Both 771's HAR's and 772's SK's had a larger step to allow the diver to stand prior to dispatching into the ogin.

Standard SKD's had no step at the rear cargo door.

Crabair
 

And from MK 3A.

Ok then

Which Dilbert got rid of the best piece of kit in the back of an RN SAR aircraft?

Let him be named and shamed!

Think it was the same Gimp, at the 100th year of the FAA, flypast that i attended, who was the steward in the BAE Alliance tent . Said " We will be able to launch the seaboat, instead!!! and the Sea King would be able to provide ample AEW cover on the new carriers:hmm::hmm:

David P

Oh dear oh dear.........................does he have any influence nowadays and how can we sort him out?

Another Shinny A**E who hasnt a Scooby doo:hmm: The Navy Net: Rum Ration Forums Royal Navy Branches The Fleet Air Arm Search and rescue info

Any info about this accident?

The Belvedere did valiant service with 26 Sqn in both Aden and North Borneo, much loved/hated by ground and aircrew alike. I seem to remember that the main cause of problems arose from either the gearbox or drive train. The designers of the Chinook learned a lot from the Belvedere and particularly how to get it right.

The plan was to power them as you suggest, but that development was cancelled (IIRC) and they continued with Bristol Leonides engines.

????????????????? All the Belvederes I saw were powered by Gazelles. They could, and would, if necessary, be recovered back to base on one engine without any trouble. The advantage the Belvedere had over the Chinook was that the fore and aft rotors were sufficiently stepped so as not to interfere with each other. Each engine drove it's own gearbox with a synchro shaft to keep them together and to transmit power from a live engine to both gearboxes.

I believe one had a synchro shaft failure in Aden and after the aircraft was landed the noise from the blades belting each other only came during shutdown..

Is it Sea King HAS2A, serial XV698?

http://www.ukserials.com/images/losses/xv698.jpg

From

http://www.ukserials.com/losses-1982.htm

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/73315

Well, TEEEJ, that answers the original question. A Wessex with an engine failure would have just carried on. see my post #24.

These can't be the same incident. The Marcantillan photo has normal white lettering and roundel, whilst the TEEJ photo from south atlantic has the hastily applied black lettering and low vis roundel.

When I was gliding with the ATC in the early 70's,there was a Belvedere on the Fire-dump at RAF Ternhill,waiting to be set-alight,along with a Wessex,and a Vampire T11,that had already been burned.During breaks from the flying programme,we cadets used to go and clamber over these in the hope of 'liberating' any loose bits.I rather regret to say that I still have the rotor-brake handle from the Belvedere,as the aircraft is now I believe in a museum.

And in 2019 when you need a job doing, they call in the Chinook force.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co...risis-16686403

Re. the original question, Herod got it right!! My helo time started with the Sycamore and finished with the Lynx via Whirly 7 and 10, Kaman Husky, Wessi 2 and 3, Sioux, Puma, Gazelle and Sea King. Mainly S&R and then trials. Some stick time on all of them except the Husky and the Whirlwind 10 was way ahead on enjoyment. The Wessex was undoubtedly ahead on the 'Brick outbuilding' scale but I didn't like the SAS and it concluded my rotary time with a long North Sea crossing on one engine, unextinguishable fire light on the other, in the middle of a winter storm, to land on North Foreland and be hosed down (aircraft AND crew!) by the local Fire Brigade! ... long story! Did the Sea King winch trials and could never understand the radar gearbox 'shadow' just where you needed to look or the cabin door opening forward on a helo that hovered tail down! So, it had a lock pin but not ideal. One reported oddity was the suggestion that if faced with gear lowering problems, operating the windscreen wipers might help! No Ops time on it and the crews seem to like it but ... no, Whirly 10 it is!:D

Hello TEEEJ. I am with Andy. I don´t think the SK upside down was related with Op Corporate.

The photo, now in full colour, of the same incident of 824 NAS Sea King:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3f6dea8d05.jpg

Note the roundel without the white.

Mistery remains!

Thanks a lot!

John put a series of photos online somewhere, including recovery - an 824 NAS cab, number 051.

ETA - Ah, here we are (scroll down for ditched SK)

http://www.eacott.com.au/gallery/v/n...dddctumain.php

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....77bb9868dc.jpg
It looks like if you are a Sea King and you have side number 51, you are going to ditch some time or other...

Thanks, Andy!

I had another search and found that the serial was XV699.

From

https://www.pprune.org/military-avia...ml#post9148366

https://www.helis.com/database/cn/14713/

It appears that XV699 made an emergency landing during a rescue mission on 16th January 1974.

https://www.helis.com/database/ops/1...rc-Enterprise/

Just to correct any detective work here, the 051/XV699 ditching was off Ark Royal (R09) 19th March 1975 sometime early in the morning: about 01:00 IIRC. There is a short mention in 76fan posts here. I was over the top for a few hours with jerry G , and flew 051 only 2 days earlier when I had an engine fire and made a night SE recovery at the end of a 4:05 hour sortie :hmm:

http://www.eacott.com.au/gallery/d/1...am+overall.jpg

And a little dit post recovery: the airframe was given a thorough fresh water wash, and major black boxes removed, dunked in fresh water then WD40. One fairly expensive box was brought out by a senior rate, who gave it to a nearby seaman with the instruction 'go and dunk this in the water, laddie'.

Laddie was back fairly quickly and asked where was the box: "I did what you said, Chief, and dunked it". Unfortunately the Caribbean wasn't quite what Chiefy had in mind :eek:

Thanks for the update, John. :ok:

It looks as if it has flown through a parachute.

If by North Borneo you mean Kuching, that was a detachment from 66 Sqn, RAF Seletar. As a spotty SAC AMechA, new in theatre and still with white knees and standard issue KD, I was detached from 390 MU, Seletar to help the 66 Sqn guys catch up on modifications and some Cat 2 Assist repairs. A story (possibly apocryphal) that greeted us on our first briefing was about an engine start where all three cartridges fired simultaneously, blasting the holder off the engine, across the space between engine and fuselage where its progress was stopped when it smacked into the nicely aligned Avpin tank...
Apparently for a while afterwards it was not unknown for engine starts to be carried out perched on the cockpit sill, one leg and one leg on the spindly ladder, ready for a hasty exit.

A very interest five weeks of of hard work / hard play.

Thanks for the information! It looks like 51 was a salt water fan.

There was indeed, although their serviceability was a bit iffy at times. Once they even got 4 of the detachment airborne at the same time. We were impressed. Their Avpin starter fires were a problem we shared on the other side of the airfield with 60 Sqn. Javelins..... (Avpin was, however, an excellent scorpion pesticide.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....1e2b5efeff.jpg

Have come to this thread a little late, having been away on hols. A couple or three points on previous posts:

Sycamore collective: The collective (only one) was indeed central, but conventionally fore and aft. The throttle was "athwartships" kind of crossing the T at the end of the collective. Still required much manual dexterity from LHS.

Wessex 2/5 single engine performance: Not o much great engines as a a cr@ppy coupling gearbox. Single engine torque limit 2,700 ft lbs, train engine 3,200 ft lbs. You the math(s)

Belvedere life: My understanding is that the Belvedere airframe was lifed at 1500 hours due to (unforeseen) bending loads on the frame. Another procurement triumph: originally intended for the RN with an underslung (from 2 hooks) torpedo, but was too big for carrier lifts! Also accounts for the high undercarriage (and many sprained pongo ankles).