An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 17 time, mainly caused by delay in delivery of the new NH90NFH helicopters. In the end they were all put to rest one by one, each of the five Sea Kings on a different date: RS01 last flight 17 th December 2008 / 10,583 flight hours and 523 scrambles and put on permanent display at the Army Museum in Brussels. RS03 last flight 29 th August 2013 / 11,851 flight hours and 618 scrambles and will be put on display near Koksijde Airbase. RS02 last flight 13 th January 2019 / 12,500 flight hours and 738 scrambles and remains stored at Koksijde Airbase for the time being. RS04 last flight 15 th February 2019 / 12,219 flight hours and 703 scrambles and remains stored at Koksijde Airbase for the time being. RS05 last flight 21 st March 2019 / 12,222 flight hours and 707 scrambles and was handed over as educational material to VLOC (Vlaams luchtvaartopleidingscentrum or Flemish Aviation Training Centre), a flight engineering school at Ostend Airport. Since 2001 the RS05 had been sporting a stylish black livery to commemorate 25 Years of service for the Sea King within the Belgian Air Force. The "Black Beauty" never lost her special colour scheme and maybe therefore she was destined to be the last remaining Sea King in service of the Belgian Air Component. On the 9 th March at 08:00am the very last 24-hour standby for a Belgian Sea King started at Koksijde Airbase and the final flight of the RS05 was planned for the 21 st March 2019. It became a proper and emotional goodbye and a fitting tribute to 43 years of loyal service for the Sea King, and all of it was widely broadcasted by the local and national media. Wheels of the RS05 touched down at the concrete of Koksijde Airbase for the very last time around 16:45hrs that afternoon. 43-years of Sea King with 40 Smaldeel accumulated for almost 60,000 flight hours, more than 3,000 scrambles and 1,757 persons rescued. Ready for the future 1 st April 06:50am the scramble alert sounded at Koksijde Airbase and the crew on standby managed to rescue five occupants from a sinking French fishing boat some 20-miles out from the coast of Dunkirk. It was six-years-ago that 40 Smaldeel had to rescue five people during one scramble, marking it the first "big" rescue operation at sea for the new Caiman. It's obvious that the Caiman is a modern and capable helicopter which is not only fitted to provide SAR cover but one that can also be deployed for military missions over sea in support of the Belgian Navy. Probably the biggest challenge the Caiman faces will be winning the hearts of the people in the same way the Sea King did. However, knowing the professionalism and dedication of the personnel at 40 Smaldeel there is no doubt that they will make it happen… "Aude Audenda". The authors would like to thank Comopsair IPR / Public Relations Office of the Belgian Air Component and the Public Relations team at Koksijde Airbase for their hospitality while offering us the possibility to photograph the Sea King.

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