21st SOS MH-53 FINAL FLIGHT
 

The 21st Special Operations Squadron will be flying their MH-53's for the very last time tommorrow afternoon (Thursday 13th Sept). A four ship will launch and route through the London heli-lanes, Dover/White Cliffs, Bawdsey and then out off the East coast to change some minigun and .50 cal live rounds to empty cases. Eyes on the skies!

Super
Can you pm me the time so I can go down to the river.

Tigs

21st SOS MH-53 FINAL FLIGHT
 

Tigs,

PM sent. Just imagine being at the very top of the London Eye watching these four beasts thundering past!!!

SJG

Please can you remind us what is happening to the 21st SOS? Are you disbanding, relocating to somewhere else, or converting to the Osprey, or something else?

I believe they will eventually be replaced with Osprey - timeline TBD.

When blattting away with those miniguns and 50 cals, don't forget to lead the women and children in the immigrant detention centres a little less.....

Time over Dover/White Cliffs
 

Can you advise the likely time for flying over the Dover/White Cliffs area if at all possible please?

I work in Dover, live in Canterbury, and would like to keep an eye and both ears strained in the hope of seeing them.

Thanks!

BEagle - "Target will fall if hit!"

abeaumont - Pure guess at the moment, but I reckon between 1330 and 1400 Local.

Rgds

SJG

Time over Dover
 

Many thanks indeed - should happen during the school lunch break.

I'll tell those who run the RAF side of our CCF contingent so they can try to make sure the cadets look out for them.

Much appreciated!

Good luck gentlemen - I have happy memories of working with your colleagues at Eglin AFB/Hurlburt Field many years ago.

The thing I remember most about the MH-53 is being woken up an hour early or waiting for an hour when on TSW duty refueller at RAF Stafford because of a ZULU/Local ETA mix-up by either someone at the Mildenhall end (not so likely) or someone in the TSW ops room (very likely).

I've got a 21st SOS bar coin thingy (that I was given at silly o'clock in the morning whilst on duty refueller some time ago) stashed away somewhere for all those "who's round is it anyway" occasions when working with our colonial brethren.

A good bunch of lads, it'll be a shame not to see the Super Jolly thundering through the skies anymore.

Have just seen the formation going past St.Ives following the A14, made quite a sound !

S_H

Yep. Just seen them turning over the Thames at Vauxhall heading towards Victoria/Westminster.

They just circled schloss SLF (on the South Bank), causing no little commotion among the natives...

R

Cert sighting on top Northwood, ahem, so my friends tell me...

Was it just my eyesight, or were there five of them? Great show!

So that little clockwise ring-o-ring-o-roses round Vauxhall was a Special Ops thing was it? Looked to me like No 5 atishooed a tad too long and had to play catchup to Tower Bridge! I had thought the orbit might have been a request to stand aside for the LCY traffic on RWY10...

Found myself in the company of some blokes in camouflages for a pint an hour afterwards a bit further downstream...

Dover
 

Sadly, no sight or sound of them in White Cliffs country.
Ears were straining and eyes peeled though.

Adrian

Off topic - to abeaumont
 

From what you said about your location at a School in Dover and CCF contingents etc, I was wondering if you're at a well-known (in Mil circles anyway) School up on the cliffs?

If so, greetings from an ex-pupil :ok:

I was on a training course in central London and happened to be looking out of the window at lunchtime. I was lucky enough to see 5 of the big beasts flying a very big circle. Number 5 seemed to be lagging somewhat....

I mentioned what was happening to the others around me, and the discussion turned to military matters and it amazed me just how little people know of what happens in the armed forces. I'm just a civvie who grew up in a military environment, so I have an interest, but it's a shame that this isn't shared more widely. :(