Farewell to the Puma!

[Trevatanus]

A sad time for the RAF Puma. Always loved the aircraft since building a model, back in my teens.
Great that they have something to instantly replace it
Final tour today and tomorrow, details below:

Flypast Locations and timings - 26 March 2025:

• Odiham - 0945
• Andover - 0957
• Middle Wallop - 1002
• Boscombe Down - 1007
• Salisbury - 1013
• Abbey Wood - 1031
• Hereford - 1051
• RAF Museum Cosford - 1115
• Shawbury - 1126
• Hillsborough Castle - 1419
• Thiepval Bks - 1421
• Aldergrove - 1430
• Bangor Castle - 1655

Flypast Locations and timings - 27 March 2025:
• Catterick - 1100
• Stafford - 1323
• National Memorial Arboretum - 1332
• Newark Air Museum - 1355
• Cranwell - 1402
• Honington - 1604
• IWM Duxford - 1622
• Kensington Palace - 1647
• RAF Museum Hendon - 1651
• PJHQ - 1656
• Halton - 1707
• High Wycombe - 1712
• John Radcliffe Hospital - 1721
• Kidlington - 1724
• Shrivenham - 1735
• Benson - 1747

Edited by Trevatanus on Wednesday 26th March 11:50

[LimaDelta]

Spent many an hour in the back of those.

[RedAndy]

can someone post a flight map (like they helpfully did with the tornadoes a few years ago) please, thanks.

[Siko]

Goodbye old girl! Started flying these back in 1999 with my PH chum Madness60 and saw out my RAF career on them in 2013 too…shame I’ll miss the flypast as I’m at work up in the Shetlands. If anyone is interested I started a thread a few years back “Ask a helicopter pilot anything” and talked about flying the Puma (among others) on there.

[keo]

Shame I have only just seen this I’d of gone RAF cosford the fly past but it will be happening in a few minutes.

I also spent many a hour in the back of these. Don’t know how happy I was though

[zsdom]

RedAndy said:

can someone post a flight map (like they helpfully did with the tornadoes a few years ago) please, thanks.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHbcynJtEPk/

[Fluffsri]

We gave them a goodbye wave.

[ditchvisitor]

Goodbye old girl, many happy memories over the last 10 years flying her across the globe.

[benjipeg]

was working out in Holyhead, great day for Valley. spotted today - 2x F35, 3 x Puma, 1 x Hunter Hawker, 1 x Eurofighter Typoon, loads of Hawks and Texans all low and clear, some great pics up of Mach loop pages on FB

[IroningMan]

My first helicopter ride; Stamford PTA, 1984.

[bergclimber34]

Fabulous chopper always looked the part, great servant, does anyone have service stories, experiences of flying or incidents? think we were using them all though the 80's until recently? That is a long time, some must be veterans!!

[hidetheelephants]

Trevatanus said:

A sad time for the RAF Puma. Always loved the aircraft since building a model, back in my teens.
Great that they have something to instantly replace it :eek

What is it? The wiki page says they haven't decided what it is yet.

[LimaDelta]

hidetheelephants said:

Trevatanus said:

A sad time for the RAF Puma. Always loved the aircraft since building a model, back in my teens.
Great that they have something to instantly replace it :eek

What is it? The wiki page says they haven't decided what it is yet.

I think the comment was sarcasm. There is no replacement.

[aeropilot]

LimaDelta said:

hidetheelephants said:

Trevatanus said:

A sad time for the RAF Puma. Always loved the aircraft since building a model, back in my teens.
Great that they have something to instantly replace it :eek

What is it? The wiki page says they haven't decided what it is yet.

I think the comment was sarcasm. There is no replacement.

Correct.
Its yet another capability holiday, which is about the only thing the MOD/Govt excels at these days.

[Tony1963]

aeropilot said:

Correct.
Its yet another capability holiday, which is about the only thing the MOD/Govt excels at these days.

When you’ve so little money, awkward choices have to be made. The extra money available from the recently announced increase in the defence budget won’t even touch the sides.

[aeropilot]

Tony1963 said:

aeropilot said:

Correct.
Its yet another capability holiday, which is about the only thing the MOD/Govt excels at these days.

When you’ve so little money, awkward choices have to be made.

That's a Govt decision though to have massively reduced the Armed Forces over the past 30 years in the belief that they can then spunk the spare cash down the toilet on pointless guff and the runaway train black holes that the NHS and Welfare state have become because people have got too used to 'free money'.

[RedAndy]

zsdom said:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHbcynJtEPk/

splendid thank you

[hidetheelephants]

aeropilot said:

Tony1963 said:

aeropilot said:

Correct.
Its yet another capability holiday, which is about the only thing the MOD/Govt excels at these days.

When you’ve so little money, awkward choices have to be made.

That's a Govt decision though to have massively reduced the Armed Forces over the past 30 years in the belief that they can then spunk the spare cash down the toilet on pointless guff and the runaway train black holes that the NHS and Welfare state have become because people have got too used to 'free money'.

Nothing to do with spinning bowtie nonsense like AJAX, Voyager MRTT, Nimrod, Type 45 power systems, Crowsnest, etc. pissing the defence budget away then?

[jamiem555]

It’s a shame they couldn’t visit Scotland but that’s ok. Did 4 years in Ireland and Iraq working on these. Tough old bird!

[aeropilot]

hidetheelephants said:

aeropilot said:

Tony1963 said:

aeropilot said:

Correct.
Its yet another capability holiday, which is about the only thing the MOD/Govt excels at these days.

When you’ve so little money, awkward choices have to be made.

That's a Govt decision though to have massively reduced the Armed Forces over the past 30 years in the belief that they can then spunk the spare cash down the toilet on pointless guff and the runaway train black holes that the NHS and Welfare state have become because people have got too used to 'free money'.

Nothing to do with spinning bowtie nonsense like AJAX, Voyager MRTT, Nimrod, Type 45 power systems, Crowsnest, etc. pissing the defence budget away then?

Plenty of that and more.....

But, we've been doing that for decades, even when we were spending 6% of GDP on defence.

Look back over the last 75 years at how many defence projects have got to close production and then been canned as well as the stuff that makes it, only for Govt to massively cut back on the order, so as to effectively double the unit cost of everything.

What is worse now compared to say 50+ years ago is the project duration and gestation period because of software integration, and by the time its ins service its out of date.

We're now shooting down $500, built in a shed drones, with $1.5m missiles that take years to make.

As ever, we are barely getting into service stuff that was designed for insurgency warfare, and now the dynamic has changed again to old school cold war scenario, but with a whole new concept as a result of the war in Ukraine.

And thats not even mentioning the carriers......