Fancy your own airworthy Lynx on the U.K. reg
 

Spotted one for sale along with 3 Seakings, the Lynx is an AH.7

https://www.controlleremea.co.uk/lis...itary-aircraft

That is fine piece of machinery and an absolute collectors dream! I wonder how few hours that will fly a year……

Is this the same one?

https://projectlynx.co.uk/

It looks like the Lynx and three SeaKings from Historic Helicopters.

I hope the decision to put them on the market is not indicative of financial problems for them - They are responsible for a lot of helicopter history and I'd hate to think it was at risk.

Fingers crossed!

I know that a well known member of this forum is involved in flying these machines - Hopefully he will be along soon and can perhaps offer some reassurance?

OH

First visual differences are that 179 has always had a ‘W” on the cabin door and has a different nose cone / antenna configuration.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....48dce87608.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....a575cf5f6.jpeg

Then the locations are different:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ff6fcc192.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....eb61134924.jpg

Four Lynx on G-INFO...
G-LNKX = XZ616 (Mk7 - built 1980)
G-NCKS = XZ179 (Mk7 - built 1978)
G-NCKY = XZ678 (Mk7 - built 1982)
G-NCKZ = ZD252 (Mk8 - built 1982)

Despite the claims of being ‘The only fully operational and UK registered Westland Lynx permitted to fly’ (even though the permit according to GINFO ran out in January & 179 is fully up and running) and the date advertised as 1977, I’m going for 616 being the one for sale.
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....40c28f8521.jpg
(pic: Steve Kingston)

... and not 179...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....b5c1c54b0d.jpg
(pic: Project Lynx)

FYI - This weekend, Sunday 7 May, XZ179 makes her public display debut at the Shuttleworth Season Premiere Airshow!
Biggleswade, SG18 NEA
https://www.shuttleworth.org/product/seasonpremiere
https://projectlynx.co.uk

I imagine the sales market for this is very very very slim. Horrendous running costs, you have to fly it two crew. A complex aircraft, old tech, not very "usable". You would be better off buying an A109 and painting it green!

It's Air and Ground that do the disposals, such as the Hercs etc, funnily enough after you mentioned the 109, they have some of them for sale too.

https://www.airandground.com/aircraft-spares-services/

https://www.airandground.com/

I wouldn’t read too much into the aircraft being for sale, they have been that way for quite some time and, as Hargreaves 99 points out, the market for them is a very select and small one.

I flew 3 hours on 616 in March on a film shoot and we are just waiting to see which air shows we will go to this year.

One of the Sea Kings is in the Netflix series The Diplomat at the end of episode 2 and in episode 3. I even get my face on camera for half a second😀

"Viewer discretion advised"...

It sounds like an excuse to cancel my subscription, they're letting anybody onto it these days...

The Lynx AH7 is the classic maintainers nightmare. The more you fly it, the longer it stays serviceable, the longer it spends in the hangar, the more it leaks, drips, breaks and generally becomes unserviceable. Nothing a well motivated and well-funded group of aviation enthusiasts can't cope with, but for private ownership, it's effectively a non-starter.

Have to fly it two crew? Is this only IFR?

I think the two-crew is a CAA requirement of the "Permit to fly"

It is day VMC only and can be flown single pilot. I have a copy of the permit I had to show for the filming task.

Do not know the peculiarities of the Mk 7 but the HAS 2&3 were pretty reliable mechanically and would usually fly once taken out of the shed. Corrosion of gearboxes and tail cone forgings could be a problem, and of course the perennial vibration. Access to the vibration database would be really useful to any private owner, though I daresay some support might be had from Lysander Road, at a price.

N

N

Did the Military require two pilots? Is this a bureaucratic thing? Seems interesting you need a permit. Is there a good reason for needing two pilots?

It was two crew, perversely, unless you were on an airiest when you could stick a REME air tech in the other seat.

The RN flew them single pilot with an Observer in the other seat and no duals.

They could be flown single pilot according to the RTS but weren’t often due to the Anti-tank role the 7s were primarily used for.

Interesting, thanks for the answers.
I always assumed they were SP with weapons officer/crew given the size and role. That’s why I was surprised about the two Pilot comment.

The AAC flip-flopped on whether the Officer should fly the aircraft and command the Cpl pilot/gunner who had the Tow sight or if the Cpl/Sgt pilot should fly the aircraft and the Officer should command the weapon system.

I was on the Lynx strip programme at Wallop removing common parts for the Wildcat. Processed cabs were then sold to Everett Aero for £1k each.

The AAC Aircraft Commander thing started just before I left Germany in '88. It was a copy of the US model. Perhaps Sasless could confirm if it worked for them ? I had a few months as an SNCO Commander in the LHS with a newly qualified "P2" (an Army officer) flying in the RHS. Prior to that Gazelles were flown either single pilot or with an Observer and Lynx with a pilot and an Air Gunner.

NEO

In the early days of the Army Lynx it was single pilot with an Observer or Gunner in the left seat, Could have been anything from a Lance Corporal to usually Sargent rank. In the mid 80s it was realised the guy running the battle space was the individual in the left seat with the sight and the concept of Corporal Pilots and double Pilot operations was started with the commander in the left seat.

You could fly it solo, with authorisation, without anyone sat next to you.

The civil Lynx was offered for sale under the name of the 'Westland 606' and was marketed either with the 'standard' RR Gem or the P & W PT6 - 34B but it would seem no orders were forthcoming although it would have been smooth, quiet and faster than an S76.
And yes you could fly it solo; flying from Farnborough I spent over an hour in XZ180, an AH1 crewed by a Royal Navy test pilot with myself in the left had seat and a couple of 'boffins' in the back operating 'special equipment'; I only had a PPL and glider pilot's wings and was thus deemed to be non qualified.

I recall that one of the throttles has a twist grip, but not sure what it’s for - Tq matching? I assume it doesn’t require much manipulating in flight?

That was the Speed Select Lever (SSL) that selected Nr above 100% (107% for take off) and had a knurled knob for Tq matching.

The only time you needed a third arm when flying without a qualified person in the left seat was just after lift off, when it was normal to match the torques, so if you had a technician in the left seat (for blade tracking etc) as a Maintenance Test Pilot (AKA Theatre Ground Runner) it was routine to brief them on how to match the torques using the SSL, or if it wasn't a big torque split, wait until you were airborne and do it yourself. The Lynx would be subject to vibration analysis using the "bonk", which was a very heavy, spring mounted weight attached to the top of the MR Head. Each bonk had a resonant frequency at which it provided the maximum counter effect to the Aircraft vibration, and during Vibe runs you would find the Nr % at which this occurred. This Nr value was then DymoTaped to the instrument panel and, in theory, the aircrew would set this value using the SSL when flying to minimize the vibration levels. Westlands and the Army spent a fortune on this solution, but it still relied on the pilot remembering to read the placard and set the value - which didn't always happen.

There was also some huge MoD Procurement level inquiry into why Lynx vibration levels were so bad (and very expensive in terms of maintenance) and after a few more million pounds the conclusion from Westland was the Army's Anti-tank Helicopter had excessive vibration because the Army had fitted it with Anti-Tank TOW Missile Booms! Apparently any requirements or specs against vibration levels were only warranted against the "slick" version of the Lynx, once you put role equipment on, it was your (Army's) fault. A classic procurement 'gotcha' and I'm sure we all learned from that...not.

The standard placard for all the Mk 7s I flew was 105% at 120 Kts up to 4375Kg if memory serves.

If you set 107% for take off it would inevitably droop to below 105% by the time you got to 120 kts - I had many arguments with some Standards officers who didn’t understand that you had to therefore reset 105% to correctly tune the bonk.

The Tq matching proved there was no ergonomics department at Westlands, you were redatuming the No 2 ECU but turning it clockwise made the No 2 Tq go down not up. Genius!

On the subject of ex-mil helis..I spotted a Wasp for sale, can't be many of those around

https://www.avbuyer.com/aircraft/hel...nd/wasp/367242

Seems like a cheap way to get in the air, none of the complexities of a twin

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....d3763debcc.jpg

Cheap way to get in the air. Keeping it there is, I would imagine, a substantially different matter!

It’ll look better when they’ve finished fitting the rest of the airframe….. :E

The Wasp is now on Ebay too

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185912935....c100667.m2042