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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0051.PDF
FLIGHT, 13 January 1961 49 On the opposite page a Whirl- Wlnd and Dragonfly of No 705 Son are seen over the Cornish coast near RNAS Culdrose "Flight" photograph At right, one of the squadron's Hitler HTE-2s, with the writer aboard as pupil and Lt J. de B. Wailes as instructor, departs on an ab initio training sortie "Flight" photograph Below, HRH Prince Chula of Thailand presenting flying badges at Culdrose to two members of the HSP course which passed out last month. Behind the prince are Capt C L F. Webb, captain of HMS "Sea Hawk" (RNAS Culdrose), and Lt Cdr R. G. D. Williams, who commands 705 Sqn RNAS Culdrose—commanded by Capt C. L. F. Webb, DSC, RN—to begin their helicopter training. Culdrose airfield is just south of Helston, the Cornish townfamous for its flora or "furry" dance, some eight miles north of the Lizard. To the west lie Mounts Bay, with St Michael'sMount its dominating feature, and Penzance. The Royal Naval Air Station has many activities: it is the home base of 849Squadron (Gannet AEW.3s), the present location of 700H Sqn Wessex Flight, headquarters of the School of Aircraft Handlingand the Aerial Torpedo Development Unit, and centre for basic Naval helicopter training. This last function is handled by705 Sqn, and it is to this unit that the five-year commission trainees come for their first experience of rotating-wing aircraft. The squadron, which is commanded by Lt Cdr David Williams,trains not only helicopter specialist pilots (as the 5-year men are called) but also General List and supplementary officers. Thusin addition to the HSP courses there is also a helicopter conver- sion course for already qualified fixed-wing pilots, and Navalairmen are trained for aircrew duties such as winchmen. The unit's full title is 705 Sqn Royal Naval Helicopter School,and it proudly claims to be the first training establishment of its kind in the world. Its flying instructional staff are all graduates ofthe RAF Central Flying School and the squadron is equipped with Hillers, Whirlwinds and Dragonflies. At the school, the five-year pilots take a course lasting 21 weeksOncluding leave), during which they do a minimum of 85hr flying. 1 neir initial taste of helicopters is acquired on the Hiller HTE-2,arid in the first five weeks they have 30hr experience on this type. J 'aming for the remaining 13 weeks is carried out on Whirlwinds,tin- HSP course members doing 55hr flying on these aircraft. Concurrently there are lectures on ground subjects—aero-dynamics, airmanship, navigation, meteorology, communications, ship and aircraft recognition, air medicine and safety equipment—and also on the Royal Navy, the latter given by the Commander, Cdr P. W. A. O'Rorke, DSC, RN. The chief ground instructorand HSP course instructor is Lt Cdr D. F. Burke, and some of the instructors combine other posts on the station with theirteaching duties. For example the met officer, who lectures in meteorology, is also an education officer. Examinations taken by the courses are set and marked by anexternal body, under the authority of the Flag Officer Air (Home). Success on the course depends upon proficiency in ground subjectsas well as aptitude in flying. When the flying instructors who have passed out from the CFSat RAF South Cemey are posted to 705 Sqn as QFIs, diey don't instruct in the Hiller Stage of training for about three months.This is so that indoctrination of beginners is the responsibility of the more experienced staff. It also gives the new instructor timeto practise in and be standardized on the Hiller. On a recent visit which Flight made to Culdrose the writer,a fixed-wing (wartime-trained) pilot, had an opportunity of flying a helicopter for die first time when he was given an ab initiosortie by one of the instructors, Lt Jeremy de B. Wailes, in a Hiller HTE-2. This is a very simple type of machine, ideal forsuch training, widi basic flying instruments and dual controls. For this experience, the writer sat in the middle of the cockpit(which is wide enough to seat three people on a bench-type seat), with the instructor on his left. Throat microphones were worn,because of no oxygen masks being needed, and bone domes. In other respects, die equipment used, and strapping-in procedure,were as simple as for a Tiger Moth. Starting the engine and rotation of the blades were almostsimultaneous, and as the aircraft had only just landed from a training sortie there was no need for warm-up. When airbornewe paused for a few minutes above the tarmac for the benefit of Flight's photographer, then moved away from the airfieldboundary to be clear of other aircraft. In this demonstration, as Lt Wailes put it, we compressed the first half-dozen exercisesa Naval pupil receives. The writer was shown hovering, auto- rotation and landing. The Hiller has dual cyclic sticks and collective-pitch levers,and in my position I had the instrument console (which is central) immediately in front of me. The cyclic stick was between myknees and the collective pitch, which has a twist-grip throttle, at my left hand. There is excellent visibility forwards, downwardsand sideways, and at low level a quite vivid impression of speed. This type of flying is probably the nearest present-day approxi-mation to what the earliest aviators felt, sitting out at the front of their slow machines, though nowadays one enjoys a great dealmore comfort and protection. The greatest difficulty I felt was in adjusting myself to newtypes of control movement, and in co-ordinating use of the throttle, collective-pitch and cyclic stick and rudders. One hasto learn to think of four things at once, though this is no harder than learning to drive a car, when co-ordination of accelerator,clutch, steering-wheel and brake have to be indoctrinated. When we were hovering, I found that the wind was blowing us to port;this was corrected by moving the cyclic pitch to the right, so that the "tilting" of the rotor disc counteracted drift. When we wished
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