Sometime in April or May, the Coastguard will be saying goodbye to a great piece of equipment.
After many years of saving lives the Sikorsky S-61N will be retired from service being replaced by smaller Agusta Bell AB139.
Both helicopters from Portland and Lee on Solent will be changed to the new type, helicopters in the Shetland Isles and Western Isles have already changed to Sikorsky S92.
It will be sad to see these aircraft go from our area which from memory arrived in about 1995 when the Coastguard tookover the search and rescue from the Royal Navy. Most of the current aircrew are transfering to new aircraft and will start training shortly.
So if you want to photograph some aviation history, you only have a short time to do so.
Computer image of the AB139 in HM Coastguard livery
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