Gazelle helicopter.

[Smellydog]

What ever happened to the gazelle?
I use to see military training in them years ago and now they've all disappeared.
I think we're used for artillery spotting.

Always thought they looked good and flew really well just watching them, wouldn't know really but today a civil one flew bye, I recognised the sound at first.

 

[tarponhead]

Still around and often being fixed at Middle Wallop and Gosport.

 

[Smellydog]

Still around and often being fixed at Middle Wallop and Gosport.

Do they break easily? As bad as Landrover?

 

[Swedish]

A chap I knew owned 2, sadly he crashed and died in one of them. Lovely machine but need a lot of looking after.

 

[tarponhead]

Now retired to Gosport - hence my apparent mistake - google says they retired in October 2023, but I was seeing them in the hangers at Gosport as recently as the summer of 2024 - not for fixing but for scrapping it mothballing. To answer your question they were like a good 1990’s car - reliable if looked after but easy to bend if not flown respectfully / which happened a lot! Depth maintenance was much more straightforward than Lynx and others - less to go wrong.

 

[opticron1]

The Gazelle Squadron put on a fine show at the 2024 Ayr Air Show.......This year replaced by the Merlin doing a very fine display.
I presume the Gazelle Squadron will still be out and about at shows for a few years to come.

 

[User00056]

As with everything, they have a finite operational life. Airframes, especially, have a fatigue life beyond which it becomes economically and mechanically unfeasible to maintain and repair. Think the Airbus 135 has replaced them now

 

[Tim.243]

What ever happened to the gazelle?
I use to see military training in them years ago and now they've all disappeared.
I think we're used for artillery spotting.

Always thought they looked good and flew really well just watching them, wouldn't know really but today a civil one flew bye, I recognised the sound at first.View attachment 441396

The chap across the road had this drop in his garden (he runs a military museum) I have been buzzed by India 99 a few times pigeon shooting so wandered over for a look!

 

[Freeforester]

A chap I knew owned 2, sadly he crashed and died in one of them. Lovely machine but need a lot of looking after.

A helicopter can be described as tens of thousands of small yet precisely machined parts all defying gravity, yet desperate to flee from each other at the earliest opportunity.

 

[Smellydog]

The chap across the road had this drop in his garden (he runs a military museum) I have been buzzed by India 99 a few times pigeon shooting so wandered over for a look!

That's a Sikorsky I think.

 

[Mr B]

That's a Sikorsky I think.

Agusta Westland EH101, aka a Merlin

It was actually meant to be called the EHI 01, as it was built be a consortium known as European Helicopter Industries, but a misunderstanding led to it being called the EH 101!

 

[Swedish]

A helicopter can be described as tens of thousands of small yet precisely machined parts all defying gravity, yet desperate to flee from each other at the earliest opportunity.

I heard similarly "half a million parts all revolving around an oil leak whilst waiting for fatigue to set in"

 

[Smellydog]

Agusta Westland EH101, aka a Merlin

It was actually meant to be called the EHI 01, as it was built be a consortium known as European Helicopter Industries, but a misunderstanding led to it being called the EH 101!

Thank you

 

[tarponhead]

As with everything, they have a finite operational life. Airframes, especially, have a fatigue life beyond which it becomes economically and mechanically unfeasible to maintain and repair. Think the Airbus 135 has replaced them now

You are correct - Airbus has also replaced the Bell training helicopters at RAF Shawbury

 

[tarponhead]

Agusta Westland EH101, aka a Merlin

It was actually meant to be called the EHI 01, as it was built be a consortium known as European Helicopter Industries, but a misunderstanding led to it being called the EH 101!

As turned upside down by the Norwegian Airforce…an expensive if epic fail and easier to do than you would think…

They also didn’t measure the height for ship operations correctly so initially they wouldn’t fit in the ship hangers…

 

[finnbear270]

Heli chobblers, I always want to know is the Jeezus nut the same handed thread as the rotation of the blades.

 

[Swedish]

I also quite like the anecdote that "Helicopters can't actually fly, they simply sit there making such an ugly noisy spectacle of themselves until the earth simply rejects them"

 

[tozzybum]

Here you go Nathan, if you fancy one there's a couple listed for around 450k

 

[Smellydog]

Here you go Nathan, if you fancy one there's a couple listed for around 450k

I'd love a whizz around in one

 

[kenbro]

I also quite like the anecdote that "Helicopters can't actually fly, they simply sit there making such an ugly noisy spectacle of themselves until the earth simply rejects them"

No, helicopters can’t fly…it’s just the rotor that flys and the choppers hangs beneath it and gets a free ride.
KB.