Today sees the end of an era, as the last day of duty for the RAF Leconfield-based Sea Kings of E Flight, 202 Squadron. April 1 sees the SAR duties on their beat taken over by Humberside Airport based Sikorsky S.92’s.
So it’s farewell to the reassuring sight of the big yellow helicopters over Yorkshire, and I assume to Leconfield as a flying RAF station too, with a history stretching back to 1936 and beginning with the Heyford, through Halifaxes, to Canberras and Hunters, and finally on the fixed-wing side the Lightning.
Some photos I got of one of the Leconfield based Sea Kings at last year’s Scarborough Armed Forces Day.
I hope that, given the type’s long association with the county, someone has the foresight to preserve one in Yorkshire…
By: VX927 - 1st April 2015 at 22:53
I’ve no issue with withdrawing the Sea Kings. The part that I genuinely don’t understand is how this service is better delivered by a private company? I understand that many of the crews are moving over with the change, but at the end of the day, as tax payers we are paying for a company to go out, buy a whole new fleet of helicopters, maintain them, hangar them, fly them, accommodate crews in new facilities… and give the shareholders thousands of pounds in the way of profit. Why didn’t we just do that ourselves but save the profit part? I know it bean counters, and I know its probably a different budget so it doesn’t count. But overall I really see it as a retrograde step and I think its a sad reflection on our current air force.
While we’re sharing photos!
By: Wokka Bob - 1st April 2015 at 21:33
Out of interest, will 84 Sqn still retain RAF crews?
From recent blogs on pprune the answer is YES!
It is only UK SAR that is being contractualised (is that the right spelling?). 84 Sqn’s primary task is support helicopters with daylight SAR thrown into the task.
By: sycamore - 1st April 2015 at 20:35
RW, your WW photo, XJ729 is stll flying…..
By: peppermint_jam - 1st April 2015 at 19:39
Out of interest, will 84 Sqn still retain RAF crews?
By: Wokka Bob - 1st April 2015 at 17:06
Have been away from the SAR world for a long time now, but plans were, the operation should remain unchanged with a seamless handover. Priorities would stay the same, save lives. Control of prioritizing the assets would not change. I see nothing in the press releases to change that view.
It appears local knowledge is being transferred with experienced aircrew. This not the first time that the UK military hands over to a civilian entity, but I guess by the end of the year it will be the last. Chivenor is slated in the local press for closing 01 October 2015.
In my last post I forgot to add the link to the Bristow’s thread (all 126 pages), so here it is:
By: scotavia - 1st April 2015 at 13:03
There has been a lot of progress in long range SAR ops in the Uk due to the need to provide suitable rotary aircraft for offshore oil gas support. The new fleet is equipped with kit that the Sea King did not have and the crews are using some ex mil people to learn from. I see this as a step forward not back and keep in mind that this is a primary task where the crew are not posted away to another non rotary unit.
By: Sabrejet - 1st April 2015 at 12:59
Leuchars 1983
Is that my beloved XS675? I think I put a hole in that one. Long story, but the important thing is that no-one knew. Until now.
By: CADman - 1st April 2015 at 12:57
Why wouldn’t it be the contractorised S-92s from Humberside?
Guess we will have to wait and see what the new system will produce. The ‘Contract’ will have been written is a way that allows the ‘Contractor’ to provide aircraft and aircrew to a minimum required standard. Whether or not that standard is adequate is for debate, but expect bad news if it goes wrong. When you look at the map of new SAR locations there seem to be some gaps in cover, the Contractors will argue that the new equipment is better than the old, but time will tell.
By: Robert Whitton - 1st April 2015 at 11:36
Leuchars 1983
By: jeepman - 1st April 2015 at 11:21
That thought crossed my mind too.
Why wouldn’t it be the contractorised S-92s from Humberside?
By: AlanR - 1st April 2015 at 08:49
So what happens if aircrew do go in the water. Who fishes them out?
That thought crossed my mind too.
By: Arabella-Cox - 1st April 2015 at 07:07
Is there any station archive at Leconfield?
By: Sabrejet - 1st April 2015 at 06:58
Well it would seem that I need to get my negatives scanned, because there’s not a sausage of those glorious 22 Sqn Walters on my hard drive.
Still, in the absence of that, here is another Manston photo which I took circa 1984:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]236448[/ATTACH]
Some would say it was for the best. Didn’t like those single-Gnome Whirlwinds.
By: Sabrejet - 1st April 2015 at 06:52
VX927: In one word – ‘bean-counters’.
Can I just add the fact that the Bristol Sycamore and Westland Wessex also have their rightful place in the history of UK military SAR.
Seconded! The Wessex was a bastion of our Snar force for years and is much-missed! I’ll post a photo if I can find one!
By: hampden98 - 1st April 2015 at 05:23
VX927: In one word – ‘bean-counters’.
After many years of reducing budgets and focus for all military ranks on ’The Front-Line’, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy have found it increasing difficult to justify the numbers of aircraft, bases, aircrew and support crew, against the almost non-existent primary requirement of rescuing downed aircrew. This latter fact (IMHO) is a result of vastly improved flight safety/technology and reduced aircraft fleets. The majority of rescue work now is for civilian agencies.
It is in this context that the move to a civilian contractor has been on the cards for a number of years. In fact civilians have been providing Search & Rescue for as long as I can remember. The Bristow thread on pprune makes interesting reading.
Can I just add the fact that the Bristol Sycamore and Westland Wessex also have their rightful place in the history of UK military SAR.
So what happens if aircrew do go in the water. Who fishes them out?
By: Wokka Bob - 31st March 2015 at 21:03
VX927: In one word – ‘bean-counters’.
After many years of reducing budgets and focus for all military ranks on ’The Front-Line’, the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy have found it increasing difficult to justify the numbers of aircraft, bases, aircrew and support crew, against the almost non-existent primary requirement of rescuing downed aircrew. This latter fact (IMHO) is a result of vastly improved flight safety/technology and reduced aircraft fleets. The majority of rescue work now is for civilian agencies.
It is in this context that the move to a civilian contractor has been on the cards for a number of years. In fact civilians have been providing Search & Rescue for as long as I can remember. The Bristow thread on pprune makes interesting reading.
Can I just add the fact that the Bristol Sycamore and Westland Wessex also have their rightful place in the history of UK military SAR.
By: VX927 - 31st March 2015 at 19:39
You’re absolutely right Robert… Nothing lasts forever. And nostalgia shouldn’t get in the way of progress but I just cant understand how this was ever a good move? Its a sad day for the UK and the RAF.
By: Robert Whitton - 31st March 2015 at 15:42
Nothing lasts for ever 🙁
I am told the S-92 is a vast improvement over the Sea King as was the Sea King over the Whirlwind.
By: jeepman - 31st March 2015 at 13:49
Appropriate then that the John Sargeant programme on the Sea King was repeated on Sunday night on BBC2 – presumably still available on the BBC iPlayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01r1z3g/the-sea-king-britains-flying-past
By: AlanR - 31st March 2015 at 09:59
Today sees the end of an era, as the last day of duty for the RAF Leconfield-based Sea Kings of E Flight, 202 Squadron. April 1 sees the SAR duties on their beat taken over by Humberside Airport based Sikorsky S.92’s..
Who will be flying them ? Ex-Sea King crews maybe ?
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March 31, 2015 at 9:30 am