An Cosantóir

37 THE ALOUETTE III box had now frozen. Enter some old school ingenuity (and a coat hanger). The crew managed to hotwire the Alouette in 4 feet of snow in order to complete their mission. Every part of an Alouette was removable, interchangeable and replaceable. Quite the grown up's building kit, in fact it was rumoured that at the end of their sterling service to the State, that there was just one original part remaining on the fleet, a door handle. To this day, I often walk through the hanger of No 3 operations Wing and see our technicians working on our modern helicopters, while they sit or kneel on the distinctive blue leather cushion of a seat from the Alouette, still going strong, perhaps reluctant to leave where it served so proudly for so long. Those who maintained the Alouette did so with great love and attention, great stories were created, these stories became legendary in the aviation industry as to the Alouette's versatility and toughness. In fact, the first Alouette (A195) is still being used by our Technical Training School for new apprentices, but given a chance there are (quite) a few who believe that with minimum tools and a grease gun, that they could get the old girl to breathe life to her engine once more. When discussing Search and Rescue, one such mission in particular, always stands out in my mind in relation to its complexity, determination and humour. One summers late afternoon a call was received to assist an injured fisherman from a vessel located approximately 60 miles off Belmul - let, Co Mayo. Search and Rescue didn't have bases in Sligo and Shannon like we do now. On this occasion the helicopter would have to travel from Baldonnel to the vessel. For a start that was a nearly 2 hour journey to Castlebar Barracks. Back then there were no Knock or Galway airports, so fuel would have to be hand pumped into the Alouette for the next leg of the journey to the vessel. But only if you could find the keys to the fuel shed! Calls were made ahead to the Barracks but there was only a Fire Picket in the COMCEN back then after hours. After landing, and as the crew waited for the local Gardai to find the only known key holder for the fuel shed, time was passing and light would be a problem for the crew to finish their mission before darkness fell. Reflecting upon this, an attempt to 'disable' the lock with the pilots Walther PPK was entertained. As the pilot called to his crew whether they were ready, and after hearing no response, the pilot checked over his shoulder to see the 2 crew energetically vaulting a wall on the other side of the parade square 100 yds away shouting 'Fire away Sir!!'. But before the shed was broken into, the key holder was returned to the Barracks and the fuel was manually pumped into the helicopter for the next leg of the mission. Some dead reckoning was now required as the vessel had been instructed to head towards Westport bay to intercept the helicopter and to aid the recovery of the injured fisherman. The vessel was located some 58 miles west of Achill right under the only weather system in the entire Irish air - space. The pilot recalls completing the fastest winch in history to bring the patient on board and climbed away from the vessel, turning for land only to find no land in sight. As they climbed higher and higher the top of Croagh Patrick drifted in to view to assist the Alouette and her crew to complete the last leg of the journey. With failing light the local Gardai once again assisted the mission lighting up the Barracks square with their cars in order for the helicopter to land safely and transfer the patient to hospital. The crew then remained in Castlebar overnight under the care and hospital - ity of a retired Army officer and took to returning to Baldonnel the next day, only for the pilot to discover than he was now up on orders for failing to attend a Mass Parade that morning in Baldonnel! The Border. It wasn't long into the career of the Alouette that the Troubles in Northern Ireland required a permanent presence of a helicopter on the border. Such is the irregular shape and inaccessibility of much of the border region meant that the Alouette was in its ideal working environment. Based in either Finner Camp or the now decommissioned Monaghan Barracks, the Alouette could reach all of the border crossings with ease. Many a tale was borne from our time on the border operating the Alouette on detachment to the Army. The weather often played a decisive part in the planning of missions in the border areas, pilots will recall that north of the Barnsmore gap in County Donegal and the entire of County Monaghan have their own unique eco-systems that play havoc on anything you are trying to achieve. I inserted a platoon once to Colemans Island for a routine foot patrol, only for the local weather to play its cruel game and confine them to a local farmer's cow shed for the next three days (and cold nights) as we waited for the snow & fog to clear so they could be extracted. Over the Alouette's 43 years of service it assisted with Troop transport, Air Ambulance, Search & Rescue, Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), Reconnaissance, Command & Control, Photography and Video, Support to An Garda Síochana, Aid to the Civil Power & Aid to the Civil Authority. Quite the myriad of roles for the venerable helicopter, and it was often reflected upon that 'No 2 missions were the same, never mind 2 days the same while flying the Alouette'. Missed by those who worked and flew with them and envied by those who didn't, the stalwart Alouette III will always be synonymous to the work ethic of No 3 Operations Wing. A196 engaged in Search and Rescue training.

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