Close encounters of the overcast kind!

[Cacophonix]

IFR = I follow roads.

A driver said he was thankful for a "lucky escape" after a close encounter with a helicopter in the Lake District.

Brian Weatherall, 45, was driving along a misty lane in Kirkstone Pass with his family when the aircraft emerged unexpectedly from the fog, forcing him to hit the breaks.

Dash-cam footage of the incident shows the aircraft passing with within metres of his car.

After the helicopter disappeared from sight, Mr Weatherall can be heard saying to his family: “Dear me. That’s not something you see very often.”

It is thought that the aircraft was carrying out manoeuvres as part of an SAS operation.

“I just couldn’t believe it, I’ve never seen anything like it," Mr Weatherall, a civil engineer from Durham, said. “I was on holiday at the time and the roads were bad so I was taking it steady on the steep hill. It happened about 2pm and I had the whole family in the car, it really was quite something – and a lucky escape.”

He added it had been “pretty awesome” to witness such an event. "It does make you feel safe when you see how our forces can fly a helicopter.”

British Special Forces refused to comment on the incident.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 77501.html

Double hmm to this incident and the awfully written article and poor spelling.



Caco

[Boac]

IFR story: Many years ago I was ferrying a 'bit' from Coltishall to Kemble in the BBMF Chipmunk. Forecast overcast 4000' 6km, and about 20 mins out I ran into a mammoth 'early' front (NB Slasher stand down...!) of solid IMC. Turning back did not work and there were no RAF fields that way anyway. Needing 'assistance' I called Brize but they could see now't on their screens and D&D could not get a trace. The 'Radio man' at Colt, in his/her 'wisdom', had written all the radio freqs on the little card in immaculate script in ink(!), and I had a smeared illegible card, since like all Chipmunks, the canopy leaked in rain.. Asked for div on 121.5 to Little Rissington but was told they had closed and gone to the bar and Brize and Lyneham were not an option weather-wise. Fuel now a crisis, when a 'hole' appeared in the 8/8 and I spiralled down - I was preparing for a forced landing on the rain-soaked ground when I saw a road sign at a cross-roads and knew where I was, crept down and up a valley and saw the approach lights at Riss, where a WONDERFUL SATCO had gone from the bar to the tower and hit the switch. I don't think a Chipmunk has ever been refuelled with as much AVGAS.... There was a 'bit' of flack flying around but ultimately a crap forecast got the blame .

That was item 3 on my list of 'The Met man is trying to kill me' which eventually reached 6 on retirement.

[izod tester]

Funny camouflage for a military helicopter.

[FD2]

It looks a bit like an AS365N (Dauphin) to me, or whatever it may be called these days. Don't think the SAS would be going around in one of those if I'm right!

[Cacophonix]

It looks a bit like an AS365N (Dauphin) to me, or whatever it may be called these days. Don't think the SAS would be going around in one of those if I'm right!

Yes, the press once again fills in the gaps that other idiots cannot fill and decide that the errant law breaking helicopter must have been connected with the SAS. Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't but it makes for a sensational story. At least these folks in South Africa knew where these Oryx military helicopters came from when one crashed on the mountain pass in front of them in perfect VFR flying conditions after a wire strike in the Du Toit's Kloof Pass.

Oryx.JPG (74.13 KiB) Viewed 416 times

Caco

[Cacophonix]

I am forced to eat a little humble pie...

The UK’s Special Air Service (SAS), the elite unit of the Army Air Corps, has taken delivery of a fifth Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphin. Industry sources tell HeliHub.com that the upcoming Olympics in London has inter alia placed additional responsibilities on the SAS, hence the need for the extra aircraft. It is expected to take up the military serial ZJ784 in due course, following on from the others which are ZJ780 through ZJ783. The fleet are maintained by FB Heliservices at Shawbury.

The first four Dauphins were delivered bY Eurocopter UK between October 2008 and January 2009. This latest aircraft was cancelled from the UK civil register just yesterday and is coincidentally the very next serial number (6823) off the production line to the last of the original batch and not just off the production line. The reason behind this is that the aircraft was delivered from the factory in France to Eurocopter’s UK subsidiary in August 2008 on the expectation of a sale, but has instead sat there in primer all of the time since until the military bought it.

The Dauphins replaced four Agusta A109A helicopters, the first two of which were war spoils from the Falklands War in 1982. Within a short time a second pair was added, and all four were withdrawn from use as the Dauphins were introduced. They are now either in storage or awaiting display in museums. One is known to be with the School of Electronic and Aeronautical Engineering at Arborfield, Berkshire, while two others are expected to be displayed in the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton and the Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop. The fourth is used for ground instruction at Whittington Barracks, Lichfield.

The photos accompanying this article are aircraft in the original batch. The photo below is with due credit to Dave Haines, while the flying shot is from Richard Trinder. The copyright of each remains with the photographers.

http://helihub.com/2012/01/13/uk-specia ... 3-dauphin/

as365-sas2-2x.jpg (42.47 KiB) Viewed 413 times

Caco

[CharlieOneSix]

Caco - watch out for a black car arriving at your address with suits in dark glasses knocking on your door....

[Cacophonix]

Caco - watch out for a black car arriving at your address with suits in dark glasses knocking on your door....

Not sure about the black cars but a dark tinted helicopter is hovering not too far from my abode! Should I be worried?

OPSEC, need to know, all that sort of stuff...

Caco

[Sisemen]

Had something similar a few years while in the jump seat of an SAR Sea King. We’d just finished a strop pick-up of a Lancaster prop which had crashed on Ben Eigh (an IOT cadet exercise) for an eventual memorial and were tracking low level along the A896 back towards Lossie. There’s generally very little traffic on that road but, as came up to the crest of the pass, the local delivery van appeared coming in the opposite direction. We were low enough to see the look of horror on the driver’s face as he instinctivley took evasive action!

[ian16th]

the School of Electronic and Aeronautical Engineering at Arborfield, Berkshire,
Caco

I played Rugby there once, against the Army Apprenitce's, they thumped us

[FD2]

Apologies for that wrong steer! I should have checked before turning in - just surprised that they are using a machine that first flew in 1975 - no doubt there have been improvements since. I think it is a pretty reliable machine if not quite as fast as the AG109. After all there are many S76 and S61 aircraft still flying - the number designating, roughly, the year of first flight.

AS365N ZJ780.jpg (41.98 KiB) Viewed 377 times

[Cacophonix]

Apologies for that wrong steer! I should have checked before turning in - just surprised that they are using a machine that first flew in 1975 - no doubt there have been improvements since. I think it is a pretty reliable machine if not quite as fast as the AG109. After all there are many S76 and S61 aircraft still flying - the number designating, roughly, the year of first flight.

Must admit I was dubious about the story initially as well FD2. It seems like the SAS got a job lot of Eurocopter AS365N3 Dauphins and maybe an initial knock down price coloured the procurment decision. They seem to be semi detached from the usual military process as well and given the video apparently believe themselves not to be subject to UK Air Law either!


Caco