Trivial Sea King questions.

grandfer · 24th Jul 2012, 18:29

Hi all , just a couple of questions that , hopefully some of you Sea King drivers can answer : Why do the British military operated Sea Kings have the name "SEA KING" painted on the rear fuselage on both sides ,our other military helos don't have their common names similarly applied ? And why have the individual aircraft codes , in black from "A" to "Z" started to disappear from the aircraft ? It seams to be only the Mk.3A that have had their codes removed while the Mk.3s still appear to retain theirs .
Just a couple of trivial questions , Cheers , Grandfer

Trim Stab · 24th Jul 2012, 19:33

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Why do the British military operated Sea Kings have the name "SEA KING" painted on the rear fuselage on both sides ,our other military helos don't have their common names similarly applied ?

It is a cunning ploy to discourage Japanese research ships from shooting them down with harpoons.

stickmonkeytamer · 24th Jul 2012, 21:05

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Why do the British military operated Sea Kings have the name "SEA KING" painted on the rear fuselage on both sides

It is historic. It shows to all those around that they are "seeking" the missing fisherman/ downed aircrew/ bikini clad lady that has been washed out to sea on an inflatable ring. The airman was told to go out and paint "seeking" on the side in order to show what the helicopter was up to so that it was not disturbed (as they budget for having neon lighting along the side was cut), but spelt it wrong... In the same way that someone was told to go out and paint "2 Xs then one X" on 29 Squadron aircraft... We treasure our heritage...

SMT

Milo Minderbinder · 24th Jul 2012, 21:34

Its because the SAR squadrons are so desperate for serviceable airframes that the Sea Kings currently in service have all been retrieved from museums: they've not had time to take the identification labels off them yet

TorqueOfTheDevil · 25th Jul 2012, 00:48

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And why have the individual aircraft codes , in black from "A" to "Z" started to disappear from the aircraft ?

Some of the airframes never had them in the first place. What has happened since the letters were first applied is that when the airframe is repainted (or has a repair done to that part of the tail) the letter is removed, but it appears to be outwith the contract to replace it! All airframes which pass through Valley have the letters reapplied where necessary thanks to some very helpful people in Station Graphics, but this may not be possible elsewhere. Or maybe noone cares!

grandfer · 25th Jul 2012, 10:10

TotD -I think your last comment that noone really cares is just about right .
Cheers, Grandfer

Walrus75 · 25th Jul 2012, 22:39

No-one really cared 10 or 12 years ago when it was proposed (and implemented) by an OC Eng at St Mawgan (except for OC Eng). As ToTD mentioned not all cabs had the tail letter applied. And some that have had them re-applied recently (as they go thru Valley) have been done in rather a grand font... certainly not the font required/as defined by the aircraft repair manual... so, does that make it an illegal modification?

As for the "Sea King" markings... well there's an old story that it was an oversight or random caption on an original plan and that it was never intended to be on the airframe itself but subsequently became part of the aircraft markings anyway for the past umpty-ump years. However that may well just be an urban myth.

TorqueOfTheDevil · 27th Jul 2012, 12:50

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No-one really cared 10 or 12 years ago when it was proposed (and implemented) by an OC Eng at St Mawgan (except for OC Eng)

Although in fairness to K***h V****** (for I believe it was he), the large letters are quite handy for telling the aircraft apart on a large dispersal such as at Valley. And it's quicker to fill in your logbook if you only have to write one letter instead of two letters and three numbers

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so, does that make it an illegal modification?

Just stop it

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