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Old 18th April 2017, 10:32   #89
Fifer
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Originally Posted by Gate Keeper View Post
Good morning Jim, how come the helicopter didn't sink? A stressful time for all. Thank goodness you were there to help. My brother-in-law flew helicopters in the gulf war for the British army. He said how the GI's often poked fun at the pilots, because the British army choppers were so poorly equipped compared to what the yanks had. One wonders if things have improved since.
Hi Philip,

The helicopter had floatation pontoons fitted to where the skids would normally be. In the last picture, the pilot is actually standing on one of the pontoons. Many short-hop helicopters servicing the offshore industry have pontoons fitted, to enable them to set down on the sea in an emergency.

It was indeed quite stressful, as we had not been expecting to be blocked by a couple of warships. They were protecting their own Admiral etc, so it was understandable. They did come out of Setubal very fast indeed. We were being directed by the rig on civilian channels, but the warships were on their military channels. Thank goodness the two did eventually get talking to each other.

On speaking to guys in our military, they have said that the Americans do tend to spend more money on their equipment than our government does. Ours are built for a purpose, but theirs have all the bells and whistles!

When I was working on Dreadnought, our first nuclear submarine, an American nuclear sub came in for minor repairs. When I went on board I was surprised to see a Coca Cola machine, and an ice cream machine! Talk about luxury!

It reminded me of a story from the Second World War, when an American battleship and a British one crossed paths in the Atlantic. The American Captain signalled, "How is the world's second biggest navy?" The British Captain signalled back, "Fine thank you, how is the world's second best?"
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Last edited by Fifer; 18th April 2017 at 10:34..
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