What is it about the Wessex that makes people so fond of it?
. I shall have nightmares tonight thinking back 50 years to that!
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For me, it was the wooden grip at the end of the collective. So incongruous at the time with things like Wheatstone bridges measuring the transmission torque, whilst at the end of the collective was this beautiful, smooth, organic grip. Wonderful
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I'll bet one forum member does - he was flying it!
He'll probably be along soon...
He'll probably be along soon...
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Why was the design never refined & developed.
Why did the Wessex(S-58/S-58T) not get improved and modernized?
Simple, cheap, reliable, low profile, single turbine engine.
Simple, cheap, reliable, low profile, single turbine engine.
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I took this pic. on the promenade at Lyme Regis C.1972, when I was a sprog ATCO at Portland. The SAR Wessex was giving a winching demo with the local lifeboat when something went tech and it ended up 'feet wet'. The lifeboat had to tow it ashore where Trumpton can be seen hosing out the salt water. The pilot (a large bearded fellow) insisted that he had made a 'Mayday' call, although none of us in the radar room at portland had heard it. A protracted search of the tapes revealed a very feint maydaymaydaymayday in amongst the background noise.
I was on the beach that day watching the demo.... Only 4 yrs old though.
Father was an RAF man and trained on helicopters.
My very first flight in a Wessex was as a CCF Cadet at Odiham in 1968. The start of an association that lasted until 2002. Starting as a Crewman in 79, I flew 18 years on type amassing some 5500 hrs. I enjoyed my time far more than my subsequent tours on the Herc or the VC10. I have so many memories of those years on 28, 60, 72 and 2FTS from always being covered in oil from the bulkhead above my head to the banter with the talking ankles in the cockpit. They were great days looked back on with sometimes misty eyes. Too many tales to tell but the old girl will always have a place in my heart. I had the privilege to operate as the Crewman with OC 28 on the very last flight in Hong Kong as we flew them to the docks for transport to Uruguay in June 97 and in 2002 as the Chief Instructor Heli Trg Section at JATEU I managed to get airborne on the last day of Wessex flying in the RAF as 84's Cabs were flown from Brize to Shawbury for storage and disposal. And if I still need a fix, I visit Cosford a gaze on XR525 'G' as she sits on a pedestal for all to see.
And finally as an aside when I was Dined Out from the Mess at Brize in 2010, I presented OC101 with a small dicast Wessex, so the fixed wing pilots could see what a real aircraft looked like!
And finally as an aside when I was Dined Out from the Mess at Brize in 2010, I presented OC101 with a small dicast Wessex, so the fixed wing pilots could see what a real aircraft looked like!
Huge,
I visited Punte del Este in Uruguay for oil industry related work a few years ago, I took some photos of the (grounded) Wessies behind a hangar, one was intact and properly covered the rest in bits. Was a sad sight though, so prepare yourself in case you want me to post them. Happiest days of my career were flying out of 28 AC buildings in '79 and '80 and playing for The Flying Kukris RFC. I was a pair of mumbling ankles in the Wessex III for a few years. pp.
I visited Punte del Este in Uruguay for oil industry related work a few years ago, I took some photos of the (grounded) Wessies behind a hangar, one was intact and properly covered the rest in bits. Was a sad sight though, so prepare yourself in case you want me to post them. Happiest days of my career were flying out of 28 AC buildings in '79 and '80 and playing for The Flying Kukris RFC. I was a pair of mumbling ankles in the Wessex III for a few years. pp.
Huge,
I visited Punte del Este in Uruguay for oil industry related work a few years ago, I took some photos of the (grounded) Wessies behind a hangar, one was intact and properly covered the rest in bits. Was a sad sight though, so prepare yourself in case you want me to post them. Happiest days of my career were flying out of 28 AC buildings in '79 and '80 and playing for The Flying Kukris RFC. I was a pair of mumbling ankles in the Wessex III for a few years. pp.
I visited Punte del Este in Uruguay for oil industry related work a few years ago, I took some photos of the (grounded) Wessies behind a hangar, one was intact and properly covered the rest in bits. Was a sad sight though, so prepare yourself in case you want me to post them. Happiest days of my career were flying out of 28 AC buildings in '79 and '80 and playing for The Flying Kukris RFC. I was a pair of mumbling ankles in the Wessex III for a few years. pp.
Here are a couple never before seen, I've been scanning some old slides (in very poor condition) belonging to Nigel Osborn from his time on 848NAS. Not the best as they're half frame, Agfa, and just a touch of mould on the slides; but historically quite interesting
Originally Posted by [email protected]
The Sqn guys told me they had computer freezes on almost every sortie and wouldn't believe me when I said I had had only one for real in nearly 3000 hours of Wessex flying
Mind you it was a good one, lifting a USL load of junk from St KIlda to Benbecula for the army!
Lovely pics John - could I recommend a prog called Silverfast (currently on its 8th iteration), a German scanning-software programme that includes an IR-based cunning method for removing unwanted artefacts? My current Covid project is scanning 800-odd 6cm slides and several thousand 35mm transparencies dating back to 1977 - Silverfast has done a fantastic job of tidying up the ubiquitous dust/fluff and microscopic cracks on the ones I've done so far. Might want to check that your scanner works with it first, though - I don't know if all of them have the capability (my retirement present to myself was an Epson V800, bought specifically for this little project).