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In photos: A flying visit to Bristow helicopters in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s

We take a flight of fancy and look back at archive photos of Bristow, a stalwart of the North Sea. Bristow has had a key role in supporting oil and gas exploration since it opened its Dyce base in 1967.

1986: Bristow Helicopters general manager Scotland Capt. Alan MacGregor presents Neil Farnham, Lincolnshire, with a certificate to commemorate the Bristow AS Tiger helicopter's 100,000 flight hours after the 'copter's return from Conoco's Hutton TLP platform. Also pictured are stewardesses Jenny Morrison, right, Inverurie, and Jackie Robertson, Aberdeen. Image: DC Thomson
1986: Bristow Helicopters general manager Scotland Capt. Alan MacGregor presents Neil Farnham, Lincolnshire, with a certificate to commemorate the Bristow AS Tiger helicopter's 100,000 flight hours after the 'copter's return from Conoco's Hutton TLP platform. Also pictured are stewardesses Jenny Morrison, right, Inverurie, and Jackie Robertson, Aberdeen. Image: DC Thomson

Bristow helicopters is one of the world’s biggest operators – and was one of the first suppliers of offshore services in Aberdeen after being founded by Alan Bristow in 1955.

Bristow’s first foray into oil exploration began when it landed a contract with Shell Oil to transport personnel to oil rigs in the Persian Gulf in 1955.

Building on its reputation, the helicopter operator won a contract with BP in 1957, and expanded its operations into Iran and Bolivia the same year.

It was another 10 years before Bristow established its Aberdeen base, but the civil helicopter operator remains at Aberdeen International Airport today.

By establishing its heliport in Aberdeen, Bristow was perfectly poised for leaping into the North Sea oil market when oil was discovered in 1969.

1977: Bristow Helicopters pilots formed a picket line at Dyce in April. Image: DC Thomson

From its foundation in 1967, Bristow went on to become the single-biggest employer at the airport transporting more than 400,000 passengers over the years.

But it made headlines in 1977 due to mass pickets by Bristow pilots supported by BALPA, the National Union of Seamen and the Transport and General Workers’ Union.

A total of 70 pilots employed at Bristow walked out in solidarity with a fellow pilot who was dismissed after refusing to accept a posting to Malaysia.

Telegrams of support were received from the pilots during the weeks-long stand-off, including from those at British Airways and other independent operators.

The strike brought Aberdeen Airport operations to a standstill with no flights able to take off because airport firemen and apron support services refused to cross the pickets.

Bristow expanded air fleet with Tiger in 1982

But there was happier news for Bristow in 1982 when it welcomed the first of 12 new Tiger helicopters to go into North Sea oil support.

The Tiger, a derivative of French company Aerospatiale’s Super Puma, was built to Bristow’s specifications for North Sea duties.

It could carry up to 19 passengers, had a 145-knot cruising speed and a range of 600 miles.

The aircraft was flying directly between Dyce and the Thistle Field. It cut at least two hours off the time taken to fly fixed-wing aircraft to Sumburgh then take helicopter to platform.

1982: Chief training pilot Capt. Dave Warren and Bristow Helicopters’ Scottish general manager Capt. Peter Donaldson admire the latest arrival at Aberdeen Airport – a Tiger helicopter named ”City of Aberdeen”. Image: DC Thomson

Within four years, Bristow had increased its Tiger fleet to 35, and had logged 100,000 flights hours on the aircraft.

All the passengers on that flight received a certificate and memento of the occasion.

As well as oil and gas, Bristow moved into search and rescue during the 1980s, and in recent years has partaken in high-profile rescues like the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake.

Since then it has continued to grow, with the addition of a state-of-the-art pilot training facility in Aberdeen in 2010.

And in 2014, a final farewell was said to Bristow’s famous Tiger aircraft, which was decommissioned after three decades’ service.

Take a flight of fancy with our gallery of Bristow helicopters from the 1970s-1990s

1976: Bristow Heliport at Aberdeen Airport was the world’s busiest heliport at the time, and its growth was expected to continue. This striking summer picture was taken by P&J photographer Jack Cryle. Image: DC Thomson
1977: Union officials Mark Young, of BALPA, front left, and Clive Jenkins of ASTMS, front right, joined the Bristow picket line outside the Bristow heliport at Dyce in May ’77. Image: DC Thomson
1980: A group of TV personalities from 1980 prepare to leave Dyce for a day in the hills. Led by ITN newscaster Sandy Gall, rector of Aberdeen University, newsreaders Anna Ford and Alastair Burnett boarded a Bristow helicopter and set off for the Cairngorms. Pop singer B A Robertson, and Grampian TV’s Selina Scott were there too – all set to join a 20-mile sponsored walk through the Lairig Ghru. Image: DC Thomson
1980: The flight information board for Bristow Helicoptors at Aberdeen Airport’s heliport on December 23 1980. Image: DC Thomson
1980: Bristow Helicopters lining up on the tarmac at Aberdeen Airport. Image: DC Thomson
1984: Christmas celebrations at the Bristow Helicopters staff dinner-dance at Aberdeen’s Beach Ballroom. Image: DC Thomson
1986: Bristow Helicopters general manager Scotland Capt. Alan MacGregor presents Neil Farnham, Lincolnshire, with a certificate to commemorate the Bristow AS Tiger helicopter’s 100,000 flight hours after the ‘copter’s return from Conoco’s Hutton TLP platform. Also pictured are stewardesses Jenny Morrison, right, Inverurie, and Jackie Robertson, Aberdeen. Image: DC Thomson
1987: Captain MacGregor, centre left, receives an Aerospatiale Super Puma helicopter model from instructor Charles Reid to be used in Bristows’ training department. The model helicopter was painstakingly built by Aberdeen Model Club, which met in Tullos School. Image: DC Thomson
1988: Engine shop inspector Tom Crook at work on a Tiger power-unit. Image: DC Thomson
1988: Muzz Crandon, Power Plant Supervisor, at work in Bristow’s jet engine diagnostic area. Image: DC Thomson
1988: Licensed aircraft engineer Donald Hutchins checks the tail rotor shaft on a helicopter. Image: DC Thomson
1989: Five ground hostesses at Bristow Helicopters took part in their annual fundraising collection from passengers prior to the Christmas holidays. They raised £4255 in only 10 days for the Grampian and Islands Family Trust (GIFT). Operations manager Capt. Bill Pollard, right, officially handed over the cheque to Karen Conn, left, a GIFT fundraising committee member. Looking on, from left, Morven Gillman, Tina Morgan, Margaret Usher, Pauline Massie and Wendy Manson. Image: DC Thomson
1990: Ground staff at Bristow Helicopters, Dyce, raised £4,000 in aid of charity Archway from passengers travelling with them in the two weeks before Christmas 1990. The cheque was accepted by Archway officer-in-charge Heather Leslie, centre front. Image: DC Thomson

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