Unknown Gazelles

[DGP]

I heard a story about one of the first gazelle being flown from the USA to somewhere in Quebec,may have been Val Dor.I am sure someone else knows more details on the fate of that one.I have only second hand info so cannot elaborate.Could have been the one previously mentioned as the timeline was somewhere around 73-75.

[Elvis]

I've got a pic from Dec 72 of one in King City. My scanner is not working at the moment.

[DGP]

Maybe someone from Helivoyageur might have pics of C-FCWN s/n1015,they operated that machine.

[Grasshopper]

Shirley might have bought it after Okie took control of Dom-Peg in 1975. The last ime I worked on it was in King City that year. Dom-Peg's other two were on a contract in Zaire.

 

Your memory's getting a little wonky, John. We took THREE Gazelles to Zaire in the summer of 1977. It was indeed a CIDA project, with Cartier Engineering, Hoyles Niblock and McIlhenney Surveying to establish microwave tower heights using closed circuit TV to hover over established tower sites amd Motorola MiniRangers to measure signal strength so ships hovering over adjacent towers could calculate tower heights. It was mid-way throught the contract that D-P went into receivership and Okanagan picked them up along with Sept-Iles Helicopteres and the Iron Ore Company of Canada contract on the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway. Those Gazelles were tough to operate in the heat of the Congo, going through clutches in as little as 25 hours, but Aerospatiale support was outstanding. Bob Ough, who became Lead Pilot for me, would be a valuable source of pictures from the time. I had lots on 35mm slides but don't know where they've gone.

[Elvis]

 

Your memory's getting a little wonky, John. We took THREE Gazelles to Zaire in the summer of 1977. It was indeed a CIDA project, with Cartier Engineering, Hoyles Niblock and McIlhenney Surveying to establish microwave tower heights using closed circuit TV to hover over established tower sites amd Motorola MiniRangers to measure signal strength so ships hovering over adjacent towers could calculate tower heights. It was mid-way throught the contract that D-P went into receivership and Okanagan picked them up along with Sept-Iles Helicopteres and the Iron Ore Company of Canada contract on the Quebec North Shore & Labrador Railway. Those Gazelles were tough to operate in the heat of the Congo, going through clutches in as little as 25 hours, but Aerospatiale support was outstanding. Bob Ough, who became Lead Pilot for me, would be a valuable source of pictures from the time. I had lots on 35mm slides but don't know where they've gone.

I'm sticking with 1975 Terry. Looked through some old notes and the official takeover was announced Feb 03 1975 the day after I returned from my Gazelle course at Vought.

[Elvis]

Too add to this I had a $hit load of shots in 1975 for travel to ?? Countries. Maybe ABC can fill in the blacks.

[Zishelix]

It had been a hope of mine that this thread might spark some interest in the Maple Leaf Gazelles, so this is just great!

Elvis, be prepared for me to check again in a couple of days if your scanner is working, lol!

Grasshopper: Thanks for this info - you've got me thinking about those 35mm slides. Fell free to call me if you need any help locating them. (I'm in Europe btw!)

[Grasshopper]

Sure will, Zishelix, and John, please help me find those two years I seem to have misplaced.

[Zishelix]

Very kind of you, thanks!

 

By the way, do you might recall registrations of the Gazelles which were on a contract in Zaire?

[Zishelix]

While waiting on the slides/photos , let me check if any of you might know for some pic of this SA.341G when it was C-FBHI with Ocean Helicopters Ltd.?