12 Team Members visited a cold, but sunny RAF Leconfield on Saturday. The welcome on the other side of the Pennines was a warm one though and the Sea King helicopter crew were keen to assist us with our training.
All Team Members are expected to be safe, confident and efficient around the helicopters we are likely to see in a rescue situation. It’s not too often we have to call upon the services of the RAF, but occasionally it happens. And with aircraft based at RAF Leconfield and RAF Valley available to us, we aim to train with them at least a couple of times a year.
After a tour of the ground facilities and a refresher on the aircraft itself, we were invited to watch the safety film and complete all the paper work required before we can get up in the air. Luckily, they don’t ask for this in a rescue situation!
A lot of time was spent on winching as this was to form the main part of the day’s exercise. Even though it was a refresher day for most, everyone paid attention to the brief on attaching the strop and getting a rucksack onto the bag hook securely. We were briefed that to make the exercise as realistic as possible, we would be full responsible for attaching ourselves and our equipment and giving all the necessary signals to the winchman to raise us up.
Having been split into two ‘sticks’ of 6 men (and women), we paired up and sorted out our kit. Helmet, gloves, goggles and ear protection were going to be a must under the 75mph down draft of the rotors.
Then for the fun part. The helicopter took off and circled the airfield. Once it was in a hover, in pairs, we grabbed our kit and battled the wind to the lowered winch hook. People first and then bags needed to be attached whilst holding tightly onto the 2kg hook to prevent some serious bumps and bruises. Once everything was on, an obvious thumbs-up to the winch operator and up we went. We’d been warned to get up-close and personal once attached to the strops to prevent us being knocked together like conkers as the winch cable went tight!
Once on board and allocated a seat, the process went on until the ‘stick’ was all aboard. Then a quick flight around Beverley in the beautiful winter sunshine and back to Leconfield to swap with the other troops.
Once we were all back on the ground, the crew flew out to the coast to continue their training. For us, it was back to the vehicles and the slightly slower and less glamorous trip back over the Pennines to Lancashire.
Overall, a great day out, which although a lot of fun, had a serious side. Without the cooperation of the RAF, these training days would not be possible. A big thank you to everybody at RAF Leconfield.
