Needless to say, Simon took full advantage of the chance to stock up on the piles of fruit which MPA seem to have!
First up was the Rapier site, but details of this are sensitive to our friends across the water. Rapier is air to ground missile system designed to destroy enemy aircraft and helicopters Needless to say, it would have to be a very lucky pilot who got through the Rapier defences!
Next was the Typhoon. MPA has four Typhoons which replaced the Tornado F3. These are the air intercept variant, and have no ground attack capability, more for political reasons than anything else..... There have been many rumours surrounding the Typhoon and many people seem to think that there is no cannon fitted to it. This is false, as they opened the flap for us to see it!
After Typhoon and lunch, we went aboard the VC10, a 50 year old aircraft used for in flight refuelling, and soon to be phased out when the Airbus refueller fleet is introduced. We also watched the LAN flight from Chile come in too.
Next stop was the Hercules, which is a modernised K variant. This one is up most days on fishery patrol duties, but also helps with Search and Rescue missions too.
That done, it was time to visit the Helicopters. Simon has worked with the Sea Kings in the past, but this talk was all about the SAR capability. The winch crew are trained to at least UK Ambulance Technician standard, and many are trained to Paramedic standard.
We got to try on some of the kit which they use, and here is Simon doing his "Deadliest Catch" impression in a sea survival suit. They're very tight, and a real pain to get into!
One had to be immobilised completely using the spinal board, which is a vacuum mat. Pulling a vacuum causes it to set rigidly around your body! You can then be loaded into a stretcher and winched up on board.
Rob reckoned it was really claustrophobic!
British International also use the facility, providing a service to the oil rig platform and also standby SAR.
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