Today marks 50 years since the first delivery of the first Alouette 3 helicopters to Baldonnel. Having been involved in 14 years of the operations there, I would like to congratulate all of those who have ever been involved in making No 3 Ops Wing a highly entertaining, productive and effective unit to work with.
Well done to those techs, retired and serving for all the bodges, workarounds, swearing at bent helicopters returned by young pilots, general tomfoolery, great craic, patience and commitment to getting all of the beasts airborne. Notwithstanding the cold days on the ramp, in various locations around the country, in the rain, snow, sleet and storms doing dailys, covered in grease from the aircraft and last night's chip butty grease from (insert border location eatery here).
Congrats to the support personnel, drivers, ops staff, loggies, refuellers and sigs magicians who shared in the deployed ops and without whom 50 years would have been a lot more boring and indeed less productive if not impossible.
To the pilots. Well done. Keep bringing them back. And it was better in my day. That is all.
And a thought for those who would have loved to see this day and what the unit has become, but have moved on to the various messes in the sky, no doubt to laugh at current endeavors and wryly comment 'It was better in our day'... we miss you. Keep one in the taps for me.
Safe flying to all involved for another 50 years!
Well done to those techs, retired and serving for all the bodges, workarounds, swearing at bent helicopters returned by young pilots, general tomfoolery, great craic, patience and commitment to getting all of the beasts airborne. Notwithstanding the cold days on the ramp, in various locations around the country, in the rain, snow, sleet and storms doing dailys, covered in grease from the aircraft and last night's chip butty grease from (insert border location eatery here).
Congrats to the support personnel, drivers, ops staff, loggies, refuellers and sigs magicians who shared in the deployed ops and without whom 50 years would have been a lot more boring and indeed less productive if not impossible.
To the pilots. Well done. Keep bringing them back. And it was better in my day. That is all.
And a thought for those who would have loved to see this day and what the unit has become, but have moved on to the various messes in the sky, no doubt to laugh at current endeavors and wryly comment 'It was better in our day'... we miss you. Keep one in the taps for me.
Safe flying to all involved for another 50 years!
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