The story behind a mysterious photograph which was discovered last year has finally been uncovered as an Aberdeenshire community prepares for its annual Highland Games.
Amongst a bundle of old slides donated to the organisers of the Lonach Highland Gathering and Games was an intriguing picture of a helicopter apparently being jump-started by a car on the A944, the main road through the village of Bellabeg where the gathering is held.
After a plea for information, the tale of the baffling picture has been revealed – and a member of the Lonach Highland and Friendly Society was the person who held the answers to Strathdon’s “case of the curious chopper”.
In 1974, James McIntosh, who was brought up in Strathdon and runs the Lecht Ski Centre, was working for Sunningdale-based Yellow Bird Air Services which owned the pictured Bell 47G-5 helicopter.
Mr McIntosh explained: “We were contracted to spread fertiliser on young trees on the Isle of Mull and as the helicopter was due a service, myself and American pilot Don Ambabo decided to head to Strathdon for the weekend and carry out the service there, before we flew to Mull.”
Assisted by a local policeman, the pair landed on the road on the Friday evening before wheeling the helicopter to the cover of the local garage. During the weekend, they serviced and washed down the helicopter with the help of fellow Lonach Highlander Archibald Stuart.
When they manoeuvred it back out on Monday morning for take-off, things didn’t quite go to plan.
Mr McIntosh said: “We wheeled the chopper out onto the road and went to fire up the engine and there was nothing.
It was a piston-driven engine which can sometimes be difficult to start, especially after being hosed down and cleaned. “Knowing that the local bus and other folks would be needing past soon we had to act quickly.
“As the battery on the helicopter is fairly small, a car can jump-start it – so I hijacked my father’s Rover.
“There were a few bemused drivers and some of the locals were peering out their doors to watch proceedings. It’s not every day a helicopter uses the main road through Strathdon as a helipad.”
This Saturday will see a different spectacle along the A944 in Strathdon when around 170 Lonach Highlanders undertake their annual six-mile march to the Lonach Highland Gathering and Games.