FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0050.PDF
48 FLIGHT, 13 January 19( ROTATING-WING SAILORS Training RN Helicopter Pilots MORE and more emphasis has been placed by the RoyalNavy in recent years on the employment of helicopters.Their use for planeguard duties, when deck landings and take-offs are in progress, has long been established; and theysupply a quick means of physical communication between ship and shore. These roles have been supplemented lately by func-tions which give rotating-wing aircraft an operational capability, as anti-submarine weapons and as vehicles for Commando troops.The strategic background for these new employments is well known: on the one hand the ever-increasing Soviet underwaterfleet; on the other, the risk of limited wars, which can be contained by prompt action. Helicopters have been found to be efficientsubmarine hunters, and the Royal Navy has several squadrons for this purpose, at present equipped with Westland WhirlwindHAS.7s. These aircraft are to be replaced by the turbine- powered Westland Wessex, which has the ability both to seekout submarines and to destroy them, and is at present being proved for squadron service (Flight, November 11, 1960); andby the small P.531, the Saunders-Roe helicopter capable of operating from ships other than carriers. The other role, that BY HUMPHREY WYN\ of conveying troops quickly to trouble spots, is being perform-dby Whirlwinds on Commando carriers. The first of these carrier,, HMS Bulwark, has been in service since January 1960; and asecond, Albion, is currently being convened for the same purpo e. It is expected that the Wessex, with its greater carrying capaciv,will eventually replace the Whirlwind in the Commando role. This increasing use of helicopters means that the Royal Navymust have a greater supply of rotating-wing pilots. In March 1959 it was announced that a new five-year short-service commis-sion was being introduced for pilots trained specifically ior helicopter duties. Under this scheme, young men between the ages of 17 and 26are accepted for training provided they possess a GCE educational qualification and have passed a flying aptitude test, interview andmedical examination. They then go to the RN College at Dart- mouth for two terms, for preliminary Naval training, as cadets. Flying begins for the five-year men at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.Yorks, where they take a 28 weeks' course on fixed-wing aircraft at No 1 Flying Training School. Provided they complete thissuccessfully they move south from Yorkshire to Cornwall, to
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
