Some
people reading this might have seen Little Nellie on display at
different branches of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain. But
how can this be if she is still owned by Wing Commander Wallis?
Has he let them borrow his ‘little
girl’?
Well, not quite: “Planet
Hollywood were exceedingly keen to obtain a Little Nellie. Two
Little Nellie’s
were used in the film. All the flying was done with G-ARZB but an
identical version, G-AVDH, had been fitted out the same way. It also
was a flying version but it was used suspended, with a fan
ruffling Sean Connery’s
shirt as he appeared to be flying it, with the background scenery
being moved."
“I
was certainly not prepared to part with Little Nellie G-ARZB. In
some flight tests with G-AVDH, in 1969, nothing to do with
filming, I had a tip-over on landing and the aircraft was damaged and
it lay around for a long while. I used some bits unsuited to
flying from G-AVDH and made a virtually identical Little Nellie
for Planet Hollywood, but it is in no way fit for flight. To save
weight some of the internal parts of the engine are missing, but
it looks the part”
explains Ken.
What
of Little Nellie G-ARZB? She is still owned by Wing Commander
Wallis, but following changes to the pilot licensing laws she is
unable to be flown at air displays…
but she could be: “I
did not re-apply for a Display Authorisation after I had regained
my medical under the new rules. At my age, with the increasing
restrictions on flying for Air Displays, I would not try to renew a
Display Authorisation, so Little Nellie is not demonstrated in
public, though she is occasionally on static display. For that
reason she is normally drained of fuel. However, if some fuel were
put in her tank she would be ready to fly - apart from the
expensive paperwork to renew her Certificate of Airworthiness.
I currently have only six of my current eighteen serviceable
Autogyros actually signed up, but should there be some particular
need I would renew Little Nellie’s
Permit To Fly or
Certificate of Airworthiness for which she qualified when
making the film and flying aboard. I would be pleased to show that
she remains a very lively girl. When making the film, especially
in Japan at the greater altitude, the helicopter pilots were
asking me to slow down a bit - in level flight and on the climb they could not keep up with Little Nellie!“
Ken’s
dedication to keeping the word 'Autogyro' in the air has not gone
unnoticed by the British Royal Family: “I
was awarded the MBE for Services to Autogyro Development or some
such words, by Prince Charles, not Her Majesty the Queen. I had
met him, Prince Andrew and Prince Philip on previous occasions,
such as the presentation of the Solomon Trophy.
The
first time that I met a member of the Royal Family was when Prince
Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited Miles Aircraft in
Shoreham. I was required to demonstrate the Military Type WA-116
to him. I was pleased to meet him. However, he had just learnt to
fly a light aeroplane and we were worried incase he wanted to get
on the WA-116 and fly it! Fortunately he was happy to see the
demonstration and have a chat about it”!
Since
appearing in 'You Only Live Twice', Ken has devoted his life
to the further development of his Autogyros, which have proved to
be ideal vehicles for searching for missing persons, animals,
stolen cars and even missing model aircraft. Wing Commander Wallis
and the Wallis Autogyros have held all 20 of the official UK World
Records for Autogyro speed, time to climb, altitude, range and
duration. Other Wallis Autogyros have been used in an
investigation to look for the Loch Ness Monster, and doing special
photography in Saudi Arabia. A Type WA-120 Autogyro, fitted with a
multi-band photographic pack, illustrated the exploration of the
surface of the Earth in the 'Exploration Exhibition' at the Science
Museum. All of these varied activities go to show the versatility
of the Wallis Autogyro’s.
When
asked how he would sum up his involvement with the world of 007
Ken says: “It
was a totally new experience - one that I did not realise would
have such a long lasting effect and one that I was fortunate to
have undertaken.”
The
author would like to offer his thanks to Wing Commander Kenneth H
Wallis MBE Deng (hc) CEng FRAeS FSETP PhD (hc) RAF (Ret’d)
for his participation in this interview.
©2006
Christopher Johnson. All rights reserved.
To contact Chris, please e-mail him by clicking HERE
|
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THE
LIVES OF KEN WALLIS Engineer
And Aviator Extraordinaire (Ian Hancock)
ISBN 0954123921
Enlarged Third Edition. Softback with 220 pages
and over 100 photographs/illustrations. £7.95
unsigned, £10 signed by Ken and author, plus UK
postage £1.60.
Available from the Norfolk and Suffolk
Aviation Museum shop.
Click on the link below for information
on how to order. |
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