HOLME LANE:   Private helipad       (Aka SLAITHWAITE)




Note:  All three of these pictures were obtained from Google Earth ©





Location:  Just W of Slaithwaite village, about 6nm SW of Huddersfield town centre

Period of operation:  1990s (?) to -



NOTES:  Only a few private helipads have been listed in this 'Guide', mainly to record how many there are in the UK.

This one being notable because for many years, (and perhaps still is?), the base for a true classic helicopter - the Bell 47G. This example being registered in the USA as N9595B.

The first flight of the Bell 47 was on the 8th December 1945, and the type was also the first to be certified for civilian use in the following year - 1946. Quite possibly, in the UK, the type became very familiar in its military guise, as it featured so often in the television series MASH - set in the Korean war. I also remember another television series from my childhood in the 1950s. This time featuring the civilian Bell 47, which was called Whirlybirds. 111 episodes were made, running from 1957 to 1960.