Sloane Helicopters provided the emergency helicopter support for the Farnborough International Air Show 2002. The company’s Agusta 109 E Power provided both the air ambulance support and the transportation of the fire crew to the scene of any incident, a role normally covered by a military Puma.

Operational services director Paul Forster said: “The Agusta 109 is very versatile and due to its ability to be re-roled in a very short period of time we were able to transport the firecrew along with a paramedic to an incident site and re-role the aircraft back into the air ambulance role within a matter of a few minutes.

“My understanding is that the organisers were very pleased with the aircraft and amazed at the

speed at which the Agusta was able to be airborne during the practice exercises”.

“I believe that this is the first time a civilian operator has provided all of the emergency helicopter cover at Farnborough and we were obviously pleased that Sloane was chosen and that the Agusta 109 proved yet again, that it is a very flexible and capable aircraft” said Forster.

Sloane says it is currently enjoying a continued growth in the charter department. Forster said: “Being centrally located in the Midlands provides us with the ideal base to service not only London but most other areas in the UK. Our aircraft range from the Agusta 109 Mk2, which has recently undergone a total refurbishment, through to the A109 E Power.

“We are also hopeful that we will soon have a new A109 Elite on the fleet which can only help to strengthen our position in the charter market.”

‘We are hopeful that we will soon have a new A109 Elite on the fleet’

Meanwhile, Sloane Helicopters has appointed Mike Lacey as its new director of sales and marketing. He has a long history of involvement in flying and aircraft engineering. He had both qualified as a pilot and built his own experimental aeroplane by his early twenties.

Lacey studied aeronautics in California before working as chief engineer at a Cessna pilot centre in British Columbia. He then worked for Eagle Beechcraft as technical sales manager. After Eagle left the Beech franchise, he helped Air Hanson win it themselves and spent the following nine years leading its sales organisation. He spent four further years in Canada, becoming chief pilot and sales manager for Field Aviation Toronto. Galaxy Aerospace employed him as regional sales manager, before it was acquired by Gulfstream.

Lacey stayed with Gulfstream until he returned to the UK to work for Sloane. He has won a number of top salesman awards and has achieved both flying and engineering qualifications. Following the Formula 1 British Grand Prix on July 7th, Sloane has announced that anyone wanting to use its helicopters to fly to next year’s event should book now to avoid disappointment.

Operational services director Paul Forster explained why: “The reasons the seats are so hard to come by is that many of our passengers book for the next year’s race as soon as this one is over. If you want to get a slot for the 2003 race the time to book is now!”

With regard to this year’s event, Forster said: “We planned to fly 350 people into this year’s Grand Prix: many on behalf of Sports Events Hospitality, who laid on a champagne breakfast for their customers. No fewer than eight Agusta 109s were involved, plus a solitary Bell Jet Ranger; and they brought race fans in from London, Birmingham and Buckinghamshire.”