Rotor action in The Cwm...

[ddavid 149]

Well, Christmas came early this year - we had a visit from the Wales Air Ambulance and RAF Valley SAR, to assist a young lady who had fallen and injured herself on the steep hill opposite the farm. We'd heard someone crying out after a group of walkers had gone along the footpath and, sometime later, we heard a helicopter approach.

Here's the WAA Bo 105 coming up our valley from Welshpool:

Looking for an LZ - not easy round here:

Making the approach:

Successful landing:

Next, the paramedics set off to find the injured walker:

At this point, Phil and I decided to take a closer look at the LZ:

The pilot was asking for assistance as transporting the victim along the narrow path was not going to be possible:

He told us that the SAR Sea-King from RAF Valley was on its way:

We had to wait for about 20 minutes for the SAR to arrive. In the meantime, I had a closer look at the Helicopter. Martin, the pilot, told us it was an MBB Bo 105, made by Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm before they became Eurocopter. He had trained in the Army and had joined the Air Ambulance a few years previously. Martin rated the B0 105 highly - very manoueverable and relatively straightforward to fly - or so he said!

Here's a close up of the panel:

Soon we heard the approaching Sea-King:

As it flew over us, the crew dropped a couple of smoke canisters to evaluate wind speed and direction:

Hovering over the victim, the SAR paramedic went down by winch:

Then the Sea-King stood off while the victim was prepared for lifting:

After a few minutes, the Sea-King returned to the hover and winched up both the paramedic and the victim:

Got to hand it to these guys, their hovering has to be seen to be believed:

The next stage was to take the victim to the nearby road, where an ambulance was waiting:

Again, the smoke canisters were deployed:

After circling, the Sea-King descended:

And made an incredibly soft landing:

After which the SAR made its return to Valley:

The Welsh Air Ambulance crew started the Bo 105:

And were soon airborn:

Then, back to their base at Welshpool:

All in all, an exciting couple of hours in the company of some great guys and magic aircraft.

Doesn't happen often, but well worth the wait!

Cheers - Dai.

[needles 1,013]

WOW! That is truly fantastic scenery Dai. What scenery package are you using and how did you manage to get the people looking so real. Brilliant little mission that can we download it yet?

Can't wait to get flying especially if the SAR heli' comes along also.:001_th_smiles76:

Thanks for posting I enjoyed your commentry also.

I bet you almost wet yourself when thay turned up in your back yard eh?

Lucky you.:icon_thumbup:

[kingair 0]

Great Picturs Dai... Makes me homesick. Hopefully next year time will allow me to return to my birthplace Wales. Dai if you kmow Caerdydd "Cardiff" at all? Then you know all about Brains Beer and Clarks pies... Sitting here in Toronto I honestly believe that I could eat a bakers dozen in one sitting. followed by a 24 of Brains Dark.

Ian.

[allardjd 1,853]

Great stuff, Dai. It's good you had the opportunity to photograph all of it. You can't plan for these things.

John

[hurricanemk1c 195]

Great shots Dai!

[mutley 4,498]

I feel sorry for the patient but what a thing to witness Dai, was William flying the SeaKing?

You really captured the essence of the emergency there, well done, have another medal!