Date:	Thursday 27 February 1969
Time:	day
Type:	Brantly B-2B
Owner/operator:	E C Francis (regd. owner)
Registration:	G-ARZI
MSN:	165
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Substantial
Location:	Old Colwyn Helipad, Old Colwyn, east of Colwyn Bay, Conwy -   United Kingdom
Phase:	Unknown
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	Old Colwyn Helipad, Old Colwyn, Conwy
Destination airport:	Old Colwyn Helipad, Old Colwyn, Conwy

Narrative:
G-ARZI Brantly B.2 (MSN 165) (C of R R.7597) US registry Ex N2177U. Built Frederick 1962/ Arrived at London Air Port 17.5.62 (as cargo with G-ARZJ and G-ARZK in BOAC DC-7F G-AOII). Registered 30.5.62 to BEAS Ltd.
Cancelled 2.11.62 and re-registered 16.11.62 to Heliconair Ltd; based Newcastle/Woolsington Airport where it was delivered 2.11.62, and four days later was handed over to the Durham Police HQ at Aycliffe for traffic work with the constabulary and based at RAF Middleton St George, when it carried both ‘Police’ and company names. (It can be seen on a YouTube film titled ‘Brantly B-2 British Police Demonstration (early 60s)’ - see below)

Returned to BEAS after an accident 2.2.63 and replaced by G-ASEI in March. Registration cancelled 1.4.63 and re-registered 1.5.63 to BEAS Ltd. Registration cancelled 1.2.64 and re-registered 18.2.64 to P. A. W. B. Everard, Ratcliffe Hall, Leicester, carrying Everard’s Brewery Ltd titles and was initially based at Rearsby where it was converted to a B.2A and then moved to Ratcliffe Hall.

It attended the RAeS (Royal Aeronautical Society) Helicopter Meet at Dunsborough Park, Woking, Surrey 13.6.64 and the King’s Cup Air Race at Coventry in August 1966 with B.2B G-ASXE.

On 2.4.67 Ratcliffe Hall was the venue for the Helicopter Club’s first ‘Hover-In’ when ’‘ZI was joined by five other B.2s and two 305s.

Registration cancelled 22.9.67 and re-registered 13.10.67 to E C Francis, Chester, and based Old Colwyn helipad in Conwy.

Damaged at Old Colwyn Helipad, Old Colwyn, east of Colwyn Bay, Conwy in 1968(?) (on an unknown date between late 1967 and early 1969). C of A expired 27.2.69 and stored there until at least 1983. Registration finally cancelled 5.12. 83 as PWFU ("Permanently Withdrawn From use").

Old Colwyn (Welsh: Hen Golwyn, formerly Colwyn bilingually) is a large village just to the east of Colwyn Bay, in Conwy County Borough, Wales.

NOTE #1: As the exact date of when G-ARZI was withdrawn from use is not known (other than it was in the 1967-69 period) the date of "27 February 1969 - the date that the C of A expired - has been used as a "nominal" date, pending confirmation of the exact date. It can be presumed that the date of the incident was not after 27 February 1969.

NOTE #2: Due to an oversight by the FAA, the US registration N2177U was cancelled very belatedly, on 11.5.2012, fifty years (almost to the day) fat the helicopter arrived in the UK.

1. https://airport-data.com/aircraft/G-ARZI.html
2. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/misc/Brantly.pdf
3. https://www.helis.com/database/cn/44960/
4. G-ARZI History 1962-1967: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARZI-1.pdf
5. G-ARZI History 1967-1983: https://cwsprduksumbraco.blob.core.windows.net/g-info/HistoricalLedger/G-ARZI-2.pdf
6. FAA US Registry: https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=N2177U
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Colwyn

Built 1962. For aircraft history, see main ASN entry above

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
21-Sep-2024 17:55	Dr. John Smith	Added