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HMS Gannet Seaking final flypast


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Was delighted and saddened in equal measure today in that I was lucky enough to see the final 2 Seakings of HMS Gannet conduct their final flypast at Glasgow Airport this morning with an HC.4 in tow as camera ship. Unfortunately I wasn't in a position to get any good pics

Both of the familiar grey and red Mk.5's looked immaculate and had obviously received a lot of care and attention. I now wish I'd had a decent camera with me as they would have looked spectacular as they ran in along the centre line of runway 23 with a backdrop of the snow covered Campsie Fells to the north of Glasgow.

Here's a link to one of the BBC News reports, I cannot find the full length article from the Scottish News tonight but the footage taken from the HC.4 was nothing short of stunning. After weeks of grey overcast and rain, today couldn't have been more different, beautiful crisp clear blue skies meant superb flying conditions for the Final Flypast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-35303937

Having lived very close to the Clyde and Glasgow airport for over 25 years, I'll certainly miss the distinctive sound and sight of these machines following the river, either to the airport or main hospitals, and often in horrific weather, sometimes on an almost daily basis.

Thank you HMS Gannet for all the lives you've saved and people you have helped over the years, it won't be the same without the sound of the King overhead.

Eng

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It was a nice send off and well deserved after 44 years, I went to a view point over Edinburgh but got my times wrong and was an hour early so ended up missing it.

Shame the yellow side didn't do something similar instead of disappearing without a goodbye.

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It all seemed very fitting and incredibly well planned and advertised. And just for once was nice to see a farewell for a much loved and respected team of men and equipment not hampered by someone's purse strings!

Dave I feel your pain, I was on a training course but managed to distract our instructor and divert everyone's attention to the flypast so got as good a view as I could. Would have loved to have been out the front of the hangar though.

Eng

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Nigel,

I was of the same opinion initially but having had a look over one of the new S-92's, I think the new guys have got a superb bit of very high tech kit available to them. Whilst the kit alone won't replace 44 years of experience and skill, I think this combined with the fact that aircrew have transferred across to the new operation will give them a very good chance of maintaining a top notch operation.

I'm not a big fan of change and the loss of HMS Gannet, and in particular the sight and sound of the mighty Seaking, is going to take some getting used to. Mind you I can hear the S-92 coming from much further down the Clyde than I used to be able to hear the Seakings so technology hasn't made them any quieter!!

Rgds,

Eng

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Must agree the BBC footage the other night was superb and well worth the watch.

Trust the Senior Service to turn out two immaculate machines and get great footage. They were always the masters at PR in the RN ever since Trafalgar

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I don't know if there is a Navy Sea-king preserved anywhere, but Morayvia at Kinloss, near Kinloss Barracks in Moray, have an ex RAF SAR Sea-king wot you can get into and sit in the front seats and anywhere else you want.

The old 1:72 Airfix kit had the serial number, XZ585, of the cab which crashed in Lochaber late 80's and was subsequently re-built I think by the Navy and one of the crew members in the crash, Bob Pountney the winch-man, is a volunteer at Morayvia. I recently add an old kit to my stash of kits to build, found it in a shop in Wick. £7.

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Nigel,

I can hear the S-92 coming from much further down the Clyde than I used to be able to hear the Seakings so technology hasn't made them any quieter!!

Rgds,

Eng

You said it. The S-92 is also operated here in Ireland with the Irish Coastguard and it is one noisy helicopter, especially for a very modern machine. I would guess that there is possiblly no flight profile that can be flown where you will SEE an S-92 before you hear it. I read somewhere that it should really have been designed with a five-blade rotor system instead of a four-blade one but they simply scaled-up the Blackhawk rotor head and ended up with this noisy beast. They have carried out noise studies in the S-92 cockpit and it seems hearing damage is almost guaranteed for the pilots. Something to do with blade-loading is behind at least a part of the noise problem.

A real pity to see the SAR Sea Kings, yellow and red-and-grey, finishing up. They occasionally popped across the Irish Sea to lend a helping hand now and then over the years. One carried out a rescue in Northern Ireland over the Christmas period, I believe. Great modelling subjects!

BM.

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Very nice, some great footage from the BBC. Interesting to see the 892 NAS logo on the aircrew flying clothing.

A sad day, and I wish the civilian (Coast Guard) SAR all the best.

RR

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From a very reliable source the 892 patch was chosen as the Gannet SAR was the last SAR duty and Omega is the last letter in the Greek alphabet.

This caught my eye the other day as well and I was quite intrigued to find this out.

Eng

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I too have noticed that the S-92 is quite a noisy beast, particularly when compared to the Merlins out of Culdrose -themselves not exactly adherents to noise abatement.

Between the Gannet flypast and the five-ship put up by 771 over Cornwall last year, the Navy have truly marked the end of military SAR in style, most unlike the RAF, which seems to have allowed the Sea King to slip away with barely a mention. Poor show.

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The grey and red paint scheme on the RN Seakings was always a favourite of mine. Sorry to see them go. The Seaking is now rapidly passing into history. I suppose it had to happen eventually.

The irony of the passing of military SAR is that the ready supply of SAR experienced helicopter crew will be lessened to the civilian operators. Having said that there were never enough ex military crew to fill the ranks anyway.

I can also vouch for the noisiness of the S92s. I live in Galway in the west of Ireland and the ICG S92s are regular visitors to the local hospital and believe me you hear that beast all over the city. Several times I've been woken in the wee small hours by one of them. If it wakes me up I wonder what it's like for the people near the hospital. It is a bit chilling to hear it though. At that hour of the night it means someone is in big trouble.

But even if you mourn the passing of the Seakings. The S92s are a considerable step up in the terms of range, equipment and performance.

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It is interesting how people hold such "affection" for aircraft. Perhaps it is the crews and their actions that are held in high esteem and it is just the case that the machine, in this case, the Sea King, is the physical embodiment of the brave actions of all the crews over the entire period of its service. Maybe it is also SAR aircraft that are particularly special to people.

The retirement of the Alouette III here in Ireland in 2007 was an occasion where the Irish Air Corps made a special effort to commemorate the crews and the aircraft itself with a big event at Casement Aerodrome. It was the most well-known aircraft in the Air Corps fleet at the time and usually the man in the street would see the SA 316B and know it was the "Alouette". Given its SAR, Air Ambulance and "aid to the civil populace" role, it was much loved and is still sadly missed. It will be the same for the Sea KIng.

BM.

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New book.

Royal Navy "Search and Rescue" by David Morris.

Today, the sight of a helicopter speeding toward some destination is familiar enough, but take a moment to consider: is there a life at stake? Is someone in peril and on a knife edge of survival, and will the helicopter crew be selflessly placing themselves in the most dangerous of situations for the sake of saving others? Ever since the First World War, aircraft of the Royal Naval Air Service and later the Fleet Air Arm have operated from land bases and ships at sea, flying search and rescue missions. In this book David Morris, Curator of Aircraft at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, tells the incredible story of Royal Navy search and rescue from the first mission by Sir Richard Bell-Davies VC to the present day.

Highest Regards,

Dirk

The Netherlands.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Withams WSV the MOD dealers, currently have a Sea King airframe for sale via an on line auction. Lot no - 7348, tail number ZE368. Currently £2.5k, finishing on 17 Feb if anyone fancies one. Missing a few parts: sponsons, left entry door, winches, engines, main rotor, tail rotor, seats (all), flight controls, 99% of the avionics, windows (they are there, just not fitted) and most of the interior padding to name a few.

Unfortunately, "Airframe is not in flying condition."

As for the suggested potential uses! :mental:

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