Norton Heliport Dartmouth (Devon)

I can offer some limited info.

I was a Dartmouth Officer Under Training in 1977/8 – Pilot.

The airfield was then base to a single Wasp and pilot with ground support crew. The principal role was to provide “air experience” to the all the OUT’s – introducing them used to an aviation environment, dangerous rotating blades, noise and so on. I believe all OUTs were given a short trip in the Wasp as part of this training. We Pilots also had a session there -it involved being winched up and down to/from the Wasp at the airfield and a 20 minute blast across South Devon.:)

For many this was their very first taste of helo flying.

Not sure when it was all closed down.

Visited Dartmouth in 2007 – the cute little tower has been preserved right next door to the park and ride area.

Thankyou Bravo … enquiries on other forums have elicited the facts that pre-Wasp the BRNC (Britannia Royal naval College ) Flight may have used a Dragonfly, that a Wasp(XT442) crashed there on take of 12 Dec 1973, Wasp XS535 used in 1977, and according to one reply , helicopters still occasionally visit the site using the Park and Ride car park.

The hangar was gone by 1999.(Google Earth historical shows an empty space for 99).

One other reply states that there was a short N-S grass runway- and that Plymouth based Chipmunks were rumored to have visited ….This seems a little unlikely as the longest possible run in the adjacent grass field would have been 330 yards.

Your post reminded me about the Wasp crash. It was four years before my time at BRNC but I recall it being mentioned in rather sombre tones.
Understand at least one Cadet was killed.

Does anyone have any further information about this?