|
|
|
212 Flight Update for January 2007
| Flt Cdr | Lt Cdr Colin Simpson | RN M2 | POAEM Richie Carter |
| O1 | Lt Scott ‘Stimpy’ Simpson | RN L2 | POAEM Kev ’Mole’ Gosden |
| P1 | Lt Lee ‘Eggi’ Evans RN | R2 | POAEM Pete ’Pongo’ Gray |
| O2 | Lt Matt Boulind RN | POAC | POAC ‘Johno’ Johnson |
| SMR | WO2 Richard Shingleton-Smith | LA(SE) | LA(SE) Karl Wrightson |
| M1 | CPOAEA Mark Lynch | M3 | AET ‘Brad’ Bradley |
| L1 | CPOAEA Justin ’Rowly’ Rowland | M4 | AET ‘Lenny’ Lenthal |
| R1 | POAEA Harvey King | L3 | AET Rachel Howie |
| R3 | AET ‘Wiggy’ Bennett |
The morning of the 1st of January saw HMS ENDURANCE alongside in Rio de Janeiro but preparing to sail. The majority of the Flight team was back on board with the exception of those who had flown home for Christmas and were due to re-join in the Falklands. Even at this early stage the New Year heralds the same high tempo combination of operations and training; we sail with Lt Dave Young and CPO Andy Smith of 815 Squadron’s Air Engineering Visiting team embarked. Their role is to provide support on issues of Engineering practice and administration, and assess the material state of both aircraft. This was to occupy the majority of the passage back south towards the Falkland Islands. Simultaneously we needed to achieve four hours of night flying for the aircrew before arriving on station in the Antarctic – where night flying is difficult (in the austral summer nigh on impossible). On the 4th a ‘day into night’ procedural flyex was conducted with a wide range of aircraft and flight deck emergency procedures exercised.
Air Engineer Technicians `Wiggy’ Bennet and Craig Lenthall carrying out firefighting during the routine helicopter crash on deck exercise
Starting a serial like this around the time of sunset and then continuing as darkness falls is important for two reasons: to allow both the aircrew and Flight Deck Team to gradually become accustomed to the darkness rather than going straight in, and to ensure everyone is fully current with the relatively ‘easy’ day procedures before switching to night lighting. The next day was the turn of night secondary roles, starting with the Ship responding to a simulated aircraft ditching and then winching the two Flight Winchmen before practicing the pick-up, carriage and drop-off of under slung loads. Despite far from ideal weather conditions on the two evenings of flying, these two days were successful in ensuring that HMS ENDURANCE was fully current in the core skills that would occupy her for the next Work Period.
The Ship arrived in Mare Harbour on the 7th for a quick stop over night to refuel and pick up the stragglers from the UK, as well as new teams of scientists from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), then it was back to sea for the transit down to the Antarctic Peninsular.
The transit was very sedate with the notorious Drake’s Passage being very kind to us! The first real ice of this period was sighted in Antarctic Sound where huge tablature ice bergs that had been calved off the Larsen Ice Shelf had then made their way up the Weddell Sea.
large tabular iceberg
The first day of the Work Period started (inevitably) with the load lifting of two BAS teams and their support equipment on to James Ross Island on the south western side of the Erebus and Terror Gulf. With CPO Rowland, PO Carter and AET Bennett going ashore to receive the loads, short shrift was made of the eight loads with two aircraft operating from the Flight Deck and Forward hatch.
Lynx load-lifting
The following day was the turn of the BAS Heritage Team who were also on board. Their role is to monitor and inspect sites of historical importance across the Antarctic ensuring they are in a state of good repair and free from pollutants. Their first trip was to the intrepid explorer Nordenskold’s hut on Snow Island.
The 12th saw one of the aircraft fly up to the Chilean airfield, Marsh Station, on the Fildes Peninsular. One of the few runways in Antarctica this was to be the site that the ITN’s camera equipment arrived, flown in by a Uruguayan Hercules transport aircraft. As part of the media coverage marking the start of the International Polar Year 2007-2008 reporters Mark Austen and Laurence McGinty from ITN were to lead a team that would broadcast live from the Antarctic throughout the following week. As with so many aspects of outside agencies ambitions in Antarctica, HMS ENDURANCE was an integral part of this plan lifting all the camera equipment from Marsh and then sailing with it to the main BAS Station of Rothera at the southern end of Adelaide Island (over 300 miles away).
Preparations were now fully under way for the visit of Her Royal Highness (HRH), Princess Anne The Princess Royal, accompanied by her husband Rear Admiral Tim Laurence. The Ship was cleaned to within an inch of her life and several officers were turned out of their cabins in preparation for the arrival of the Royal Party. Meanwhile, ‘flying visits’ to sites of historical and geological interest continued as the Ship eased her way through first the Gerlache Strait then the Grandidier Channel before finally becoming stuck in the ice 70 miles north of Rothera at the base of Crystal Sound. After a two hour ‘airborne ice recce’ with the Ship’s Operations Officer and specialist in ice navigation (Lt Cdr Carl Wiseman) on board, it became clear that the only thing for it was to turn back and follow the longer route on the outside of Adelaide Island.
Despite this delay HMS ENDURANCE still made it to Rothera ahead of schedule, arriving in time to push an ice berg clear of the approach to the main runway so that HRH’s Royal Flight could land later that night!
With HRH now onboard a wide range of flying continued whilst along-side. Both the BBC Gyron Camera Team and ITN got airborne at different times, with BAS scientists being flown to several areas of Marguerite Bay. Although the Flight had to work hard throughout, the Ship’s company got the opportunity to relax at ‘The Winter Olympics’ held on the snow covered glacier above the station followed by an ‘Ice B-B-Q’ on board to host the 100 or so permanent BAS occupants of Rothera. In fine tradition there followed a rousing performance by the Ship’s band ‘The Growlers’, all much appreciated by HRH!
HRH The Princess Royal in Antarctica
The 18th saw the occasion for the Royal Party to visit two heritage sites, the first on Stonington Island and the second on Horseshoe Island. In a hectic schedule of briefings and visits it was a pleasure to witness HRH having the opportunity to enjoy some of the peace and tranquility that Antarctica offers in unparalleled measure.
Whilst it is exceptionally important to raise the profile of Earth’s last true wilderness, and the threat posed to it by Global Warming, there should be no doubt that one of our foremost tasks must be to preserve these hugely valuable qualities that have been lost elsewhere in the world.
This period also witnessed a series of minor technical faults, requiring both aircraft to make unscheduled landings at different times. The life of the WAFU is never easy, and juggling these problems whilst still achieving seamless Royal tasking was a minor miracle in terms of management, dedication and hard work from all 17 members of 212.
The icy waters as the ship leaves Rothera
By the time HMS ENDURANCE sailed from Rothera on the morning of the 19th, and now with both aircraft fully serviceable, there was no more serious threat to flight operations than the ‘vertically challenged’ O1 being chided for using the Royal step ladder (designed to make HRH’s embarkation and disembarkation form the aircraft suitably graceful) when he thought no one was looking!
Over the next two days HRH was able to visit the Uruguayan base, Vernadsky Station, the Winter Islands, (where the hole in the ozone layer was first discovered), witness hump back whales bubble feeding and go on a tour of Palmer Station, Anvers Island, the US equivalent of Rothera. By the 22nd January HMS ENDURANCE was once again in Maxwell Bay, just to the south-east of the Fildes Peninsular, King George Island, the South Shetlands. HRH and her entourage were transferred to Marsh for their onward flight to Punta Arenas.
Having recovered a BAS work team that had been in situ since the first work period, the Ship once again sailed south for Antarctic Sound. The following morning we were back on station in the Erebus and Terror Gulf. Over the next 10 days HMS ENDURANCE was able to concentrate on her primary tasking. Over 40 hours were flown in this period in support of BAS, the UK’s Hydrographic Office geodetic tasking and the BBC’s Gyron Filming for the ‘Planet Earth’ series.
Lynx aircraft conducting filming for the `Frozen Planet’ from the Gyron camera
An additional 5 hours was flown to establish a fuel dump on the top of Mount Haddington, the central mountain of James Ross Island. With the Flight split into three groups, one working the flight deck, another on the fo’c’stle and a third atop Haddington in 40 knots of wind, 212 was stretched out. This evolution was achieved with the minimum of fuss and the setting up of a fuel depot at 5400 feet suddenly became everyday work. The professionalism that achieved this should not detract from the complexity of load-lifting to this height; keeping both aircraft light enough on fuel to enable them to take the extra weight of the load, but sufficiently ‘topped-up’ to manage their time airborne to keep them safe, whilst simultaneously diluting experience on the ground by splitting the team three ways.
Flight Observer Scott Simpson lays a marker to make the stores drop off more visible
Lynx helicopter delivery of BAS equipment to the top of Mount Haddington
The helicopter drops off the BAS scientist and Colour Sergeant Marine as a safety number onto Mount Haddington
Equipment drop onto Mount Haddingtton
After a brief but glorious summer the Antarctic rediscovered its teeth and towards the end of these 10 days HMS ENDURANCE started to experience the sort of weather you would associate with a harsh polar climate. Fog precluded flying for two days and the prospect of high seas in Drake’s Passage prompted a plan for an early departure from the Erebus and Terror Gulf to run ahead of the storm. No sooner had this been decided than the Captain received a request for help from a cruise ship that was having difficulties in the area of the South Shetlands. So, as the month comes to a close we head north for a very different reason than that which was anticipated.
Ship’s flight during operations
January has brought a huge diversity of tasks, from flying VVIPs to load-lifting to a 5400 feet mountain (higher than Ben Nevis!), with a record 125 hours flown. As we have arrived in the Falklands 212 Flight are sad to say goodbye to David Baillie, the Wildcat Gyron cameraman, who has been filming for the BBC since the start of December 2006. Before Christmas he was accompanied by Vanessa Berlowitz, the ‘Planet Earth’ series’ producer, and since New Year he has had fellow cameraman Lee Sutterby on board. Their professionalism and humour has made all three a pleasure to work with.
MONTHLY FLYING HOURS
| Day | Night | Simulator | Total |
| Lt Cdr C Simpson (Flt Cdr) | 66:05 | 04:00 | 0:00 | 70:05 |
| Lt S Simpson (O1) | 55:55 | 00:00 | 0:00 | 55:55 |
| Lt L Evans (P1) | 58:30 | 00:00 | 0:00 | 58:30 |
| Lt M Boulind (O2) | 68:40 | 04:00 | 0:00 | 72:40 |
| CPO J Rowland (Winchman) | 02:20 | 00:30 | 0:00 | 02:50 |
| AET Bradley (Winchman) | 00:40 | 00:20 | 0:00 | 01:00 |
|
