Poor/marginal winching performance from the HAS7 was part and parcel of the training we received: Geoff's experience was quite normal. The Sproule Net was part of our syllabus as the method of recovering survivors unable to hook themselves onto the wire: double lifts in a HAS7 were not used. There is a previous thread on the Sproule, including my experience as a young snotty being politely asked to get the crewman's feet out of the water during the run in.
The Mk10 was far better powered, and although the photo is 'dramatic' such a winch height was standard. The double lift would not have needed any translational flight from the hover to accomplish a lift, although such procedures were still taught as a 'left over' practice when training on the HAS7, with the Alvis Leonides radial chugging away
