'So Others May Live' Esquadra 751 Search & Rescue
Discussion
As some may or may not know (probably dependant on whether you follow me on twitter 
) I was lucky enough to spend a few days with Esquadra 751, the search and rescue squadron of the Portuguese Air Force based at Montijo air base, also known as Base Aérea Nº 6.
During my time I managed 3 flights totalling around 7 (ish) hours with one SAR training sortie taking three hours!
Unfortunatley on the Monday all flying was cancelled due to the detachment in the Azores using up more flying hours than predicated, as a knock on effect one of my flights on Tuesday was then canned so the rescue swimmers could remain current etc. Typically on the Wednesday when I managed two flights and shooting from the cliffs the light was pretty poor with overcast conditions.
All in all it was a fantastic experience and something I feel will take a long time to beat, the Squadron could not have been better. Their interest, helpfulness and all around behaviour to make me feel at home was something else. I'm hoping to return next year in the summer with slightly hotter conditions and a few more ideas for some shots.
Also a big thanks to Lozz who lent me his 10.5mm Fisheye, shall definitely be purchasing one very soon!
C+C more than welcome on the shots, all were shot on my D300s and with either a 10.5mm fisheye, Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200 2.8 or a 300 F4.
1. Walk around of the on duty cab on the Monday.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
2. They have four sections in the hangar, the Squadron outsource some of the more complicated maintenance to AgustaWestland who are based in the same hangar. This is the start of the line which is usually for minor maintenance.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
3. 502 Squadron 'Elefantes' CN295 which can also be used as SAR asset to assist in a search and rescue with 751.
Portuguese Air Force Airbus C295 by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
4. First flight on the Tuesday, shot as we performed a few circuits at Montijo.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin Cockpit by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
5. I was then dropped off, so to speak, at an unused runway at the air base so they could perform ground contact training.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
6.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
7.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
8.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
9.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
10. Then it was the 2nd sortie of the day and the flight I sadly couldn't go on due to it now being heavier due to extra rescue swimmers..
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
11. The only advantage of not going on the 2nd sortie is that I could position myself for their return in the evening to get some night shots. Here a member of ground crew hoses down the cab to remove salt water from the exterior.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
12. The rotors were then run up to remove the excess water.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
13. All finished as a member of ground crew who you can just about see his ghost 'earths' the cab.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
14. My last day with the Squadron proved to be the best flying wise and the worst weather wise, typical. The crew performed a few circuits and then preceded to the unused runway again for more ground contact training.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
15. Head on and away from that awful rotorwash/downdraft
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
16. Low fast pass from 'Tex' awesome flying, one of the shots is full frame at 70mm unfortunatley its not very sharp!
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
17.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
18. We then returned to the heliport to change one of the pilots and pick up the rescue swimmers to proceed off the coast to the shipping lane to practice winching with a ship.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmers by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
19.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmers by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
20. A rescue swimmer being winched down to the container ship.
Esquadra 751 Winchman & Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
21. Then off near the coast where a dummy was dumped into the sea, rescue swimmers were then winched down with a stretcher to 'rescue' the stranded dummy.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
22.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
23. Being held out of the door by my harness whilst shooting the rescue swimmers was interesting.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
24.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
25.
Esquadra 751 Winch Operator & Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
26. Then it was my turn to be winched down to the bottom of the cliffs, possibly the most uncomfortable thing in the world but when your life is being saved you can't be too picky.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer & EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
27.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer & EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
28.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmers by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
29.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
30. We then descended down to low level for our return back to Montijo.. An awesome experience!
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
31. Then we got really low..
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
32. The 2nd flight of the day I focussed on getting shots from the top of the cliff as the crews training with winching rescue swimmers.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
33.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
34.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
35.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
36.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
37.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
38.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
39.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
40. This hurt like hell, managed to lower the camera and thankfully my head before we got sand blasted. Think the crew had a good laugh at us!
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
Many thanks for looking if you've stuck with it all the way through, I know its a large post of only one aircraft but it was a unique opportunity for me so wanted to try and show as much as possible.
) I was lucky enough to spend a few days with Esquadra 751, the search and rescue squadron of the Portuguese Air Force based at Montijo air base, also known as Base Aérea Nº 6. During my time I managed 3 flights totalling around 7 (ish) hours with one SAR training sortie taking three hours!
Unfortunatley on the Monday all flying was cancelled due to the detachment in the Azores using up more flying hours than predicated, as a knock on effect one of my flights on Tuesday was then canned so the rescue swimmers could remain current etc. Typically on the Wednesday when I managed two flights and shooting from the cliffs the light was pretty poor with overcast conditions.
All in all it was a fantastic experience and something I feel will take a long time to beat, the Squadron could not have been better. Their interest, helpfulness and all around behaviour to make me feel at home was something else. I'm hoping to return next year in the summer with slightly hotter conditions and a few more ideas for some shots.
Also a big thanks to Lozz who lent me his 10.5mm Fisheye, shall definitely be purchasing one very soon!
C+C more than welcome on the shots, all were shot on my D300s and with either a 10.5mm fisheye, Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200 2.8 or a 300 F4.
1. Walk around of the on duty cab on the Monday.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
2. They have four sections in the hangar, the Squadron outsource some of the more complicated maintenance to AgustaWestland who are based in the same hangar. This is the start of the line which is usually for minor maintenance.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
3. 502 Squadron 'Elefantes' CN295 which can also be used as SAR asset to assist in a search and rescue with 751.
Portuguese Air Force Airbus C295 by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
4. First flight on the Tuesday, shot as we performed a few circuits at Montijo.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin Cockpit by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
5. I was then dropped off, so to speak, at an unused runway at the air base so they could perform ground contact training.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
6.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
7.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
8.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
9.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
10. Then it was the 2nd sortie of the day and the flight I sadly couldn't go on due to it now being heavier due to extra rescue swimmers..
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
11. The only advantage of not going on the 2nd sortie is that I could position myself for their return in the evening to get some night shots. Here a member of ground crew hoses down the cab to remove salt water from the exterior.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
12. The rotors were then run up to remove the excess water.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
13. All finished as a member of ground crew who you can just about see his ghost 'earths' the cab.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
14. My last day with the Squadron proved to be the best flying wise and the worst weather wise, typical. The crew performed a few circuits and then preceded to the unused runway again for more ground contact training.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
15. Head on and away from that awful rotorwash/downdraft
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
16. Low fast pass from 'Tex' awesome flying, one of the shots is full frame at 70mm unfortunatley its not very sharp!
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
17.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
18. We then returned to the heliport to change one of the pilots and pick up the rescue swimmers to proceed off the coast to the shipping lane to practice winching with a ship.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmers by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
19.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmers by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
20. A rescue swimmer being winched down to the container ship.
Esquadra 751 Winchman & Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
21. Then off near the coast where a dummy was dumped into the sea, rescue swimmers were then winched down with a stretcher to 'rescue' the stranded dummy.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
22.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
23. Being held out of the door by my harness whilst shooting the rescue swimmers was interesting.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
24.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
25.
Esquadra 751 Winch Operator & Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
26. Then it was my turn to be winched down to the bottom of the cliffs, possibly the most uncomfortable thing in the world but when your life is being saved you can't be too picky.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer & EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
27.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer & EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
28.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmers by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
29.
Esquadra 751 Rescue Swimmer by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
30. We then descended down to low level for our return back to Montijo.. An awesome experience!
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
31. Then we got really low..
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
32. The 2nd flight of the day I focussed on getting shots from the top of the cliff as the crews training with winching rescue swimmers.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
33.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
34.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
35.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
36.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
37.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
38.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
39.
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
40. This hurt like hell, managed to lower the camera and thankfully my head before we got sand blasted. Think the crew had a good laugh at us!
Esquadra 751 EH-101 Merlin by lloydh.co.uk, on Flickr
Many thanks for looking if you've stuck with it all the way through, I know its a large post of only one aircraft but it was a unique opportunity for me so wanted to try and show as much as possible.
Eric Mc said:
They are lovely shots.
Do you work for any aviation mags?
More freelance but I would love the opportunity to work for the mags. Hopefully some of these will be appearing in Vertical 911 Magazine, should find out shortly. Do you work for any aviation mags?
Max_Torque said:
Absolutely stunning photography! And what a job to do eh! Looks like a lot of fun (although obviously, also very risky sometimes)
And, wow, the powerhead/mast/rotors on that EH are MASSIVE! Big old thing ain't it ;-)
Yes! They had the gearbox or engine or something like that out for servicing and jesus christ its massive! And, wow, the powerhead/mast/rotors on that EH are MASSIVE! Big old thing ain't it ;-)
Thanks guys, glad you like them
Fantastic shots Lloyd! Makes me very jealous, I flew the RAF Merlin for several years and it's a really lovely helicopter to fly I also did a brief exchange to Montijo just before they got their Merlins (we took ours over to show them) and they're a great bunch of guys and girls to work with, very professional.
Good luck with getting these published!
I also did a brief exchange to Montijo just before they got their Merlins (we took ours over to show them) and they're a great bunch of guys and girls to work with, very professional.Good luck with getting these published!
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