It does not alter the fact that in 1977 and 1978 the UK Puma force was in deep trouble because of the unreliability of its rotor blades. Aircraft going from Odiham to Aldergrove had to cross the Irish Sea at Stranraer because the crossing from Liverpool to Ulster took too long. Some blades BIMs were indicating just over an hour after the last inspection. They were buying up second hand metal blades from everywhere. One, that had perforated trim tabs, lasted 30 secs. when I did the initial ground runs on it owing to the vibration. Should Boscombe had partaken in the testing of the plastic blades in 1976, a requirement for civil certification of the 330J, then they should have put their oar in; they didn't.
It was left up to Odiham to do Boscombe Down's job.