Three Royal Navy Sea King helicopters have made their final flight before retirement, bringing to an end 49 years of service for the “indispensable” aircraft.
The helicopters, whose predecessors were introduced into service three weeks after the first moon landing, flew over Portsmouth Naval Base to their final destination of HMS Sultan in Gosport, Hampshire, where they will await disposal.
The flight from their base at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall took them past the Navy’s hi-tech destroyer HMS Diamond and Portsmouth’s landmark Spinnaker Tower.
A total of 140 Sea Kings were built for the Royal Navy in their almost half-century of service.
They have been used for anti-submarine warfare, search-and-rescue missions, general duties, carrying Royal Marines commandos into action in the Falklands, Iraq, the Balkans, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan.
The helicopters, nicknamed baggers, also provided airborne early warning and intelligence to the fleet and ground forces.
Three Royal Navy Sea King helicopters fly past the Spinnaker tower (Andrew Matthews/PA)
A Navy spokesman said: “It earned the ‘bagger’ tag after the Falklands conflict in 1982 when the airborne early warning variant was hurriedly introduced.
“The large black sack sticking out of the fuselage houses a powerful radar which scans the skies for potential threats.
“Those original baggers had one major flaw – they couldn’t track hostile aircraft over land, a problem rectified when the much-improved MK7 entered service in 2001.
“It proved to be a revelation. Crews found that they could not only detect aerial threats, but they could also track vehicle movements on the ground.
“The MK7 proved indispensable in helping Allied forces to evade and ultimately destroy Saddam Hussein’s army around Basra and the Al Faw peninsula in 2003.
“They also helped ground troops and police in Afghanistan arrest insurgents and seize masses of weapons and bomb-making equipment.”
The airborne surveillance and control role will be taken over by the new Merlin Crowsnest, which arrives at Culdrose next year and will operate from new carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales from 2020.
Linkhienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2018/09/26/indispensable-sea-kings-make-final-flight-before/
Main photo article Three Royal Navy Sea King helicopters have made their final flight before retirement, bringing to an end 49 years of service for the “indispensable” aircraft.
The helicopters, whose predecessors were introduced into service three weeks after the first moon landing, flew over Portsmouth Naval Bas...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves Online news HienaLouca
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