THEY VANISHED FROM Moray earlier this year but last weekend saw the final flight of an iconic servant that was for many years a much loved sight in this part of Scotland.
After 74 years of continuous operations the last Sea King rescue operations by the RAF ended on Sunday at 1pm.
The last of a 34,025 rescue flights that came as a major relief to 26,853 people in distress took place from Chivenor, where the final crew was stood down by the UK ARCC.
An RAF spokesman said: “It was business as usual with a final search and rescue operation taking place in the early hours of Sunday morning.
“Chivenor is the last of the RAF’s six search and rescue bases to hand over responsibility for helicopter search and rescue provision to Bristow Helicopters Ltd. Official search and rescue statistics show that since 1983 the RAF’s units completed 34,025 callouts and rescued 26,853 people in distress.”
While the distinctive yellow aircraft will never again be seen on rescue missions residents and visitors to Moray are very fortunate in that they can still visit one of the aircraft – and very soon have a look at what life was like on the ground for rescue crews.
Morayvia’s Science and Aviation museum will soon be open to the public with their very own Sea King on display – alongside a replica of the crew room that was at one time their base at RAF Lossiemouth.
The Morayvia centre is based at Kinloss with further information available at http://www.morayvia.org.uk/