Air Corps Medivac Exercise

[Frank]

Hi Guys,

I was taking part in an International Military Police exercise in the Curragh Camp during the last week in September, the culmination of which was a major traffic accident.

I was a bit surprised to find that not one but three Air Corps Alouette's were doing medivac for the exercise.  (Cue a long trip to pick up the camera gear I had left at home!)

Anyway, the weather was foul, it's the wettest I've ever been outside of a bath or swimming pool, I was trying to shelter my camera inside my smock and it was dripping rain on the inside but my camera gear survived and I managed to take a few good pictures.

Aparrently, the Air Corps MP's have been given a new tasking of directing aerial traffic during situations such as this.  This involves setting up miniature lights and flags marking out the designated landing zone and visually guiding the helicopters in.

I've included a few pictures from the day below, when the day finally brightened up my camera was so fogged up with condensation it was like looking through a glass of milk.













More pictures and larger versions of the pictures above can be found by clicking here.


Regards,

Frank.

[futurepilot]

Great photos!!( As always '> )

[Frank]

Thanks FP!

[Silver]

I heard those 3 Alouettes flying towards the Curragh (couldn't see them with the cloud cover '>).
I thought they were doing formation flying training or Ranger Wing ops .....now I know better !   :'>

Cool pics Franks !

[Spook]

Great pics frank,by the way are the A/C using a new flight suit,the one in the pics and on the story on nationwide this evening look a new type very like the US army type.maybe I'm wrong  

[Frank]

The Air Corps now use US flight suits, I think the only difference is the fact the Air Corps suits have epaulettes for rank markings.


Regards,

Frank.

[Spook]

Thanks  for that frank , on the ball as ever.

[Frank]

No problem Spook!

[Hess]

Hi guys,

just to let you know, it's not all glamour & fresh air. Here's a shot of our esteemed leader (Frank) on the same excercise. It's one of the few moments where he could actually breathe because of the lack of smoke from the burning car. Me, I was posted 1 km away, directing civvies with horseboxes. '>

[Hess]

Then again, there are good times too for our intrepid photographer.

[Fouga]

How much did it cost you to rent that Crane and Helo Frank ha ha !


Excellent pics as always

[Fouga]

Have you shared those pics with our UKAR counterparts?

[Frank]

The crane and helicopter were courtesy of the Minister and no, I haven't had a chance to share the pictures yet.


Regards,

Frank.

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi all
Frank,i'd swear you're following heli pilots home! As for the weather, definitely nudging the bottom end of Special VFR.I'd hate to survive the road accident and die in the CFIT due to lack of VMC, in the non-IFR,non-deiced Alouette.Just 'cos they're Air Corps,it doesn't make them crash-proof.
What camera set-up are you using, by the way?
regards
GttC

[John K]

Hi Frank, what's that new box on top of the instrument console in that Alouette?
Oh and don't forget, "If it ain't rainin' it ain't trainin'!"