Whirlwind HAR 10

[izod tester]

This video came up on Facebook this morning. Enjoy
Whirlwind from Seaking

[G-CPTN]

I remember when the Whirlwinds arrived at Acklington.
The SAR crew claimed that they couldn't fly backwards (as they could with the Sycamore).
That might have been due to lack of experience?

[CharlieOneSix]

....The SAR crew claimed that they couldn't fly backwards (as they could with the Sycamore)....

They were having you on!

I only flew the RN HAR3 and HAS7 versions. The first was a SAR machine and was powered by an 800hp Wright Cyclone and the second was an anti-submarine helicopter powered by an 850hp Alvis Leonides Major. Then they put in the Gnome turbine to replace the piston engines and it became the HAR10 in the RAF and the HAR9 in the RN. I think the Gnome was 1050shp. It turned the Whirlwind into a different beast capable of some useful work and it was a good SAR platform.

Sadly I only had a go in the HAR9 on one occasion - that was when I was flying a civvy helicopter based at Brawdy in its RN days and I knew the SAR pilot. We went totty spotting low level in the SAR on Newgale beach....

[G-CPTN]

....The SAR crew claimed that they couldn't fly backwards (as they could with the Sycamore)....

They were having you on!

As an ATC cadet I was inclined to believe what I was told (including the röntgen stuff).

[CharlieOneSix]

The video that izod tester posted intrigued me so I investigated further and both helicopters are operated by Historic Helicopters of Chard, Somerset. They were flying together to honour the passing in July of Mike Lakey at the age of 72. For many years he was a RAF Sea King SAR pilot and was involved in very many SAR events. The flypast was carried out at his wake at Berry Head near Brixham. I only met him once and that was after the Piper Alpha disaster in which we were both involved - he to a much greater extent than me. He was based at Boulmer on that occasion but earlier in 1980 he was awarded the George Medal for a truly amazing rescue of 24 men, women and children from the freighter Finneagle whilst he was based at Lossiemouth. I was looking up the circumstances of that and came across an excerpt from Howie Firth's book "Orkney" which detailed the rescue. Unfortunately in the same extract I learned of the death of another former RAF SAR pilot, Dave Cosby, who retired from Bristow Aberdeen at the same time as me and who spent his retirement in Orkney.

In December 1974, the Belgian stern trawler Lans ran aground under the 600-foot cliffs of The Berry in Hoy, and an RAF helicopter from Lossiemouth went right to the side of the cliff to lift off the crew, three at a time, take them to the top, and then land them in the Longhope lifeboat. The helicopter, piloted by David Cosby, had the storm raging around it, the surging sea below, and the cliff face just a few metres from the rotor blades.

David married an Orkney girl and lived in Stromness in his retirement, and at his funeral at the churchyard by the sea, with the waves washing in to the shore, there came a distant sound of engines, and a helicopter from his old squadron at Lossiemouth passed slowly overhead in salute.

This is the extract from the London Gazette listing Mike Lakey's George Medal award:

Flight Lieutenant Lakey is the deputy Flight Commander and a search and rescue helicopter captain of ' D' Flight Number 202 Squadron at Royal Air Force Lossiemouth. During the night of the 2nd October 1980 the Motor Vessel Finneagle transmitted a Mayday message from its position fifty miles north west of Orkney. The vessel had suffered an explosion and was on fire amidships, with twenty two persons including three women and two children on board. The first standby had already been scrambled and although 'D' Flight has no requirement to maintain a second standby helicopter during the hours of darkness, it was decided to assemble an off duty crew to assist.

Flight Lieutenant Lakey volunteered to captain the second crew and took off at 2350 hours to go to the assistance of the stricken vessel. The conditions at the scene of the incident were appalling, with a mean windspeed of fifty knots gusting to seventy knots and a very high sea state giving wave heights of sixty feet. The first Sea King had been forced to abandon its attempts to put a line on the vessel's deck and a civilian S61 helicopter, after making several similar attempts, was also forced to withdraw from the scene. The Finneagle's captain had assembled the crew and passengers on the vessel's foredeck. He was forced to maintain an into wind course because of the severe weather conditions and to prevent the fire and resulting fumes from reaching those on board. Flight Lieutenant Lakey had no choice other than to attempt to position his helicopter for winching from the vessel's port bow despite the fact that this would require him to manoeuvre very close to a fore-mast and a high forward superstructure.

The Finneagle had lost electrical power and the only illumination avail-able was from the helicopter's own lights and the glow of the fire. An attempt was made to lower the winchman on to the foredeck but because the vessel was pitching and rolling extremely violently, Flight Lieutenant Lakey's efforts to maintain a steady hover caused the winchman to swing through a dangerously wide arc. Flight Lieutenant Lakey therefore decided to employ the Hi-line winching technique which obviates the necessity for the helicopter to maintain an absolutely precise overhead position. The prevailing conditions were so bad that it took twenty minutes to achieve an accurate positioning of the Hi-line on the Finneagle's deck. Two rescue strops were attached to the winch hook and as the first survivors were about to be lifted a massive wave pitched the ship so close to the aircraft that immediate evasive action was necessary. By his exceptional skill not only the aircraft but also two female survivors, each clutching a child, were saved.

After lifting eight survivors Flight Lieutenant Lakey learned that the vessel's cargo was highly dangerous and included a consignment of carbide. The vessel was well on fire, with intermittent explosions taking place, and the remaining fourteen survivors were experiencing difficulty in breathing due to the fumes from the burning cargo. At this moment the Finneagle's captain radioed that he considered the vessel to be in imminent danger of sinking.

Flight Lieutenant Lakey rapidly assessed the situation and having discussed it together with his crew decided to carry on with the rescue, undeterred by the obvious dangers. The remaining fourteen crew members were then successfully winched to safety, despite the necessity of renewing and repositioning the Hi-line twice during the winching period. Continuing to display inestimable skill, Flight Lieutenant Lakey flew his aircraft to safety with twenty seven persons on board. Although he had been on duty for over nineteen hours Flight Lieutenant Lakey, with outstanding coolness, courage and exceptional flying skill remained in a close hover position with the violently pitching and rolling vessel for a period of one and three quarter hours. He inspired and led his crew by his magnificent example throughout the operation, displaying personal gallantry

[izod tester]

Mike was my brother-in-law and had suffered from terminal cancer for some time. It was very moving during the flypast at Berry Head since he had flown both of those very aircraft during his career as a rescue pilot. After the Finneagle rescue he was voted "Scotman of the Year" by BBC Scotland. As a Wiltshireman he found that very amusing.