Westland Whirlwind Helicopter - XP395 / XJ729
I am an Archaeological diver currently investigating a Westland Whirlwind HAS10 cab located in New England Quarry, Plymton. The number on the tail is XJ729, the number in the cab and the nose is XP395. Whilst the service history is fairly straight forward, the details of their civilian life is not. can anybody help with the fol:
1. it is suggested that XJ729 ditched during a SAR exercise, but apparently is still flying in ireland under civil registration......................
2. XJ729 was filmed in a programme for BBC 999 Life savers.......
3. XP395 was deployed to Cyprus as part of the peace keeping force but not as far as i can tell with 84 Sqn, can anybody help?
If anybody who operated or worked with Whirlwinds could shed any light i would really appreciate it. In particular i would really like to see any pictures of the cabs that you may have.
many thanks.