Profile of a 'deadly tank killer'
Nice pic of the old girl. A real gentlemen's aerial carriage, with that unique DeHavilland cockpit aroma. I've never changed career, BTW, and the pictured aircraft is no real indication of my identity, just a fond memory from a passing acquaintance many years ago.
As far as I'm aware (I'm not that closely connected with the in-service Lynx) the cause of the Endurance Lynx accident was controlled flight into terrain. The rad alt was apparently still turned off, as they had been underslung load lifting all day. I think that fatigue after a hard days flying, disturbed sleep patterns, a difficult horizon, plus the slight relaxation that occurs at the end of a long task when returning to mother also contributed, but this is just my recollection so may not be entirely kosher.
The thing that really stuck in my mind was the phenomenal effort put into the casevac operation. Bloody good show by all involved, as it was a real marathon job flying the badly injured casualties by relay, right across Antartica and on to the mainland for treatment. IIRC the casevac operation took around 20 odd hours and involved about three or four different aircraft.
As far as I'm aware (I'm not that closely connected with the in-service Lynx) the cause of the Endurance Lynx accident was controlled flight into terrain. The rad alt was apparently still turned off, as they had been underslung load lifting all day. I think that fatigue after a hard days flying, disturbed sleep patterns, a difficult horizon, plus the slight relaxation that occurs at the end of a long task when returning to mother also contributed, but this is just my recollection so may not be entirely kosher.
The thing that really stuck in my mind was the phenomenal effort put into the casevac operation. Bloody good show by all involved, as it was a real marathon job flying the badly injured casualties by relay, right across Antartica and on to the mainland for treatment. IIRC the casevac operation took around 20 odd hours and involved about three or four different aircraft.
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Green Side
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The Wastelands roadshows that I attended were the biggest load of Botox i had ever heard, and we were definately not listened to. Infact when the question of being able to carry "9 fully equiped soldiers" was raised the answer from the Wasteland salesman was, "We never said that you could do it in one go". (ugh!) and why were Lynx pilots refered to as "Test Drive Dummies", I think we that flew it for years know how dangerous it could be because of some design faults that were never put right.
Join Date: Jul 2003
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WHL
Slightly late response, but it seems (with regard to BLUH discussion) that people are forgetting how Westlands try to use political pressure to force sales. They play on being the only British helicopter manufacturer.
May I remind you of the Hesletine troubles a few years ago and more recently those false claims of MoD buying NH90's for SAS. (note AgWest have contract to build NH90, essentially a monopoly given it is the main rival to the Merlin for many roles)
Will be interesting to see if this changes or if the plant moves to Italy now the GKN share is sold to Finnemeccia. (speelig mistaek?)
Westlands have made some brilliant helis (Lynx & Merlin) but all seem to have been dogged by the same problem. They build helicopters for the sake of being good helicopters, the customer's requirements are often forgotten.
BTW, any more info been released on this recent crash in Czeck Republic? Heard mention of power lines...but no reliable information yet.
May I remind you of the Hesletine troubles a few years ago and more recently those false claims of MoD buying NH90's for SAS. (note AgWest have contract to build NH90, essentially a monopoly given it is the main rival to the Merlin for many roles)
Will be interesting to see if this changes or if the plant moves to Italy now the GKN share is sold to Finnemeccia. (speelig mistaek?)
Westlands have made some brilliant helis (Lynx & Merlin) but all seem to have been dogged by the same problem. They build helicopters for the sake of being good helicopters, the customer's requirements are often forgotten.
BTW, any more info been released on this recent crash in Czeck Republic? Heard mention of power lines...but no reliable information yet.
gelf, AW don't have a contract to build NH90 at all, although I hear that NH Industries have been spreading that rumour around.
As for the tragic Czech Mk9 accident, it seems from the initial investigation that the a/c flew into 3 heavy HV power lines that were strung about 40m above a river. This will be confirmed, I suspect, when the CVR is analysed. The aircraft suffered massive mid-air damage, I believe.
The Czech Republic is a bit less rigorous in the recording and control of cables apparently, so there is some, unconfirmed, speculation that they may not have been marked on the chart. I doubt even cable cutters would have helped with three heavy cables, BTW, before someone raises the issue, having looked closely at the spec of these things recently.
As for the tragic Czech Mk9 accident, it seems from the initial investigation that the a/c flew into 3 heavy HV power lines that were strung about 40m above a river. This will be confirmed, I suspect, when the CVR is analysed. The aircraft suffered massive mid-air damage, I believe.
The Czech Republic is a bit less rigorous in the recording and control of cables apparently, so there is some, unconfirmed, speculation that they may not have been marked on the chart. I doubt even cable cutters would have helped with three heavy cables, BTW, before someone raises the issue, having looked closely at the spec of these things recently.
