The UK 500 Fly In

So the 500 is special because you just

put them on. It's not like any other

helicopter you fly. You just put them

on. You can put them anywhere. You just

fly anywhere with them. Put them into

small spaces. A great echo. I don't

think you like fly a 500. I think you

wear it when you're strapped into it.

There isn't too many helicopters now

where you're wearing a fivepoint harness

and you can bank over to 90° where your

view out the right window is directly

below you. It's just really versatile.

It holds its value. You know, it's it's

very agile. You can put it down

anywhere.

>> Nigel Colcloth engineering manufacturing

big manufacturer in the UK. Got into

helicopters 20 years ago. Loving it. And

then found the 500. I learned in in

Robinson, then I got a 300 cuz I wanted

to be a little bit safer. So I learned

in 300. Martin Skych looked after the

300 and he got me into the 500 scene.

Bought the first one in 2014. Had it for

10 years. Did 2,000 hours in it. Loved

it and just love it more every day. So

when we do the 500 thing now, everyone

flies in. We we sort of really casual.

So, it's just like coming around your

mate's house. Most people have been here

before. So, they fly in from about 12 to

about 4:00. Uh drinks, soft drinks, uh

for the ones that aren't staying. And

then there's nibbles and bites, full of

food during the day. Everyone just

stands around and chats, helicopters

really, 500s, has a laugh, takes a piss.

Good, good fun. Then in the evening,

we'll have a sit down dinner. 7:00 bar

opens. Everyone can drink. Most people

stay then. And a few fly away before the

dark, but most of them stay. So the 500

flyins came about through really Ned

Dawson got in touch with me and asked me

to do the 500 flying. He had done one

out in New Zealand already and he

thought it was a good idea to do it in

the UK which has brought the community

together really well. Apex out in

America with Darren and Tina. They do a

500 event out there which is really

cool. So we've done it every year now.

It's the fourth year. So yeah, it's

going really well. First year we got 30

helicopters in on 500s. We had a few

other less fortunate people in Robinsons

and 120s and things, but they'll turn

the corner when they can finally find

one. And yes, it's all been good since

then. Yeah, the 500 community in the UK

is quite a small community cuz there's

few of them around and it just brings

the community together. There's a couple

of maintenance companies in the country

that look after them. Um, the main one

really in Skitec Atlantic do quite a lot

on the 500s as well, but not so much.

They buy them into the country, do them

up, and then sell them out, and then it

normally goes over to Skyitech for

looking after them, although Eastern

starting to look after a few more now.

So, this community brings them together.

So, my name's Cory. Um, I'm um I have a

business selling video games and a

business selling tables. Uh, and, uh,

we're here at the 500 Flying having a

good time. So, uh, this is my MD500e. I

bought it in 2022. The original owner

owned it from new in 1989. It's got it's

got about 1500 hours. So yeah, so I fly

around all over the place. It's great

fun. I mainly have it as a hobby to be

honest. So go to restaurants, go to

helicopter meets like here. It's it just

makes the UK a much smaller place for

transport. So you know, I can be in

Cornwall in an hour. It's just great

fun. I actually got bought a helicopter

lesson as a gift. So I did that and kind

of just got the bug and I thought, well,

you know, it'd be great fun to learn how

to fly. Even if I don't actually

continue it, it'll be great fun. So I

did that. It just become like an

addiction really. So ended up getting a

Cabri G2. And then after that I ended up

getting more involved in the helicopter

community and then got the uh MD500 and

just love it. I think uh coming to the

flyins like this is a great way to

network with like-minded people. It's

just a really nice casual sort of meet

up where you sort of end up knowing

everyone and everyone's friendly and

it's just a really nice sort of social

event. Yeah, I think if we had more kids

like with my partner um we might need

something with more seats. So maybe a

squirrel, but I would be very sad to get

rid of this cuz I really think it's the

best helicopter in the world. We take

him about in it. So yeah, it's good fun.

Well, his first flight in it was he was

only two weeks old, so he's started off

in a baby seat. He loves it. He goes

straight to sleep as soon as we take off

and he just we just take him everywhere

with us. My name is Kathle Vaughn. I run

an engineering business in London. Been

here for 15 years originally from

Ireland. Bought this machine 3 years

ago. A lot of them haven't really had

any upgrades or significant change since

the 80s or '9s. So, I've been toying

with interiors and various components

inside the machine. Originally, I

trained in a Robinson helicopter. I

didn't find them substantial. In 2022,

this offer came of of to buy this 500.

It has been owned by Nelson Pique,

threetime Formula 1 world champion. Had

a great history to it. It's only 2 years

older than myself. Had very low hours

and yeah, when I saw it, I couldn't not

have it. So, uh, had it 3 years now, and

I would never turn back. They're the

best, uh, they're the best fun you can

have in the air. I don't think you like

fly a 500. I think you wear it when

you're strapped into it. There isn't too

many helicopters now where you're

wearing a fivepoint harness and you can

bank over to 90° where your view out the

right window is directly below you. Two

bladed rotor heads don't allow that

maneuverability or that type of control

which a 500 is so agile. Performance is

unparalleled with anything else is

flying. I use the helicopter typically

for flights uh to where my originally

came from in Ireland. I'll fly to

Ireland four times a year. I've been all

over Europe. I've been to Albania in it.

I have no hesitation sitting in this

machine for 7 hours in a day. My bladder

will give up long before anything else.

I just need to spend time in it because

it's so much fun to have when you don't

get good weather in Britain every day of

the year. So when the summer comes, you

you can't get out of it. Yeah, Nigel has

done great work regarding these 500

flyins. Um, I don't know of a group

anywhere in the world outside of New

Zealand where there are so many people

with common interests meeting at some

common location providing great

hospitality with like-minded people

where the communication is is literally

all about the machine, all about the

product.

When I started toying around with the

helicopter, I made the seats

significantly lower, the the leather

cushion. I put woven leather in it. Uh,

these mats are TPU compound or 3D

printed. Um, I've changed all the door

cards to carbon fiber and the door

strut, caravan door struts. This is a

kit that just goes over the top. Um,

literally wrapped everything. The vents

on the on the side of the console,

they've been changed to carbon fiber.

I've put some covers over the seat belt,

inertia reel, and yeah, anything I can

see that I can modernize, I'm working on

it.

>> My name's Gary. I live in

Lincolnshshire. um met Nigel about oo

must be 3 years ago now. Um got me into

helicopters, started on an R22, did my

test in that and then Nigel's a big

advocate of the MD which is here now as

you can see. So he helped me spend my

money which Nigel does very well. Um

went and bought this through Martin at

Skych. Absolutely brilliant company.

Can't praise them enough. Did a full

refurb um then went to his Atlantic. did

a kind of 7-day, 9-day course with Jamie

Chie, who was brilliant, fantastic. Uh

did my tight rating test and then got

authorized to fly this. I've owned this

girl now for 2 years. Um absolutely

fantastic. Love it to bits. My wife sits

in the front with my little boy in the

middle. Uh absolutely loving it. Yeah,

addicted. Yeah, absolutely. It just

feels so intuitive, easy to fly in my

opinion. Although I haven't flown any

other helicopter to sort of do a

comparable, but I feel safe with it. I

feel at one just the openness, the

friendliness, and it's not about who's

got the best helicopter like the car

industry. Sometimes I just find

everybody so super helpful and nice and

friendly. I just love it. You learn so

much from experienced pilots.

My name is Podrick McGillicuy. I am the

proprietor of Baligari Estate, which is

an award-winning hotel in the southwest

of Ireland. thousand hotels in Ireland

were ranked number three. That has paid

for my love of the 500. I'm on my third

one. I'm flying 20 years. And uh I first

started with a loach full of bullet

holes out of Vietnam. Shot down three

times, all the usual stuff. And then I

went to a C model which I had for years

uh 15 years and just sold that two years

ago and bought this beautiful E- model

from a good friend of mine called Nigel.

And uh I'm really loving it. you know,

on 2,000 hours of flying time, incident

free. Um, yeah, and just loving flying.

There's nothing compares to the 500 is,

is there? You know, I mean, it is the

ultimate flying machine. It got its

nickname for all the right reasons.

Ferrari of the skies, you know, every

pilot I ever meet who's a rot rotary in

SAR or whatever, you know, they'll

always when I ask them, "What's your

favorite machine? What would you love to

own on your own?" They'll always say the

500 because, you know, they are

fantastic. So, what I do with the 500 is

quite unusual. I've been, you know, to

pretty much every European, Western

European country at this stage, but I

live in an island called Ireland, and I

live in the southwest point of that. So,

all my business travel around Ireland is

done on the 500. Then I've been to

Norway, Sweden, Denmark,

France, Spain, the UK, Scotland, Italy,

over the Alps, landed in the Als, high

altitude flying up in the Alps. What I

do every September is I meet up with my

brother and we fly uh the 500. If he

comes up from South Africa, I pick him

up in London and we fly all around uh

Europe. So, wherever, you know, we just

get to spend that quality week together.

So, we wake up in France and decide

we're going for lunch in Italy and then

go on to Slovakia or wherever. You know,

it's just that's what I do. The flyins

have been fantastic to connect

everybody. Uh you got to give it to

Nigel here in the UK. I mean, he has put

the the group together. But, you know,

when you need something in a month or

two or three time, you you you've got

somebody to reach out to being a contact

you'll have made here. It's great to see

all the 500s here. They're really

handmade bespoke machines. Uh we've got

the guys from MD Helicopters over from

Ma, Arizona. And uh you know, it's a

great means of networking connecting on

the 500.

I would like to think I will always fly

a 500. And I think what I would like to

happen is that when I'm ready for my

Zimmer frame or wheelchair, just take me

out of the 500 and put me straight into

it. So this is my new E model. Um it's a

late 90s model. um rebuilt by Nigel over

time. Interior is redone. Uh I resprayed

it. It's a Ferrari Grigio color with a

red accents on it picked by my beautiful

wife. Uh that's Ferrari red. Um yeah,

everything it's ever needed. It's got

it's got an auxiliary tank. It's, you

know, uh it's got the C20R,

which gives me that extra horsepower,

which is very noticeable cuz I've had a

C20B for years. Um so, uh yeah, fabulous

machine. and I wouldn't want to change

it. To me, it's the most beautiful one

here.

>> So, my name is Fraser. I own East

Atlantic Helicopters down the South

Coast. We are a maintenance facility, a

management facility, and we buy and sell

helicopters, and we refurbish them to

the customer's requirements as well,

like we did with this one here. Been

involved in the helicopter industry

since I was a child. My father, Simon

Olen Hope, opened Leantic in 1997. I

took it over about 3 years ago. I

purchased it from him and bought up with

him in the industry for an awful long

time. He was a pilot himself, flew

around the world twice, broke the world

record in 2004 in a 500, which is mine

now. We've done a deal to buy and it's

been in our family for the last 20

years. And I've just loved MDs. I think

they're brilliant. The 500 is a very

unique helicopter. It holds its value

very well. It flies incredibly well.

It's fast. It's endurance. It's very

good. They their sex appeal is

fantastic. One, I think the most

beautiful helicopters out there. The way

they fly, it's like putting an old

leather jacket on. When you put it on,

it just fits. It's snug. It's

comfortable. It's fantastic. When you

fly the aircraft, it's like driving a

race car on a track. You can feel the

input. Every time you do something, you

feel it. And it's very smooth, very

good. So, I fly uh privately, obviously,

my own 500, which was my father's

before. We've had it in the industry and

in our family for gosh 20 years now. And

I fly that to get around to meet the

clients of what I do and how I do it.

But I also am a commercial pilot by

trade. So, I sell an aircraft to the

client. I'll look after that client. and

I'll manage it for them and they want to

go here and there I'll fire them to drop

them off and and I basically use it as a

car as a truthful answer you know very

lucky 500 in the UK has massive peaks

and troughs you know one moment the

we'll have will have a load here and

next minute you know the generation

changes and they they've had their

aircraft for 20 plus years like my

father and now to me and whether their

children want to take it on or they

don't that's real big big factor um you

know a lot of these aircraft here that

we're we're witnessing today have been

owned by the same person for many many

years now. Whether their kids want to

take it, that's the biggest problem. But

but what we are finding more recently is

there's a lot of people that want to

take some on and do their PPLs. You

know, the gentleman who bought that

aircraft right there is now first ever

aircraft doing his PPL with us in house

and he just adors it. He loves it and

we're getting quite a few of those which

is really nice. So it's great for the

industry as well. Quite often they can

be sold out the UK because suppose if

the dollar rates against us or with us

because the Americans use them for such

utility work for such high high

utilization. Same in New Zealand you

know New Zealand use them for huge

amounts of work huge amounts of utility

very little private flying really in New

Zealand whereas here it's no utilities

private personal car to get around the

country and have a good time. So really

depends on what the market's doing on

the dollar rate, but we try and keep as

many as we can here because obviously

the more in the UK, the better for the

industry that we're in here.

The 500 Flying is a fantastic event for

the community. One, it it's links

everyone to each other. So you you know,

you get a new owner here, for example,

the chap that one gets to meet everyone

else in the industry and you get to the

UK is you nothing like the States or

other places. when you're flying up and

down the country, it's really nice to

pop in and go, "Oh, that chap's got a

500. I can fuel at his house and there

and any problems. We can everyone can

communicate and go, I had a problem

here. How did you guys solve this?" So,

it's a really good event for the

individuals. New Zealand did an amazing

one last year, which I was lucky enough

to witness. The one in America, the Apex

hold, is absolutely incredible as well.

And I think Nigel's one here is just

fantastic. He does he does a fantastic

job linking people in the industry. And

I think it's it's it's brilliant

brilliant time. Uh my name is Bob

Patmore. Um I'm a motivational speaker,

um an author. I've got a new book out

called Little Voice in the Head. I'm

also run a big music company and I live

in Chaffles and Charles in

Buckinghamshire. I've had the 500 for

about 20 odd years now and it's

obviously had loads of spare parts over

the 20 years. But um I love it and be

the last thing to go in my life if you

know what I mean. I literally fly

around, go to lunch, different venues,

and daylight's a day where you get an

invite somewhere and then off we go. And

it's in the garden, so I don't have to

think about refueling or anything else.

It's straight out the out the garden

onto wherever I need to go. I learned on

a Robinson 22 originally, then bought a

Hughes 300, then I went to the 500. Um,

and I just absolutely love it. It's a

different class. They're just fast.

They're great, very forgiving. I think

they're great machines. come to these

events are actually superb because um it

gives a chance to meet other owners.

It's really nice to get out and see

people in the different ways and

different machines they use. No, really,

really good. Nitro's done really well

putting this together. I certainly will

be coming to the one next year. Yeah,

absolutely.