`Goldfinger` helicopter touches down at Yorkshire Air Museum

A helicopter that became a movie star and appeared with 007 has taken centre stage once again - reports The Northern Echo.

The Hiller paid a surprise visit to the Thunder Day event at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Elvington, near York, at the weekend.

And it will remain on show there all this week as a temporary addition to the museum’s extensive aircraft collection.

The Hiller was built in California in 1960, by the Hiller Aircraft Company, bearing the registration number G-ASAZ.

In 1963 it featured in its first screen role in The VIPs, which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

And the following year it appeared in the blockbuster James Bond film Goldfinger, where in some memorable scenes, it was flown by actress Honor Blackman as Pussy Galore.

For the next 35 years it served as a fleet charter helicopter, until, four years ago, it was purchased in a sorry state by Bob Hields, who runs Sherburn-based Hields Aviation.

He restored the aircraft and put it into Royal Navy livery, a distinctive silver with orange flashing and it the became a star of the small screen by making regular appearances in the hugely popular television series Heartbeat and The Royal.

Museum spokesman Ian Richardson said: "It is great to have this famous and now almost vintage helicopter on display here.

"The Hiller is back in its original white, just as it was seen in the classic Bond film Goldfinger all those years ago."

The Hiller will remain on display until Easter Monday, when it will be flown out during the afternoon.

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