Very rare 50 year old Photo. Sycamore XG518 desert rescue.
FED,
She sure sounds like a Pilot's Machine!
She sure sounds like a Pilot's Machine!
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
Green Knight, if you're referring to the Wadi Jizi photo, it was taken during exercise "Gold Leaf", which took place March 10th-16th 1968.
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: netherlands
Age: 56
Posts: 769
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Enjoyable feedback / insights into fifties helicopter technology / flying thnx!
Sycamore HR.14 XG518 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Sycamore HR.14 XG518 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Cunning Artificer
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The spiritual home of DeHavilland
Age: 76
Posts: 3,127
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That's the origin of carbon fibre.
When I was on 32's Whirlwinds in the 70s we had a chap who had been there on Sycamores. He had a lump missing from one of his calves where he was hit by a lump of rotor blade during a Sycamore ground resonance event.
Re: droop stops, on the Whirlwind, for a stuck droop stop we would climb up the side, open the service platform and crouching down below the whirling machinery, knock the stop into position with a two foot length of broom handle. Happy days.
When I was on 32's Whirlwinds in the 70s we had a chap who had been there on Sycamores. He had a lump missing from one of his calves where he was hit by a lump of rotor blade during a Sycamore ground resonance event.
Re: droop stops, on the Whirlwind, for a stuck droop stop we would climb up the side, open the service platform and crouching down below the whirling machinery, knock the stop into position with a two foot length of broom handle. Happy days.
B-S,you`d need a very long pole to try that on the Sycamore,as the `stops are above the rotorhead...
Well described by FED the eccentricities of learning to fly it...known to put hairs on your chest or even other parts...
Apart from the Gazelle,it`s the only helo in which one was taught `max rate turns`..full power ,crank the bank and pull.....
Even had wind-up windows and leather seats,well polished of course,and that certain characteristic perfume` je ne sais quoi` when getting aboard....
You were taught to `play it by ear` listen to the `song of the Leonides ensemble behind you`,and the whistling of the woodwinds(blades !),and if it`s out of tune, it`s DOWN(collective),OFF(engine),Up to 2(degrees of collective)...
Ahhhhh...nostalgia,ain`t wot it used to be...baby helo pilots now don`t know they`re born.....
Well described by FED the eccentricities of learning to fly it...known to put hairs on your chest or even other parts...
Apart from the Gazelle,it`s the only helo in which one was taught `max rate turns`..full power ,crank the bank and pull.....
Even had wind-up windows and leather seats,well polished of course,and that certain characteristic perfume` je ne sais quoi` when getting aboard....
You were taught to `play it by ear` listen to the `song of the Leonides ensemble behind you`,and the whistling of the woodwinds(blades !),and if it`s out of tune, it`s DOWN(collective),OFF(engine),Up to 2(degrees of collective)...
Ahhhhh...nostalgia,ain`t wot it used to be...baby helo pilots now don`t know they`re born.....
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: The sunny side at Tuncurry/Forster, NSW, Australia - 32°10'14.88"S 152°29'5.22"E
Age: 82
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Helicopter Filght, RAF Khormaksar
Thanks to you all for the reminisces of the Sycamore & Whirlwinds on the SAR Flight.
After sailing to Aden on the last trip by SS Nevasa, I was so unfortunate to do a year down at RAF Eastleigh, Kenya. Obviously, the powers that be came to my rescue and got me a cushy billet at Khormaksar on the Flight. This was 1962 and I was to stay there until 1964.
My first, ever, flight in a chopper was on XG518. That's the good news. What I wasn't prepared for was once I got Jock Aberdeen out of bed at 4:30AM, and into the chopper with a mug of coffee, he would lift off and very soon expect you to take control while he had a nap.
I soon learned the basic controls and started to enjoy the privilege of being on the Flight.
As I explained to Zetec2 (were you there, to, PH?), my memory has taken a bashing over the years but I still have flashes remembering such people as Tone Bell, Den Bryer, Barry (?) Davies (we were sent to Westlands on a Whirlwind course for a month), and yet I cannot recall the boss!
Tracking the blades were an experience using a flag pole, masking tape, crayons and a block of wood with a deep grove along its middle (
recision tool: to alter the tabs).
The experienced learned here during those long months came to fruition in 1979 when I was allowed to restore XJ380 Sycamore Mk14 at RAF Finningley.
XJ380 now at Boscombe Down and in a sh**ty state:
Sycamore XJ380 - Picture of Boscombe Down Aviation Collection, Salisbury - TripAdvisor
also:
Sycamore
This was prior to me moving up to Lossie on Seakings followed by a stint ot Leconfield on Wessex.
After sailing to Aden on the last trip by SS Nevasa, I was so unfortunate to do a year down at RAF Eastleigh, Kenya. Obviously, the powers that be came to my rescue and got me a cushy billet at Khormaksar on the Flight. This was 1962 and I was to stay there until 1964.
My first, ever, flight in a chopper was on XG518. That's the good news. What I wasn't prepared for was once I got Jock Aberdeen out of bed at 4:30AM, and into the chopper with a mug of coffee, he would lift off and very soon expect you to take control while he had a nap.
I soon learned the basic controls and started to enjoy the privilege of being on the Flight.
As I explained to Zetec2 (were you there, to, PH?), my memory has taken a bashing over the years but I still have flashes remembering such people as Tone Bell, Den Bryer, Barry (?) Davies (we were sent to Westlands on a Whirlwind course for a month), and yet I cannot recall the boss!
Tracking the blades were an experience using a flag pole, masking tape, crayons and a block of wood with a deep grove along its middle (
recision tool: to alter the tabs).The experienced learned here during those long months came to fruition in 1979 when I was allowed to restore XJ380 Sycamore Mk14 at RAF Finningley.
XJ380 now at Boscombe Down and in a sh**ty state:
Sycamore XJ380 - Picture of Boscombe Down Aviation Collection, Salisbury - TripAdvisor
also:
Sycamore
This was prior to me moving up to Lossie on Seakings followed by a stint ot Leconfield on Wessex.
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,869
Received 2,823 Likes
on
1,203 Posts
After sailing to Aden on the last trip by SS Nevasa
I was taught French kissing by a 15 year old girl who took no prisoners... But, that is another story..
This is real desert
Nah; THIS is real desert.
http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps8501b8ab.jpg
Wadi Jizi, near Buraimi, UAE
Nah; THIS is real desert.
http://i494.photobucket.com/albums/r...ps8501b8ab.jpg
Wadi Jizi, near Buraimi, UAE
Southern Oman
Bent Sycamore
Back in my blanket stacking days in, I think it was 1965 or 1966, I was in the left hand seat of our trusty Bedford 3 Tonner heading down the tree-lined road from AMQ's towards the RAF Ternhill entrance when a rotor blade sailed through the tree tops above us. As we approached the main road the remains of the Sycamore had settled into the corner of the airfield in front of us and both aircrew were doing their best efforts at a sprint upwind. I can only assume that they were attempting a "confined area" landing or had a blade strike on a nearby tree but I would guess it was the dreaded ground resonance. Anyway it didn't put me off applying for SAR a few years later but then things had moved on to the Whirlwind.
FED, thanks for that essay. In '66 my JP boss suggested I go for choppers so, even had I done so, I'd have missed the joys which you describe so eloquently and terrifyingly.
I think I'd have had a much more enjoyable experience on helicopters than I did on Argosies but I planned to leave asap and go airline so I thought it best to fly multi planks.
I subsequently discovered that guys who went rotary to fixed tended to do so very successfully and 'had a good pair of hands' - I wonder why
I think I'd have had a much more enjoyable experience on helicopters than I did on Argosies but I planned to leave asap and go airline so I thought it best to fly multi planks.
I subsequently discovered that guys who went rotary to fixed tended to do so very successfully and 'had a good pair of hands' - I wonder why
Thread Starter
Photo. back in original post
I note that the Photo . was not showing in my original post .
I did not delete this , so why was it removed?
Blxxdy Photoshop!!!!!
I have re entered it back in the Post.
OPF
I did not delete this , so why was it removed?
Blxxdy Photoshop!!!!!
I have re entered it back in the Post.
OPF
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Hanging off the end of a thread
Posts: 32,869
Received 2,823 Likes
on
1,203 Posts
The Sycamore that used to sit as a "gate guard" outside 240 OCU was previously flown by one of the Instructors on the OCU ( Taff Walker )
Ternhill Sycamore
My first encounter with a Sycamore was in 1956 when this one parked in front of the officers mess. Don't know who the VIP passenger was as I was only a lowly student on a Provost course. Later, in 1959, I escorted an Aden based Sycamore from Sharjah to Bahrain with a Twin Pioneer and then had to suffer being winched from a dinghy two miles off Muharraq Island. I never have trusted choppers!
Evertonian
Cornish Jack - Out of curiosity, is that "Rescue" in Arabic aft of the Roundel? Also, where was this B&W piccy taken? (Assuming I'm not breaking operational secrecy...)