That about sums it up, the cost in maintance alone was 100 hrs servicing to 1 hrs flight back in 1988.

Back when I was Cadet camp at Binbrook in Aug ’87, both 5 and 11 sqns struggled to put 2 or 3 aircraft on the Flight line, let alone fly them, the place had a hollow feel.

A Stark difference to my first Cadet Camp There in 1983 where the flightlines were full, the air noisy & acrid, and the Fire engines burning as much fuel as the aircraft dealing with potential Brake fires from failed ‘chutes…..bliss 😎

Great Photos Seafuryfan!

In the latest copy of ‘Loop’ there is a picture of an ex-Bristows Wessex mounted upside down for an art Exhibition in Salzburg.

The artist, Paoloa Pivi, must have been inspired by the Wessex’s little foible of padding and then flipping over if you tried to run the rotors up through it’s harmonic frequency. 😀

Normally the engine’s are started with the rotor brake on, and then the torque is upped and the brake released, if the Captain is able to count past 4 blades before they blurr, it is power off and brake on immediately 😮

I think the KA50 is a great looking Chopper, I tried to use an Apache Body on my XRB as a base for a semi scale Kamov, but it was too heavy….

Piasecki HUP-2 Retriever, if I am not mistaken.

Lightning Quick Sir! 😀

Shawbury ’88/89

Some photies of my time at Shawbury in the late ’80s, plus the line up at Fairford in the mid-’90s (year migs collided) and finally a weird one that I found in my photo collection, that My Dad must have taken (early Greenham?) any ideas on identity?