Is 'Bravo November' a museum piece?
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Is 'Bravo November' a museum piece?
RAF Museum and Bravo November (Chinook of Falkland fame)
Has Bravo November been retired to the RAF Museum or is this an Argentine example with an ironic paint job?
AL1 Just noticed the lack of aft rotors, so it could be just a cockpit painted up as BN
Has Bravo November been retired to the RAF Museum or is this an Argentine example with an ironic paint job?
AL1 Just noticed the lack of aft rotors, so it could be just a cockpit painted up as BN
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I've often thought that when the old girl finally retires she deserves to be well looked after and properly preserved, ideally indoors at one the major museums. The fact that she has been involved in every major British op since (and including) the Falklands means she carries with her special significance in British military history. To see her turned into coke cans or left outside to rot (like most of the Concordes) would be a travesty. A shiny, clean museum gloss paint job wouldn't look right either - oil stains, soot, desert dust and empty cases are what BN is all about. Hopefully she'll be plying her trade for many years to come before any of this becomes a consideration.
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Bravo November in the Falklands.
As has already been said 'Bravo November' has ben active in every major operation since she was introduced into service and has also been the aircraft that two different pilots have won Distinguished Flying Crosses in.
As has already been said 'Bravo November' has ben active in every major operation since she was introduced into service and has also been the aircraft that two different pilots have won Distinguished Flying Crosses in.
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Exercise in sennelager, early 90`s IIRC, i was credited with shootin the bugger down on ex with a Gympy on the hip , woohoo..just as he was coming into land i poppped me wee small body out of a nearby trench and let im ave it, i was just in the 11 o clock pos, should have seen the fear on the fellas face
Max,
Quite so, she deserves a rightful place at Hendon when she finally retires (probably about 2035.....). However, by that stage there will only be 3 original rivets left from the day she first rolled out of Philly in 1981..!
If an aircraft can have a soul, '718 certainly qualifies...though, increasingly, it is a cantankerous one!
Quite so, she deserves a rightful place at Hendon when she finally retires (probably about 2035.....). However, by that stage there will only be 3 original rivets left from the day she first rolled out of Philly in 1981..!
If an aircraft can have a soul, '718 certainly qualifies...though, increasingly, it is a cantankerous one!
As well as the impressive operational record '718 holds, Bravo November also has a noteworthy trials pedigree as the HC Mk.1 testbed for FADEC engines (yes, I know...) and the first HC Mk.2 (yes, I know...)
Must also be one of the longest times a particular RAF airframe has retained the same code, I'd guess.
Definitely preservation material (in due course).
Must also be one of the longest times a particular RAF airframe has retained the same code, I'd guess.
Definitely preservation material (in due course).
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Good grief is BN still chugging about? It must be like the Navy getting HMS Belfast out of retirement or the donkey thrashers still in Centurions. Give the old girl a long and happy retirement, someone! We've plenty of newer helecop ..... oh ..... er ..... 
As long as BN is on charge, airworthy(!), and has a job to do, no way is she a museum piece. However, come the time when that is no longer the case, she most certainly should be. Commitment to that effect should be made now, for the historic record would point to her being struck off and used for fire fighting training, etc, or merely sold for scrap. As has been said her rightful place is surely the RAF museum, and that intention needs to be made clear ASAP. Not every preservation should be down to private individuals. We all have a debt of honour in the case of Bravo November, and her brave crews, and she should be preserved to witness that debt.
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BN was the sole survivor of the a/c that were on Atlantic Conveyor from Ascension south - ZA707 (replaced later from UK by ZA714) was offloaded from the AC at Asi and spent the duration moving stores from the airhead to the ships heading south (due to the lack of traditional dockside berths at Asi). As has been correctly pointed out, there is very little left of the original BN (esp since upgrade to Mk2) but he spirit lives on - not sure that putting it into Hendon in it's current state would be a great idea - it would be too much of an eye-opener for some!
I belive she was the Chinook Display aircraft last year for the airshow season aswell.
These were the good old days
Last edited by chinook240; 20th Jul 2007 at 15:04.
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I didn't know they did a My Little Pony Chinook...
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Known affectionately as the 'Rasperry Ripple' paintscheme - it's also debatable whether putting all the stress of a display season on one frame is a good idea?