Vale Bob Bell
 

I've got some sad news to report unfortunately, with former YSSY message board member and ex-Australian Aviation magazine contributor Bob Bell passing away last Wednesday. Bob was 66.

Bob used to write the "On The Airbands" column in the Australian Aviation magazine until around 2006 and had been an active part of the helicopter scene at Bankstown Airport until his sudden passing.

Bob also used to regularly spot on the fence line at Sydney, which is where I first met him many, many years ago.

His funeral will be held at South Chapel, Woronora Crematorium on Thursday 16th June at 2pm. The crematorium is at 121 Linden St, Sutherland.

Sad news. It was one of my favourite columns in Australian Aviation magazine.

Thats very sad news indeed . I met Bob on many occasions and we had a good friendship. I hadnt spoken with him for a while and knew nothing of any illness , so this has come as a surprise and shock . We had some good times together and at one stage he showed an interest in the Ultralight scene and was a regular at The Oaks Airfield , although he had a great passion for the rotary wing variety . RIP Bob , you were a good bloke and a great family man .

Dave C

Such a shock to get a message from Bob's daughter Rose saying that Bob had passed away suddenly while doing some train videos, we had many things in common work wise and hobby wise and stayed in regular contact since early 2000. Bob first introduced me to the wonders of aircraft tracking which I carry on to this day with my FR24 Emerald feed and it was always good to catch up in Sydney with him when I was visiting my old home town. I will miss our regular phone conversations talking aviation, ships and radio communications, RIP Mate.

Such sad news and my thoughts go out to Bob's family. I routinely saw Bob by the fence at Bankstown doing just as I was, admiring whirly birds! My scanner even runs an aerial given to me by Bob because the default one my original AOR device came with was pretty ordinary!

Bob's "On The Airbands" column in Australian Aviation was always one of my first reads whenever a new mag came my way.

For those who are unfamiliar with On The Airbands, here's a sample from July 2001.

https://s31.postimg.org/p8m3yy65n/image.jpg

https://s31.postimg.org/p9w1sd7zf/image.jpg

Like many people, I bumped into Bod a couple of times at the fence while I was flying out of Bankstown, and am so very sad to hear he had passed away suddenly. Bob will be fondly remembered by so many aviation enthusiasts.

Just like Craig, "On The Airbands" was one of my favourite reads in Australian Aviation Magazine each month, and what a co-incidence that one of my contributions to Bob's column is in Craig's sample.

I just read about Bob in the latest AA mag. A true gentleman, and one of Shep aka Nanna's best mates. He was a man with a huge amount of avgeek knowledge and on the airbands was always a fantastic read. RIP mate and blue skies forever.