My first two RAF tours were on Whirlwind 10s in the SAR role. The first tour was at Akrotiri and one of our Cyprus Mk 10s is now in the RAF Museum at Hendon!
Seem to remember that the pilots flew wearing a backpack dinghy; I have a photo somewhere that I will post if it turns up. In my day RAF SAR crews had to complete 12 eols each month with the crew on board. The Whirlwind never let me down and I loved it - even the 'floppy' cyclic!!