ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 76046
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| Date: | Saturday 15 August 1964 |
| Time: | |
| Type: | Bristol 171 Sycamore 3A |
| Owner/operator: | Stewarts Construction Equipment Ltd |
| Registration: | G-AMWH |
| MSN: | 13069 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Cowes, Isle of Wight -
 United Kingdom
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Executive |
| Departure airport: | London Gatwick Airport, Horley, Surrey (LGW) |
| Cowes, Isle of Wight | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
Bristol Sycamore 3A G-AMWH had been a member of the BEA helicopter fleet but on 4 August 1964 it was chartered to Stewarts Construction Equipment Ltd. of Benhams House, Horley Row, Horley, Surrey. By reference to that address, one might deduce that it was based at the old Gatwick Airport site which, after being separated from the new Gatwick Airport by the construction of the deviated A23 road, was used solely for rotary wing aircraft. Sadly G-AMWH was not enjoyed by its new operator for long as it was damaged beyond repair in a landing accident at Cowes, on the Isle of Wight, on 15 August 1964. However I've failed miserably to ascertain any more about its accident but I must assume that it was serious as the CAA recorded it on 17 August 1964 as 'destroyed'.
Curiously the crash landing on 15 August 1964 did not mark the end of the helicopter's connection with the south-east. I don't know what became of the airframe immediately subsequent to this but not long thereafter it is reported as being in a scrapyard at Salfords, Surrey, where it was visible from trains on the London to Brighton line. But then it moved again - which is where first I saw G-AMWH (although I didn't become aware of that being its identity until many years later). By 1967 it appeared in an adventure playground in Cherry Lane, Langley Green, Crawley, West Sussex. At that time I lived in Langley Green and frequented the adventure playground often. As far as I can recollect, by then it had lost its tail boom, blades and undercarriage (it sat on a pile of pallets) and it had been stripped out internally. What became of the Sycamore, I know not. I moved away from Langley Green and grew too old for adventure playgrounds. I suspect that it was bashed to within an inch of its life by children playing on and eventually it returned to a scrappie to be melted down. The Sycamore airframe was supported on sleepers, rather than pallets, and there was more of the interior in situ than I remembered.
It is believed that the wreckage of G-AMWH was removed by/in the mid-1970s (the site of the adventure playground was built over at around this time...)
Sources:
1. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=15205.0
2. https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-AMWH-2.pdf
3. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/48171/
4. https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/registration/G-AMWH
5. https://www.airteamimages.com/bristol-sycamore_G-AMWH_bea---british-european-airways_349237_large.html
6. http://www.edendale.co.uk/GO/BTP.1.7.html
7. http://sussexhistoryforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=2467.0
8. https://www.key.aero/forum/historic-aviation/75541-bristol-sycamore?goto=newpost
9. http://wight.hampshireairfields.co.uk/iowc.html
Images:
RAF Gaydon BoB Display - 17th September 1960
Hinlip Hall, Worcester - Civil Defence Exercise at the Police Headquarters - 3rd May1956
Media:
Wreckage of Sycamore G-AMWH as a plaything in an adventure playground at Crawley, Sussex in 1967:
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 05-Aug-2010 13:06 | TB | Added |
| 05-Aug-2010 13:13 | TB | Updated [Location] |
| 27-Nov-2012 19:24 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code, Narrative] |
| 28-Nov-2012 02:09 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Nature, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 28-Nov-2012 02:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Embed code, Damage] |
| 06-Jan-2013 10:42 | TB | Updated [Source, Narrative] |
| 09-Feb-2020 16:38 | Peter Clarke | Updated [Photo] |
| 09-Feb-2020 16:38 | Peter Clarke | Updated [Photo] |
| 21-Feb-2020 15:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Source, Embed code, Narrative] |
| 21-Feb-2020 15:18 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Total occupants, Nature, Source, Narrative] |
| 21-Feb-2020 15:19 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
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