Mystery Helicopter.

• Andy B

  • Location: dover
  • Registered: 10 Nov 2012
  • Posts: 1,829
  2 December 2013     18:40254427
  #1      
  Did anyone see the Helicopter this morning from around 9.30 till 11.00am?It was dark coloured with no visible markings,bigger than what the Police use.I watched it from the Whinless downs flying the same route several times,flying over past St Radigunds Abbey then banking sharply and coming back across the Whinless downs to hover at a tilted angle over Elms Vale rd area,then it went across to the Drop Redoubt and back to hover over the boys grammer,always repeating the same moves.All very mysterious,anyone see it?
• Jan Higgins

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 5 Jul 2010
  • Posts: 13,931
  2 December 2013     18:47254428
  #2      
  Yes it came over us in the Frith Road area then went inland a bit turned and came back towards the town, it looked like a military one but not sure.
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• Brian Dixon

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 23 Sep 2008
  • Posts: 23,940
  2 December 2013     18:51254429
  #3      
  see it over aycliffe earlier today,it looked army.
• howard mcsweeney1

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 12 Mar 2008
  • Posts: 62,352
  2 December 2013     18:51254430
  #4      
  i heard one rumbling away about 10 - 10. 30 am when i was out the back replenishing the bird feeder, could not see anything so i assume it must have been over elms vale way.
• Guest 767

  • Registered: 30 Aug 2012
  • Posts: 458
  3 December 2013     09:58254463
  #5      
  The helicopter was a Merlin, the replacement for the Seaking, odds on that it was on exercise.
  Phil Wyborn - Brown at www.wybornphotography.co.uk
• Jan Higgins

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 5 Jul 2010
  • Posts: 13,931
  3 December 2013     10:25254469
  #6      
  Thanks Phil, my daughter was watching with me and we joked the pilot was taking his friends on a sightseeing airborne tour of Dover.
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  I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
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• Guest 938

  • Registered: 13 May 2013
  • Posts: 36
  3 December 2013     11:39254471
  #7      
  Based at Manston took over from the sea king for rescue duties.
• Guest 673

  • Registered: 16 Jun 2008
  • Posts: 1,388
  3 December 2013     11:59254473
  #8      
  Shall miss the old Sea Kings when they go. Good news that the SAR base is coming back to Manston from Wattisham which is a considerable extra distance to fly to the Dover Strait. Bristow are going to be using Agusta Westland 189s when the new SAR base opens in 2015 according to this link:
  
  "A NEW hi-tech helicopter Search and Rescue (SAR) base is to be built at Manston Airport. The news was announced by the Department of Transport after it awarded a £1.6 billion, ten-year contract to US company Bristow to run the operation, replacing the RAF from April 2015. Two AgustaWestland choppers will be based at Manston Airport from April 2015. Search and rescue choppers were controversially axed from Manston in 1990 and moved to Wattisham, Suffolk. However, the Wattisham base is going to close under the new contract and come back to Thanet. Bristow, based in Houston, USA, will replace RAF and Royal Navy Sea King helicopters with Sikorsky S-92s and AgustaWestland 189s. Two Westland choppers will be based at Manston and will cover one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world."
  
  http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/New-search-rescue-base-Manston-Airport/story-18522409-detail/story.html#axzz2mPZWzSmg
  
  http://www.agustawestland.com/content/aw189-uk
• Brian Dixon

  • Location: Dover
  • Registered: 23 Sep 2008
  • Posts: 23,940
  3 December 2013     15:27254488
  #9      
  some good news at last.