Attila - I gues they must have been upgraded sometime in the 80s then. Yes, unstabilised aircraft in the dark over water - no thanks!
Crab, you were a bit too young to fly the Whirlwind (which of course, as you well know, was a mainstay of RAF SAR).
Certain "Floppy stick" AS355s, which had the SAS removed to get the weight down so they could fit the necessary police equipment, were a bit of a handful over the dark hills, too.
