Out With The Old, In With The New.

Aircraft Of The Month

This week I have decided to dedicate the entire post to the aircraft of the month, because in order to best describe why I have chosen it as a worthy candidate, we need to look at its role and why, only recently, it has come to light as an important aircraft. 

I am talking of course about the

AugustaWestland AW139 and Westland WS-61 Sea King. 

"Hold on a second?!" I hear you cry. "There's two aircraft there!" and yes, yes there are. The reason for which will hopefully become apparent. You see, here at Lydd the most recent development for the airport has been the arrival of Bristow Search And Rescue which is the civilian company that has been awarded the UK search and rescue (SAR) contract until 2026. 

But first, I would very much like to talk about what Brstow is replacing. For decades, the role of Search and Rescue in the UK fell on the military. Specifically the Royal Air Force (RAF) and Royal Navy. Although both services have used many different aircraft in the past, one of the most successful and beloved has been the Westland WS-61 SeaKing 

Specifically for me, S-125 (Pictured left) Formerly Rescue-125 this SeaKing has provided most of the South East and West of England with swift and reliable air sea rescue for a great many years. 

Based at RAF Wattisham (EGUW) in East Anglia. S-125 was one of two SeaKings operated by 22(B)Sqn (the other being S-127) from 1993, just after the airfield was handed over to the Army Air Corps. On standby 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year the crews of 22(B) were ready at a moments notice to respond to any emergency that required the unique capabilities, offered only by a helicopter. 

Being a member of the RNLI at Littlestone, machines such as S-125 serve an invaluable role in the protection of people out at sea. An experience I was able to witness first hand during an exercise between Littlestone Lifeboat and S-125 that allowed me to understand what exactly goes into a coordinated rescue between a vessel and an aircraft. 

 

As you can in the picture to the right. The assisting Lifeboat can provide on the water support to a stricken vessel, person in the water or even sinking ships! However, where it is unsafe to to transport casualties by water to the nearest help, the air sea rescue helicopter steps in to provide a smooth, stable and fast transport platform back to safety. 

It is the overall teamwork of the crews on board the helicopter and Lifeboats that ensure a safe transition from sea to air. But, sometimes the helicopter might be tasked with conducting a rescue without the aid of a Lifeboat. 

In this case, it becomes the very unique and challenging task of fulfilling the 'Search' aspect of Search and Rescue when it is necessary for the helicopter crew to work together and fly a search pattern near where there is someone in need of their help. Once found it is then the difficult job of the pilot to keep the helicopter in a stable hover over the casualty and the equally growling task of the aircrew to deploy the winch man down the winch to the aid of someone below. 

Often though, these challenges become close to the impossible, when the casualty maybe on the deck of a moving ship and there for the speed must be matched by the helicopter, or the weather may be nothing like it is in the photos, but windy, rainy and dark. As you can see in the picture to the above, as the lifeboat is departing, the sea spray being violently blown by the down wash of the helicopter shows yet another variable that needs to be taken into consideration when operating at low level like these crews do. And it is for these reasons that S-125 and her crews are my aircraft of the month as now sadly, S-125 flew for the last time from Wattisham to Fleetland where she has been scrapped, but graciously giving one very fortunate apprentice one last flypast. 

Moving on however, it is with a heavy heart that we must say farewell to S-125. As of friday the 14th of August, SAR operations for the South-East have been officially handed over to Bristow, who bring with them two Agustawestland 139 helicopters G-CIJW (Below) and G-CIJX 

 and although I cannot tell you much about these aircraft, I look forward to perhaps one day being able to approach the crew and ask them myself to which I shall then pass on the information here. 

All I can tell you is, that unlike the SeaKing these aircraft are bristling with high-tech equipment, such as thermal imaging cameras and inferred sensors to help detect more quickly objects or people in the water.

 What I can say for sure is though, I look very much forward to learning more about these helicopters, and how they live up to their predecessors. Also, to maybe one day work with them on the lifeboat. and even, in the not so distant future, applying myself to becoming a search and rescue pilot which for a long time now has been my ultimate goal.













Writing about these aircraft is all well and good and I really do hope that you have enjoyed reading about them. However, some of you may have heard of the horrific crash at Shoreham airshow on Saturday, involving a Hawker Hunter jet. That, while attempting a loop, collided with the ground on A27 and killing at least 7 and leaving dozens more critically injured. With the death toll expected to rise I would like to send my sincere condolences to the families affected by this tragedy and wish the speediest recovery to Mr Andy Hill who is fighting for his life after surviving the crash.

Many thanks to you all, and please join me again next week. 

Floating and Flying

Today, I shall start by explaining the flight I took this week with Clive. On Wednesday, Clive decided to introduce me to, and cover in the syllabus, instrument flying. The art of being able to operate an aircraft in circumstances where simply looking out the window isn't an option. My course dictates that I must be able to complete a full 180° turn while under "The Hood"
and for those who are unaware, "The Hood" (or Foggles) are generic terms given to a pair of glasses or headband that limits a pilots view so they can only see the instrument panel. The aim of which is to simulate IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions) at any time of year and with minimal risk,   for the purpose of practising this unique and challenging task.


Now, my experience of instrument flying can only be described as disorientating. Clive briefed me on what we would cover during our flight and to what direction we would travel. Apart from that, if you were to ask me specifically where we went, I would not for the life of me be able to give you an accurate answer. Luckily the weather was suitable for VFR (Visual Flight Rules) flying and therefore Clive had a perfectly good idea and view of where we were flying to and has since told me that we were operating out to sea near Hastings. I cant tell you that we were operating at between 1800-2500ft.

The Attitude Indicator

So, to start with I was able to taxi and take off without my vision being impaired, all went well and I feel as though my initial call was on point. Once we departed from Runway 03 we climbed past 500ft and before I was handed the dreaded "Foggles" that reside in Clive's flight bag. Once I had put them on I immediately understood why people in the past had told me they feel ill whenever they go under the hood or put on the foggles. Suddenly the general operation of an aircraft becomes very close and mentally hectic. Instead of using the horizon as a reference to attitude you now find yourself staring primarily at the Attitude indicator (AI) instead of out of the window. It is then a matter of scanning the instrument panel and maintaining a number of different factors all at once; Including heading, altitude, attitude and/or VOR track.


As if it wasn't enough of a challenge Clive then blanked out the AI  and the heading indicator, meaning that I was now flying the aircraft with references only from the "Turn and Slip indicator" and magnetic compass. This was by far those most challenging flying I've ever done, but also the most rewarding. After doing recoveries from unusual attitudes, climbing and descending turns, VOR tracking and finally some NDB tracking back to Lydd. I was allowed to remove the foggles as we approached the overhead where we completed a standard right hand circuit for 03.


Moving on, I would like to explain why I have titled this weeks post "Floating and Flying".


Due to some adverse weather we had (as I'm sure the local audience will know) we at Lydd found ourselves under around 2 inches of water, inside the airport! As you can see in the photo on the right, the entire club ended up being flooded, and it wasn't just the club, the airport lounge and restaurant were all flooded. I can safely say that I have never experienced anything like this in the UK the rain fell so hard the new "Lydd Aero Lake" formed in just under 40 minutes and took the rest of the day to clear, using brooms, brushes and vacuum cleaners. it is only now, 4 days later that the carpet is actually dry.

















Sticking with the water theme, I spent my entire weekend in or around the seaside. On Saturday I was fortunate enough to compete with my friend Jack in the RYA Topper National dinghy sailing regatta in Whistable. Although we didn't win the race, we were actually out to sea beneath the displays that were happening as part of the Herne Bay airshow. Featuring displays from the likes of the world famous RAF Red Arrows and Vulcan XH558 V-bomber, who sadly is retiring at the end of this season. So the opportunity to see it display from such a unique perspective meant that the dinghy race was the last thing on my mind as I left Whistable that day.




As always, thank you very much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this post. Next week I'm hoping to catch up with my friends who have no completed their CPLs and also do some more research on my Aircraft of the month for August.

The Training Continues.

Apologies for my late post, even after announcing that I will now be doing all I can to publish a new post at a set time of 18:00 (GMT) on a Monday, for the benefit of the ever growing international audience. My late post comes after a short break away in Devon, which although doesn't have anything to do with aviation did give me the opportunity to stop off on my return at Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Yeovilton. One of the Royal Navy's primary air stations and training areas and also home to the largest Naval aviation museum in Europe. WELL worth a visit if ever you get the opportunity.


Back to the training however, recently I have been working on VOR tracking. For those who don't know what VOR tracking is, it is a method used for navigation that involves determining your location with reference to a VOR beacon. These 'Very high frequency Omni-directional Radio range' (VOR) beacons are located all around the UK and do exactly as their name suggests. They emit a specific radio frequency that can be received by the VOR instrument in the aircraft. It is used for determining your location in relation to the VOR or your distance from (often coupled with DME or 'distance measuring equipment') or can be used to track a radial inbound or outbound form or to the beacon. There are whole essays and websites, videos and 'how to' videos based around VOR tracking and therefore I shan't explain everything but if you have any questions do feel free to put them to me anyway you can.


Having now completed nearly 24 hours of flight training, I'm now looking to prepare for my qualifying cross country. In doing so Recently I flew the Robin up to Rochester (EGTO) and also t Headcorn (EGKH) to practice some more soft field landings. Personally I found Rochester very challenging as the the runway we landed on (20-02) is very uneven and quite narrow. Fortunately after a fairly artistic landing we I was able to get the thing down and stopped.  As for Headcorn, I found going there for some circuits very enjoyable, if a bit exhausting.

Yesterday, to get back into the swing of solo flying after my break, I went for a 50 minute solo flight to Canterbury. For those who don't know, I went to school in Canterbury for 14 years, so the chance to fly over it and look specifically for areas I found interesting was a unique and welcome one. I routed up there via Rye and Ashford, and on return took the opportunity to practice some of my VOR tracking and so intercepted the 210° radial inbound the the Lydd VOR (LYD 114.05). Below is the only photo I was able to take, as to focus on photography when one should be flying an aircraft is not ideal. The next step on the agenda is to continue with the navigation and begin getting used to landing at other airfields. All things I look forward to keeping you updated on.

Although a dull post, I promise that next week will be far more interesting. As always many thanks for reading!