David
Flies with the Blue Eagles and Air Sea Rescue
The
Blue Eagles are the Army Air Corps helicopter display
team. They display at air shows and military events
in a Lynx and four Gazelle helicopters.
David was invited to fly in the Lynx in his capacity
as 'webmaster' (or web site designer) for a web
site that publishes details of the country's main
air shows.
The
crew of the Blue Eagles are all Army Aviation
Intructors but they fly as volunteers in their
own time.
Blue
Eagles displaying at Eastbourne
Approaching
Beachy Headin the Lynx
The Blue Eagles were
displaying at Airbourne, Eastbourne's free international
airshow, held every August. They are based at Shoreham
for the four days of the show. The 45 minute flight
went from Shoreham to Eastbourne, along the coast
and hovered off shore for photo opportunities before
returning to Shoreham.
The
missile silos were empty
Switching straight from the Lynx
to a Chinook, the very recognisable twin-rotor helicopter,
it was back to the Eastbourne display line.
Chinook
at Shoreham airport
As the team who
usually display at shows were busy elsewhere,
the crew of a Chinook from RAF Odiam conducted
the role-play, landing a crew member onto a dinghy
and then recovering him from a lifeboat. "We
don't usually do displays, but nothing happens
in the display that we don't do in a day's work"
co-pilot Hannah Brown told David.
Pilots
Ed Towell and Hannah Brown with the rest of the
Chinook crew
Seats for take-off
before heading with a camera for that open door
at the front.
The Chinook crew in action at
Airbourne
.
Unusual view
of the pier through the open tail of the Chinook
Over
Pevensey, with the air show display line in the
distance
.
