ST,
A driver on the Aldergrove-Carnlough-Kintyre flightpath got quite a shock when he saw a Chinook coming straight at him near Parkgate at more or less hedge top height. Around the same time up on the north coast near Portrush another Chinook on a different flightpath skimmed a low ridge. John Spellar's reply to William Ross that there was only one Chinook in flight has yet to be corrected and the identity and role of the Portrush Chinook have yet to be established.
In light of your comments about the state of the Mk2 Chinooks on June 1 you must have been surprised that the ZD576 Mk2 was flown over to Northern Ireland on May 31, the first MK2 to be based at Aldergrove. If I remember correctly this helicopter had just been upgraded in the US a few weeks earlier. JATOC claimed that on May 31 he had recommended the use of two Pumas for the transit but this was changed on June 1 to one Chinook.