again re: the recent coverage of Ryanair's Santiago flight being in Spain not Chile. Nephew Alpha Bravo Tango November says this time the airline has confused itself. "Santiago? Clearly in Chile. Don't forget this is the airline that calls Hahn Frankfurt when it is 70 miles away, and Skavsta Stockholm, which is much the same distance. At one time it called Malmo ‘Copenhagen', until someone pointed out that it was in a different country!" More hairbrush megaliner reggies A380 MSN001 F-WWOW: Wonderful wealth of widgets Wanton waste of widgets Whopping wonder of (a) wing Whopping waste of wing We're working on welfare
Source: Flight International
