Dauphin London Bridge.
 

Impressive pics of tax payers money put to good use to defend Londoners.

Jolly good that they can set down close to where they are needed.


Mjb

There are two helicopters in that picture.

Seen above a few times flying around. Boscombe down

658 Sqn from Credenhill

The report says this was the first time the new 70 strong team had deployed, but for the record, was there a report that a helicopter disgorged "police" in Westminster after the Westminster Bridge rampage?
Was Westminster incident Blue Thunders first deployment?

Mjb

You're really calling it 'Blue Thunder'??!?

With living near battersea heliport I remember on a number occasions visiting the heliport and seeing the ex Argentina 109 painted up in the old AM colours with military serials and being told the sas where using these ?

This is correct. They had the Argentinian one and bought two others. These were replaced with the Dauphins about 4 years ago. If you want to see pictures of them just google 8 flight.

Not to be confused with the Navy's N2 Dauphins which have a similar principal colour.

I clearly quoted the article, that's what the article says they are called.
Is it a falsehood?


Mjb

2 of them serviceable ???

Eurocopter EC135 P2+ G-TVHB was involved in the response and orbited afterward for a while at 1600 feet. It is probably the helo already on the bridge in the picture above.

Why the Dauphin? Speed? It looks unexpectedly un-military though clearly appearances are deceptive.

Certainly seems pretty quick - 145 knots?
I assume they take out the leather seats for the men with mad staring eyes, Gucci guns and Nomex suits?
Has it emerged yet whether any of Hereford's finest did any `offing' or was that all armed constabulary?

It's a faintly ridiculous, tabloid nickname. So, no, I don't think that is what they are actually called.

And I imagine that the helicopter won't stay blue for very long.

Not sure they were on the ground on time - think these pictures came from several minutes after the attack

So how in heck did a pair of AS365s scramble from Hereford to central London in 8 minutes? I'm not even sure they could have sortied from *Horseguards* in that sort of timescale. Were they already "on patrol"?

PDR

Had me wondering too. Maybe there was some pro-active state of readiness given recent events and the fact it was Derby weekend and General Election this week. Don't think FlightRadar24 will tell you were they came from ;)

With turbo boost and whisper mode engaged I estimate Hereford to London in 5 minutes,
30 seconds to check themselves over in a mirror, 2.5 mins to slot the bad guys. Home for tea and medals.

Or the police sorted it out.

Or there were already troops on the ground

Always knew turbo boost and whisper mode existed. Airwolf must have been real........ :cool:

NEO

Rumours has it Northolt but with regards to derby a lot of choppers where at farnbourgh high rollers landing in jets straight on chopper to epsom

There are other suitable places almost as close as Northolt...just not airfields!

It was the police that were on scene in 8 minutes, that's how!

I was thinking about the movie from 1983 with Roy Scheider and the Blue Thunder Chopper the spied on people with it's whisper mode.

It was as noisy as hell, never heard a helicopter like it. Not that I'm an expert.

Probably not. On the bridge that is.

Do tell.

Is this the real story of the 5th ship? :E

EESDL's memories of Dauphin serviceability are obviously affected by the one he knows. He's certainly a very log way from 365s in Europe these days, least of all those N3s that don't exist.

Only good memories of 365N here.

TBH, I didn't think his was at all bad, colour scheme was a bit dodgy maybe, but now he's much more important and on something bigger and newer, maybe the 365 is 'dead to him'?!

:)

According to the Daily Mirror

"A military source said: “These helicopters are extremely agile and quick - with the ability to get into smaller spaces, travel in-between high buildings with relative silence and at speed, with eight soldiers."


Relative Silence?? Well, they must be some vastly modified Dauphin's. I've never heard anything make a noise like a 365. You can feel the air vibrating for about 8 miles as its heading towards you and then the wailing banshee noise of that fenestron.

Speed - Yes.
Agression - Perhaps
Surprise - Erm, well perhaps not!

Hey on a cold/calm -35C day you could hear/feel a 205 / Huey coming from 50 miles away.

Agreed to both.
The 365 has a very distinct and impressive vibrating noise combined with the screaming sound of the Fenestron. Huey being the loudest of all but the 365 is louder (noise carrying over longer distance due too low frequency vibration) than most if not all of the other modern 5t Helicopters. Huey and 365 are the only two which I can unmistakably identify long before I see them.

It seems that they are N3's so none of the above actually would be true. Fenestron on the N3 is same/similar to EC155.

Asymmetric spaced 10 blade composite fan.

I think the original fenestron may no longer be supported.

Stealth is a relative concept when compared with the usual CH47 that these characters like to bowl around in, the N3 is basically a stealth helicopter.