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Chinook 2007 News

To view the archived 2006 News page, please click here.

RAF Shawbury Families Day – East Fortune – Sunderland – 27th, 28th and 29th July 2007

With the wet weather becoming a fading memory, it was time for the Chinook Display Team to head north for what was the ‘home’ show of the year for Dave and Andy at East Fortune. On the way the team dropped into RAF Shawbury to put some excitement into the tri-service helicopter training bases’ annual families’ day. A brisk westerly meant that it was a very tricky on-crowd wind for Dave to contend with; nevertheless, he pulled off a crisp display to close the show.

After a quick aircraft change, it was on to Edinburgh Airport, the mounting base for what has turned out to be Scotland’s only airshow in 2007, following the closure of Leuchars’ runway for a year long resurfacing and the cancellation of the Ayr show. After careful negotiations with local landowners, the team obtained permission to land the aircraft at the small National Museum of Flight site 15 miles east of Edinburgh. The team mingled with the 15,000 strong crowd for most of the day until it was their turn to put the Chinook through its paces. Again strong winds played their part in making it a challenging display arena, Dave struggled with a tight routine to make the best of a short crowd line.

On landing, commentator Tim Callaway embarrassed the team with a coordinated round of enthusiastic applause as they emerged from the team’s support vehicle. This was the Chinook’s first display at East Fortune, however, after the welcome the team received it unlikely to be the last. The final leg home allowed the team to take part in the ever popular Sunderland show, again a first for the Chinook team. This over water type of event always provides a testing environment and Sunderland was no exception. The dramatic setting and huge crowd numbers proved to be an extremely enjoyable show for the team, rounding off what had been a busy but rewarding weekend.

Dave Morgan

All pictures by C Redgrave at East Fortune.

Royal International Air Tattoo, RAF Fairford, 14 and 15 July 2007.

The Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford is the biggest military air show so, needless to say, the team were in attendance and flew on all three days.

During the weekend of RIAT the Gloucestershire airfield briefly becomes the busiest airport in the World and on Thursday the crew of Dave, Andy and Bob took Chinook ZA705 on the short hop from Odiham. With Fairford being such a huge event, a number of supporting crew also travelled to the show, and as usual the team’s stunning black Range Rover Sport was flown in to provide dedicated transport throughout the weekend.

RIAT is more than an airshow and gives aircrew, engineers and support staff the opportunity to extend a hand of international friendship and the crew spent Thursday evening meeting and chatting with aviators from all over the World including the USAF Thunderbirds and Italian Air Force’s Frecce Tricolore.

The following morning a quick display practise was flown before an already large crowd, followed by a brief interview with BFBS, and then lunch as guests of Boeing. The day ended with a short flight to a nearby hotel for a small group of enthusiasts, visiting Fairford after winning a VIP weekend at the show as part of the BBC’s Children in Need Auction. During the return leg both BBC and HTV news teams reported on the show from inside the aircraft cabin during flight!

With Dave, Andy and Bob involved in the flying side Flt Lt Mike Killick, Sgts Scott Todd and Rob Chambers along with Senior Aircraftsman Mark Jones represented the Chinook Force in the Ground Skills Competition. This was an informal and light-hearted test of general military skills such as aircraft recognition, combat first aid and overall team work and at the RIAT Gala Dinner later that evening the team was both surprised and delighted to collect the Goodrich Trophy for 1 st place.

Saturday and Sunday followed identical formats with an early slot time for the aircraft display itself, with further flying at the end of the day as part of now well rehearsed Role Demonstration. A new aspect to the display at RIAT was a direct feed from the aircraft to the commentary box and this allowed Andy to give the crowd a unique insight in to exactly what is being said as the aircraft pitches from 45 degrees nose up to 85 degrees nose down!

Bob Larcombe

This first selection is from Mike Jorgensen on 101 Sqn.

Now a group from the Chinook Team themselves.

And finally, from DeltaWeb.

RNAS Yeovilton International Air Show, 07 July 2007- Summer at Last!

At last, the rain stopped and the sun shone on Yeovilton RNAS in Somerset for it’s annual Air Day.

This was another busy show for the team, who completed a solo display and then going on to participate traditional end of show set piece, the seventeen-aircraft “Junglie Assault”.

The slightly overcast but warm day was perfect for an airshow and Dave, Andy and Bob flew a right hand display for the crowd. Dave can fly either a left or right hand display to take in to account the prevailing wind and one routine is a mirror image of the other.

Later in the day the Chinook showed off it’s massive lifting power by carrying a BV206 tracked vehicle in to the arena area as part of the finale, before recovering a number of “hostages” freed by the Royal Marines.

Bob Larcombe

Well, our photographers went a bit mad in the unexpected burst of sunshine! Their best is below, and many thanks to Ian Mathews for his picture of the role demo line up at the end.

RAF Waddington International Air Show, 30 June – 01 July 2007- Washed Out Waddington

The International Airshow at RAF Waddington is usually a highlight of the show season, but this year it was memorable for a totally different reason. Heavy rain hampered the whole weekend although the Chinook was able to display in a brief break in the appalling weather.

Against a back drop of grey clouds Dave, Andy and Sam completed the routine, only just remaining clear of the low cloud. Later in the day the crew, now joined by Bob, prepared for the multi-aircraft Role-Demonstration although this too was touch and go right up to the last minute. Although all aircraft were checked in and ready to go, the reluctant decision was made to cancel the role demo due to decreasing visibility and low cloud.

On Sunday morning, the crew arrived at the airfield to learn there would be no display due to the previous day’s heavy rain flooding some of the public areas and surrounding roads. Although conditions were suitable for flying the show organisers, in consultation with the Police, took the difficult step of cancelling the second day. Sorry we were unable to fly the display on Sunday. Many thanks to those who made the journey to RAF Waddington, despite the poor conditions.

Bob Larcombe

The Cosford Air Show, 10 June 2007 – Not one report, but two!

The Cosford Air Show is one of the RAF’s most popular events, held at RAF Cosford in Shropshire, and this year included not one but two Chinook displays! The first was the amazing aerobatics for which the Chinook has become rightly famous, the second was as part of a new concept in RAF display, the combined role demonstration. In this new display, aircraft of different types take part in a demonstration of their actual roles in combat, a Sentry and two Tornado F3s provide air cover, chasing off and "shooting down" intruders, portrayed by a pair of Hawks, while a pair of Tornado GR4s bomb and strafe the target area. The Chinook and Hercules land on troops and vehicles, and recover them at the end of the operation. The pictures below are from Dave, Andy and Bob’s part in the role demo part of the display:

Cloudy Cosford

June 10th started off somewhat overcast and cloudy, and although there was no actual rain, the crew for Sunday’s RAF Cosford airshow were uncertain at first if the low-lying mist and fog would prevent them from reaching the airfield near Telford.

But as the morning wore on and the aircraft departed Odiham, the weather started to break and improved pretty much continuously throughout the day. Flying initially to Nesscliff Training Camp to collect troops for the ground element of the RAF Role Demonstration, the team arrived at Cosford around 10:30.

The less than ideal visibility did curtail or delay several displays, but the crew of Dave, Andy, Bob and Mark flew a full routine. Because of it’s tight turns and lower speed, poor visibility doesn’t hamper the Chinook display with the action remaining right in front of the crowd throughout.

Later in the day and with the weather now much improved, the Chinook again participated in the Role Demo to the delight of over 50,000 spectators.

Next weekend sees the team embarking on its only foreign display of the season at Volkel in Holland.

Bob Larcombe

The Biggin Hill Air Show, 02 – 03 June 2007- High Temperatures and High Drama

In a remarkable change from the wet weather at Southend, Dave, Andy and Bob enjoyed a scorching Biggin Hill International Air Fair over the weekend of June 2 nd and 3 rd with sunshine all day long on both days and temperatures in the high 20s. This was a busy show for the team with the aircraft being involved in three separate phases of the varied flying program. It provided a jump platform for the Princess of Wales’ Royal Regt "Tigers" Parachute Display Team, then got involved in the RAF Role Demonstration, and went on to perform it’s own individual display.

Saturday’s solo display provided an unexpected event for the crew in the form of a "FADEC" (engine computer control) malfunction approximately half way through the routine. This occurred when the aircraft was at one of its more extreme attitudes and, once recovered to "straight and level", the problem was assessed fully and as a precautionary measure the remainder of Saturday’s display had to be aborted. With groundcrew in attendance the fault was rectified though, so come Sunday the crew were able to repeat their appearance with the Tigers, and during the Role Demo, and this time completed a full solo display to a crowd estimated as being 45,000 strong on each day.

Bob Larcombe

The Southend Air Show, 27 – 28 May 2007

The Southend Air Show is traditionally one of Britain’s largest in terms of the number of visitors. The entire seafront fills up with the crowd over a distance of several miles! This year, the weather intervened, with heavy rain, a gusting wind and low cloud making flying difficult, but certainly not impossible. The crowd had gathered under umbrellas and were not disappointed as most of the participants managed to fly at least a flat display. The Chinook flew its full display of course, Dave, Andy and Jase putting on a great show for the hardy crowd, which was very well received. The aircraft are based at Southend Airport for the show, making the short hop to the coast to display. However, many people watch the show from the airport, and the Team flew a circuit on their return, so even the people there got to see the mighty Chinook. The action is captured below. Sadly, the second day of the show proved even worse weather was available in the British summer skies! In the end the display had to be cancelled as the driving rain had a 27 gusting 35 knot crosswind added to it. Hopefully things will improve for the rest of the season.

The Duxford Spring Air Show, 20 May 2007

The Spring Air Show at Duxford this year fell on 20 May, twenty five years to the day that the first British troops landed on the Falkland Islands to reclaim them after the Argentine invasion. A wide variety of the aircraft types from the campaign took part in the display, and of course, the mighty Chinook was one of these. Dave, Andy and Jason flew an outstanding display, the conditions nearly perfect for Dave to generate the "blade slap" for which the Chinook display is famous. In fact, it nearly shook the windows out of the commentary box! Pudsey the Bear joined Jason on the rear ramp for the flyby, the famous bear is being auctioned for charity, but first has to fly in as many types as possible during the air show season, and of course the Chinook crew were more than happy to oblige. Some of the action is captured below:

The Abingdon Air And Country Fayre, 06 May 2007

Just three days after receiving Display Approval the team opened their season at Abingdon Air And Country Fayre at Dalton Barracks in Oxfordshire.

Crewing the aircraft with Flt Lt Dave Traill were Sqn Ldr Andy Lamb and crewmen FS Jace Hollingsworth and Sgt Bob Larcombe. Despite blustery conditions and a slight delay due to another aircraft going u/s, Dave flew a perfect left-handed routine against a slightly overcast sky. Meeting spectators afterwards, it became clear this year’s display has lived up to expectations, with several enquiries as to when the team is flying next.

The date for that is May 20th at The Imperial War Museum, Duxford.

Abingdon also marked the first outing for the team’s new support vehicle. LandroverUK have kindly offered their support to the team by providing transport, and this year a 2007 Range Rover Sport TDV8, with it’s distinctive Chinook Display Team graphics, will be accompanying the team to all their displays.

Many thanks to those who came to see our first public display of 2007. We’re looking forward to hopefully meeting some of you again throughout the summer.

Bob Larcombe

PDA success! – 3 May 2007

The Chinook Display Team successfully gained public display approval (PDA) today, Thursday 3 May 2007, in front of the Commander of the Joint Helicopter Command, Major General Gary Coward, at Boscombe Down. Despite a gusty and difficult on-crowd wind, Flight Lieutentant Dave Traill flew a perfect display using the new 2007 routine. The season kicks off this weekend at the Abingdon Fayre, before moving into some of the major events at Duxford and Southend later on in the month.

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