The Princess and the Helicopter

Georgina Hunter-Jones

Luxury boats have helipads almost as a standard but they vary enormously in size accommodation, and helicopter usage and protection.

Tim Walker, who flew an EC130B4 for six months off the helideck of the Princess Marina, originally got the job when he answered an advert. He, and many others, were called for an interview with the boat's captain in Gibraltar, (all expenses paid) and a few days later heard he had the job. As he had never flown an EC130 before (and there were none available for training in the UK) he was sent to American Eurocopter in Grand Prairie for the type rating. Here he trained on the actual machine he was to fly. "It is," he points out, "fairly unusual to fly a single engine helicopter off a heli-deck, most helicopters used on the super-yachts tend to be twins for safety reasons."

The EC130 was then imported to the UK by boat. After doing test flights to ensure the EC130 was properly reconstructed after its time in the box, Tim had to fly in and out of Jersey to get the customs duty paid, otherwise they might have had a problem flying in Europe. He then went down to Cannes to await the boat and meanwhile did a little flying for Nigel Watson, guru of the...