...and my Wessex 1 had full auto hover long before that, although the transition down and up needed a bit of encouragement from the pilot in terms of radalt tweaking.
As for Tallsar, if you read my post closely you will note that nowhere did I imply that I had taught the Crabs SAR, everyone knows you can tell`em but you can`t tell`em much. Suffice it to say that RN Sea KIngs were practising night SAR including night live lifts when the Crabs were still stumbling about in Wessex 2`s.
The p*****g contest between RN and RAF which has been going on since April Fool`s Day 1918 does not play any part in the current discussion about the future of SAR in the UK.