Little "war story" re Wessex, if I may. Stamford PTA, hot summer's day. No. 3 in a formation with a 105mm howitzer slung underneath, just about max wt. No. 1 engine decides to wind down. We were being filmed for an army recruiting poster, so it was suggested that if I was going to pickle the gun, would I do it in the river since it would look good on film. Decided instead to see if we could put it down gently. Made an approach to the field, hovered out of ground-effect, landed the gun, moved over and landed alongside. At the time I believe the Wessex was the only helicopter in the UK, military or civil, that had a genuine engine-out capability.
