Oman photos
Re: Oman photos
Great story Tut, I can't believe that you never mentioned that you were mates with George Michael (centre)
My closest friend, Steve Watson. We joined the Royal Marines together in '63, went through the Indonesian/Borneo/Aden wars, then he followed me out to Oman and was the second longest serving combat pilot.
We left in '77 and joined Bristows, flew together on the North Sea until I retired in '93, he then went out to Nigeria and is still there. He bought a house half a mile from us here in Aberdeenshire, but they have now sold it as they have bought a place in Dubai, where he will soon be retiring to.
His son Ben, now 23 and an Officer in the Army, is our Godson, and the press never got hold of this, but he was Zara Phillips first boyfrind. They were both at Gordonstoun and went out together for two years before splitting up. Due to the size of Steves small cottage, she used to stay with us at weekends so that her security were with her, so was well known around the local bars.
Great girl, and the only skirt to have driven my car, just trying to dig out the story of when I went to pick her up in the Elise at Balmoral, and met Grannie and the rest of the family.
Good job they had a sense of humour, barefooted bum in a blue rollerskate was not what they were used to outside the front door.
tut
We left in '77 and joined Bristows, flew together on the North Sea until I retired in '93, he then went out to Nigeria and is still there. He bought a house half a mile from us here in Aberdeenshire, but they have now sold it as they have bought a place in Dubai, where he will soon be retiring to.
His son Ben, now 23 and an Officer in the Army, is our Godson, and the press never got hold of this, but he was Zara Phillips first boyfrind. They were both at Gordonstoun and went out together for two years before splitting up. Due to the size of Steves small cottage, she used to stay with us at weekends so that her security were with her, so was well known around the local bars.
Great girl, and the only skirt to have driven my car, just trying to dig out the story of when I went to pick her up in the Elise at Balmoral, and met Grannie and the rest of the family.
Good job they had a sense of humour, barefooted bum in a blue rollerskate was not what they were used to outside the front door.
tut
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deano15482
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Tut,its stories like this that have shown me why you are a legend on this forum,before i just thought you were the guy aho liked to get his name on the end of every post!!
really entertaining stuff to read.
hope it goes well for your son,the young whipper snapper
tenkfeet->
i've been looking at...Weapons Technician,Aircraft Technician(mechanical) and Aircraft Technician(avionics)
also considering different forces but i haven't looked into that properly yet.
could you ask your friend how he got into flying,did he have to get private tuition or did he go through major airline kinda thing?
i'm waiting for a letter just now to find out if i've got an interview for the job i'm already going for.
fingers crossed!!
cheers
Dean
really entertaining stuff to read.
hope it goes well for your son,the young whipper snapper
tenkfeet->
i've been looking at...Weapons Technician,Aircraft Technician(mechanical) and Aircraft Technician(avionics)
also considering different forces but i haven't looked into that properly yet.
could you ask your friend how he got into flying,did he have to get private tuition or did he go through major airline kinda thing?
i'm waiting for a letter just now to find out if i've got an interview for the job i'm already going for.
fingers crossed!!
cheers
Dean
Tuttut wrote: We left in '77 and joined Bristows, flew together on the North Sea until I retired in '93, tut
I had to photograph all the oil rigs in the North Sea as part of an MOD security operation. Only have a couple of the photos and noticed one had a helicopter on it. Maybe a Bristows one with you in the pilots seat. Photo was taken about 1977-78.
(edit - shug. Sorry Ian, pic too massive and screws up rest of page)
Iain
Thanks Dean. Not sure which friend you were refering to regards flying training, could you expand?
If you had not seen my posts on Hyla Breese, he decided that he was not going to get into F1 racing, so he went to Florida, and obtained his CPL Helicopters at his own expence with HAI. This is the cheapest and quickest way of doing it.
He stayed on as a paid Instructor to build up his hours, and I then used friends and contacts with the three helicopter companies in Aberdeen to get him an interview to fly in the North Sea. Scotia agreed to take him on and train him for his UK I/R, as he only had the American qualification, but unfortunately he failed part of the two day assessment course, so he did not get the job.
He is now flying with a small outfit in Norfolk as an Instructor, but if Bond or Bristows start recruiting, then there is a chance that I may be able to help in next year.
tut
If you had not seen my posts on Hyla Breese, he decided that he was not going to get into F1 racing, so he went to Florida, and obtained his CPL Helicopters at his own expence with HAI. This is the cheapest and quickest way of doing it.
He stayed on as a paid Instructor to build up his hours, and I then used friends and contacts with the three helicopter companies in Aberdeen to get him an interview to fly in the North Sea. Scotia agreed to take him on and train him for his UK I/R, as he only had the American qualification, but unfortunately he failed part of the two day assessment course, so he did not get the job.
He is now flying with a small outfit in Norfolk as an Instructor, but if Bond or Bristows start recruiting, then there is a chance that I may be able to help in next year.
tut
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deano15482
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I know quite a few :deano15482 wrote:sorry tut,
it was tenkfeet's mate i was talking about regarding the training.
i'm really just trying to keep my options open at the moment,still waiting for a letter to come to confirm whether i have an interview for the job i'm goin for,its was due yesterday but still nothing.
The one I was talking about did a PPL enjoyed it so applied for a cadetship with the airline . I guy I used to work with did the same . I am not quite sure if you have to be employee but the one I know is you get interviewed to see if you are suitable. They put you through a PPL if all goes well a CPL . The thing is you need to stump up half your training about £25k ( available as a loan ) If all goes well you get a job as an First Officer , pay is not that great initially but your foot is in the door .
I dont know which airlines do it now as I am a bit out of touch .
Another mate's parents paid for his training and he went abroad to get his hours up . He's now a Captain .
Others have done it bit by bit as a hobby over quite a few years . Its not easy but from some of the pilots I have seen MMC staff could do it .
I would go and get some flying lessons and see if you like it . Unlike Tuts mental adventures commercial flying would be too boring for me personally. Imagine going Glasgow London 6 times a day with ugly or gay cabin crew having to be nice to the cattle in the back .
Good luck whatever you decide.
No lotus
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The_Rossatron
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Truely awesome read Tut and excellent, interesting pictures! certainly puts a lot of things in perspective.
"There is no emoticon for what I'm feeling right now."
Ferrari F355, Fiat Panda 100HP, Rover Mini Cooper
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http://www.allflashnocash.com
Just found the details of the Balmoral story, so at the risk of boring you, I will just finish that one as it leads into a couple more.
We moved to Old Deer in '95, and Thor was then one year old. We had a black Montego estate, and he liked to travel in it, and also lie in the back of it in the drive. We have a lovely old Village Church, which hosts most of the weddings and funerals.
I used to take Thor for a long walk everyday in Aden Park, the entrance being just down the road next to the Church, and in the first year on the usual walk, there was a funeral on, and the hearse was outside the Church, back door open, with the bearers just coming out of the church carrying the coffin. Need I go on?
Thor promptly dashes across and jumps into the back of what looks a little like our estate car. I just manage to get him out and disappear through the park gate before they reached the hearse. Needless to say we have never been invited for tea with the Rector who lives opposite us.
The second time he showed me up was a couple of years later, again into the Park for a walk, but this was on the day that Prince Charles was visiting Aden to open the new Heritage Centre. (Old Deer is actually famous for being the birthplace of the "Book of Deer", AD 800, the oldest known example of written Gaelic). However there was a combined police/Army unit stopping the public from entering the park, which displeased me. Knowing the place backwards, I went to the top end, and over the wall, then through the wood to the large field where the dog training area was. About a third the way down, two Army Lynx helicopters came swooping in overhead, and one pulled off and landed in the middle of the field. I thought he was coming by car, straight to the Heritage Centre, but for secrecy they never publish details, and they had two LZ's there, complete with Jaguar cars, which they decide on at the last minute.
So it lands about 100yds ahead, and Charles gets out, but Thor has never seen a helicopter before, though no excuse as it looks nothing like a Montego estate. Also he had never seen a man in a kilt with what looked like a rabbit hanging from his waist, so he takes off. Fortunately he is pretty well trained by now, and I stop him with a shout, but not before a section of armed troops leap out from the trees and leg it towards us. I still think that the Major wished he had shot us as he was foaming at the mouth, but Charles took it in good humour, and we had met before. His Equerry was an RAF Officer, an old friend from Oman days, and he had invited me along to a couple of Mess functions that his boss had thrown.
This leads on to picking up Zara at Balmoral. Bens mother, Sandy Watson, was supposed to be picking her up from the Castle to bring her home for the weekend, as it was Bens 18th birthday, and we had laid on a large bash for all his and Zaras Gordonstoun schoolfriends, and what a bunch of well spoken, beer swigging, pot smoking, kids they were.
However she phoned me in a panic to say that her car would not start, so could I pick Zara up as she already knew me. It was a family gathering at Balmoral, so she gave them my details, and arranged clearance for me through Security and into the grounds. All went well, and I parked outside the front and waited for her. This is when Princess Anne returned from the walk with her dogs, and did not know that I was substituting for Sandy and picking up her daughter. And I did not realise that I would be getting out of the car, so was wearing the usual tracksuit bottom and bare feet. I explained what had happened, and despite my appearance, she asked me in to wait for Zara. And of course they were all there apart from the Queen and Duke who had not yet arrived, great grand-mother, Charles, Andrew, Edward, William and Harry. Zara introduced me and assured them that she was safe with me, but then Charles told them that we had met before and told them the story of Thor.
They had a good laugh, then came out to say goodbye. The boys thought the Elise was cool, it was in better nick back then, not sure about the elders, but I survived it intact. It was a great weekend, but after Zara telling all her friends that she had never been driven so fast before, I had to take them for a spin around the local roads, and miss some drinking time.
Unfortunately I have no photos, one of the stipulations laid down by Zara and her parents, but here is one of Thor for those of you that have not met him.
tut
We moved to Old Deer in '95, and Thor was then one year old. We had a black Montego estate, and he liked to travel in it, and also lie in the back of it in the drive. We have a lovely old Village Church, which hosts most of the weddings and funerals.
I used to take Thor for a long walk everyday in Aden Park, the entrance being just down the road next to the Church, and in the first year on the usual walk, there was a funeral on, and the hearse was outside the Church, back door open, with the bearers just coming out of the church carrying the coffin. Need I go on?
Thor promptly dashes across and jumps into the back of what looks a little like our estate car. I just manage to get him out and disappear through the park gate before they reached the hearse. Needless to say we have never been invited for tea with the Rector who lives opposite us.
The second time he showed me up was a couple of years later, again into the Park for a walk, but this was on the day that Prince Charles was visiting Aden to open the new Heritage Centre. (Old Deer is actually famous for being the birthplace of the "Book of Deer", AD 800, the oldest known example of written Gaelic). However there was a combined police/Army unit stopping the public from entering the park, which displeased me. Knowing the place backwards, I went to the top end, and over the wall, then through the wood to the large field where the dog training area was. About a third the way down, two Army Lynx helicopters came swooping in overhead, and one pulled off and landed in the middle of the field. I thought he was coming by car, straight to the Heritage Centre, but for secrecy they never publish details, and they had two LZ's there, complete with Jaguar cars, which they decide on at the last minute.
So it lands about 100yds ahead, and Charles gets out, but Thor has never seen a helicopter before, though no excuse as it looks nothing like a Montego estate. Also he had never seen a man in a kilt with what looked like a rabbit hanging from his waist, so he takes off. Fortunately he is pretty well trained by now, and I stop him with a shout, but not before a section of armed troops leap out from the trees and leg it towards us. I still think that the Major wished he had shot us as he was foaming at the mouth, but Charles took it in good humour, and we had met before. His Equerry was an RAF Officer, an old friend from Oman days, and he had invited me along to a couple of Mess functions that his boss had thrown.
This leads on to picking up Zara at Balmoral. Bens mother, Sandy Watson, was supposed to be picking her up from the Castle to bring her home for the weekend, as it was Bens 18th birthday, and we had laid on a large bash for all his and Zaras Gordonstoun schoolfriends, and what a bunch of well spoken, beer swigging, pot smoking, kids they were.
However she phoned me in a panic to say that her car would not start, so could I pick Zara up as she already knew me. It was a family gathering at Balmoral, so she gave them my details, and arranged clearance for me through Security and into the grounds. All went well, and I parked outside the front and waited for her. This is when Princess Anne returned from the walk with her dogs, and did not know that I was substituting for Sandy and picking up her daughter. And I did not realise that I would be getting out of the car, so was wearing the usual tracksuit bottom and bare feet. I explained what had happened, and despite my appearance, she asked me in to wait for Zara. And of course they were all there apart from the Queen and Duke who had not yet arrived, great grand-mother, Charles, Andrew, Edward, William and Harry. Zara introduced me and assured them that she was safe with me, but then Charles told them that we had met before and told them the story of Thor.
They had a good laugh, then came out to say goodbye. The boys thought the Elise was cool, it was in better nick back then, not sure about the elders, but I survived it intact. It was a great weekend, but after Zara telling all her friends that she had never been driven so fast before, I had to take them for a spin around the local roads, and miss some drinking time.
Unfortunately I have no photos, one of the stipulations laid down by Zara and her parents, but here is one of Thor for those of you that have not met him.
tut
You Bad Back
Tut,
How did you get your bad back, Verian told me you crashed your hellicpter, or were you shot down.
Simon
How did you get your bad back, Verian told me you crashed your hellicpter, or were you shot down.
Simon
Simon J
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bertieduff
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Actually both Simon. I started flying in the Royal Marines in 1966, but during one of my first low level solo training flights in a Hiller helicopter, the tail rotor bearing went, and I ploughed in. I fractured my spine, and was badly concussed, so in hospital for a month.
After I left the RM in 1970, I went out to Oman for seven years, and after being shot down for the first time in '72, I screwed the back again, and re-scrambled the brains. I got away with the SAM 7 in '75, and only the helicopter was damaged.
I completely recovered at the time, and had no problems with MotoCross, squash, water skiing etc, but it catches up with you in the end, and was probably the reason that I ended up in a wheelchair last year.
However I was at the wheel for over three hours on the track today, so after thinking that I would not walk again, my surgeon is on our Christmas card list.
tut
After I left the RM in 1970, I went out to Oman for seven years, and after being shot down for the first time in '72, I screwed the back again, and re-scrambled the brains. I got away with the SAM 7 in '75, and only the helicopter was damaged.
I completely recovered at the time, and had no problems with MotoCross, squash, water skiing etc, but it catches up with you in the end, and was probably the reason that I ended up in a wheelchair last year.
However I was at the wheel for over three hours on the track today, so after thinking that I would not walk again, my surgeon is on our Christmas card list.
tut
Re: Oman photos
What an excellent read 
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