The captain will henceforth be known as "Iceman". :}

Nanny State syndrome! Yep, have to keep sucking the fun out of the job :ugh:

Not that long ago we landed a Huey in front of a pub on the beach in west Oz, crewie jumps out and strides into the pub with helmet still on. Short time later out he comes with a carton of beer on his shoulder and jumps in....happy times:ok:

Still, probably get in the sh$%t for that these days here in Oz as well!

Cheers

IT, I meant IT - missed me t, it often happens on SAR! :\

I am sure they briefed the mission and put it all in the auth sheets before they launched so all should be OK?

If not then they are stupid!

Is this really much different than say a police patrol pulling into a McDonalds 'drive thru' whilst out and about to get something to eat?

I'm sure that the SAR crew didn't leave base just to buy ice creams, it was just something they could do whilst on task.

A nothing story, well unless the press is going to start hounding the other emergency services who stop somewhere to get a bite to eat whilst in their work vehicle.:ugh:

To quote King James III - "Nothing of importance happened today."


I thought that quote was attributed to George III?

Harley, the OP was merely drawing the attention to the Torygraph. It will be in the Mail tomorrow if not yesterday.

Don't shoot the messager nor close a thread that is perfect for a bit of innocent banter.

AlR, 84 also used to drop off a 'survivor' at some inaccessible spot off the cliff. He would spend the day fishing and another crew would go find him. That theymight have seen some skinny dipping or sunbathing was entirely unconnected.

Vampiredave,

I stand corrected - thank you.


S4G

Good on them, nice bit of PR for the RAF SAR crews too.

Nail - Head! As long as it wasn't ouright abuse - ie - they decided to use the Cab purely for an Ice cream run, then whats the problem? Good PR. Only thing that I can think of is if the cab had went u/s due to the landing - eg - FOD. then I dare say the story and the future careers of the Aircrew would have taken a turn for the worse!

PN,

I once was 'it' with the delightful Debbie from PBX - alas no skinny dipping.

No other immersion drills either, sad to say.

What the story doesn't say is that somebody was probably in desperate need of a loo stop. It would have been impolite to use the cafe's facilities without making a purchase.

The look of delight on the faces of the two girls in photo 2 says it all - excellent PR into the bargain.

This week, that crew could have picked up an injured sailor, the body of a drowned kid and an ice-cream that they paid for out of their own pockets. What's the issue ?

The good lady and I chose our kids school having been influenced in part by the arrival of a Lynx on a goodwill visit from Yeovilton. Close ties with the Military and the opportunity to participate if they so choose are a wonderful opportunity that in hindsight, I wish I had.

I know this is boring but this action by the crew doesn't pass the Daily Mail test. It cannot be part of a publicly funded mission to use one of HM's helos to stop and buy an ice cream. What would be the reaction if a Tonka crew diverted to a civvie airport for a Big Mac (unauth'd)?

Killjoy maybe, but that's how it is.

The real 'Daily Mail test' is if you are one of the stupid f@@kwits that reads it........

(not aimed at the previous poster, I meant DM readers!)

Years ago, the training flight down the London Helilane always included a "tea with no fee" stop at Battersea. I guess nowadays they might be too busy.

Many summers ago whilst moving troops around a Southern county in Northern Ireland, we spotted an ice cream van in a layby next to a beauty spot. There was still 4 minutes to pick-up time so we landed and sent the crewman for 3 '99s'. Armed to the teeth, I might add. The vendor listened to his order then told him to "F*** Off you Brit Bas***d!"
My departure didn't half rattle his van...............

Brilliant! Story put me in a right good mood for the weekend! :ok:

4015

Lighten up Max Contingency, as the story says the pilots were debriefing and one of the rear crew went for some ice creams - no bad PR here. Sounds like laudable initiative and opportunism by the SNCO to me.

If they'd charged the ice creams to the Queen's account then that would be a different matter....!

Ice cream on the beach
 

Been there, done that - West Beach Lossiemouth a few years ago, and no harm done. Mind you, many moons ago I remember landing on the grass verge beside the A303 on Salisbury Plain for a punnet of strawberries, which was probably pushing it a bit. Now if we could could combine the two exercises and have strawberries and ice cream...! There's a challenge!