Apaches in Essex

Author
Discussion

CountyAFC

Original Poster:

585 posts

4 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
Made a traffic jam on the A12 slightly more interesting this morning. Was three of them in total. Anyone know where they were headed?
















Zetec-S

5,884 posts

94 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
No idea where they might be headed, but pretty cool to see that smile

CountyAFC

Original Poster:

585 posts

4 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
They're awesome up close. Brutal looking things.

Was talking to the military escort behind it and he was telling us about them.

He said the pilots wear the same sunglasses, I was wearing.

Randolph Engineering Aviators.



That's about as close to being an Apache pilot as I'll ever get! hehe

aeropilot

34,655 posts

228 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
CountyAFC said:
Made a traffic jam on the A12 slightly more interesting this morning. Was three of them in total. Anyone know where they were headed?













I'd guess, they are 3 of the 8 that are going to DSEME at MOD Lyneham.

pocketspring

5,315 posts

22 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
They forgot the blades! Why hide the 30mm chain gun? grumpylaugh

valiant

10,252 posts

161 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
pocketspring said:
They forgot the blades! Why hide the 30mm chain gun? grumpylaugh
Going through Essex badlands.

If left uncovered it'd be nicked and used on a blag in no time. smile

pocketspring

5,315 posts

22 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
valiant said:
pocketspring said:
They forgot the blades! Why hide the 30mm chain gun? grumpylaugh
Going through Essex badlands.

If left uncovered it'd be nicked and used on a blag in no time. smile
Perfect opportunity to test it then! clap

RedAndy

1,232 posts

155 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
some apaches are based at Wattisham in Suffolk (at the top of the A12) so probably going to/from there?

They regularly interrupt teams meetings flying over my house. which is nice.


aeropilot

34,655 posts

228 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
RedAndy said:
some apaches are based at Wattisham in Suffolk (at the top of the A12) so probably going to/from there?
Yes, these are 3 of the recently retired Wattisham based AH-1's that are not being converted/upgraded to AH-64E status.

Of the 16 x not being converted to AH-64E standard....

2 are slated for scrapping/parts reclamation as not suitable for conversion (knackered/damaged)

2 have gone last week to Australia for ground instructional purposes.

2 are going/have gone to UK locations for ground instructional purposes.

8 are going to the DSEME at MOD Lyneham (as said, likely these are 3 of those 8 going there)

2 maybe going to UK museums.


Tony1963

4,785 posts

163 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
Of those three Apaches, two are going to Lynham, one is going to the Army Air Corps museum.

(I loaded them onto the lowloaders yesterday afternoon. They stayed overnight at Wattisham, and set off today)

For anyone interested:

ZJ224 to the museum

ZJ189 and ZJ208 to Lynham.

Tony1963

4,785 posts

163 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
CountyAFC said:
They're awesome up close. Brutal looking things.

Was talking to the military escort behind it and he was telling us about them.

He said the pilots wear the same sunglasses, I was wearing.

Randolph Engineering Aviators.



That's about as close to being an Apache pilot as I'll ever get! hehe
The pilots wear whatever sunglasses they want to wear, and it’s the same with watches. I’ve often seen them wearing the very cheapest Casio with NATO strap.
How on earth a member of the JARTS team (based at Boscombe) would know what an Apache pilot wears is beyond me!

pocketspring

5,315 posts

22 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
Tony1963 said:
The pilots wear whatever sunglasses they want to wear, and it’s the same with watches. I’ve often seen them wearing the very cheapest Casio with NATO strap.
How on earth a member of the JARTS team (based at Boscombe) would know what an Apache pilot wears is beyond me!
He probably just meant the style. smile

aeropilot

34,655 posts

228 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
Tony1963 said:
Of those three Apaches, two are going to Lynham, one is going to the Army Air Corps museum.

(I loaded them onto the lowloaders yesterday afternoon. They stayed overnight at Wattisham, and set off today)

For anyone interested:

ZJ224 to the museum
Was there any particular operational or otherwise reasons in its history for '224 to be picked for the AAC museum (like Chinook BN was allocated to RAFM?) or was it a random pick, like so many other museum allocations?

Tony1963

4,785 posts

163 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
pocketspring said:
He probably just meant the style. smile
And my points still stand smile

Tony1963

4,785 posts

163 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
aeropilot said:
Was there any particular operational or otherwise reasons for '224 to be picked for the AAC museum (like Chinook BN was allocated to RAFM?) or was it a random pick, like so many other museum allocations?
I don’t know, but I’ll just say it was a random pick from the last operational AH-1s.
It has had its engines removed, and unlike the other aircraft, they’ve not been replaced with ‘pre-mod’ engines, to keep the school happy.

S600BSB

4,648 posts

107 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
Would love to have seen that! Surprised they weren’t covered with tarps though.

Tony1963

4,785 posts

163 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
pocketspring said:
They forgot the blades! Why hide the 30mm chain gun? grumpylaugh
The blades were loaded into the curtain-side trucks that accompanied the lowloaders.

The guns are covered to keep any rain out, and also some people are made a little uneasy by the sight of a 30mm barrel.

Tony1963

4,785 posts

163 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
S600BSB said:
Would love to have seen that! Surprised they weren’t covered with tarps though.
Tarps are so difficult to properly tie down and prevent any flappage lol. And for what? Why hide them?


S600BSB

4,648 posts

107 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
Tony1963 said:
S600BSB said:
Would love to have seen that! Surprised they weren’t covered with tarps though.
Tarps are so difficult to properly tie down and prevent any flappage lol. And for what? Why hide them?
True!

pocketspring

5,315 posts

22 months

Thursday 18th April
quotequote all
Tony1963 said:
pocketspring said:
They forgot the blades! Why hide the 30mm chain gun? grumpylaugh
The blades were loaded into the curtain-side trucks that accompanied the lowloaders.

The guns are covered to keep any rain out, and also some people are made a little uneasy by the sight of a 30mm barrel.
What about the people who would be in awe of seeing it though?