Sea King RS01 retired to the Royal Army Museum at Brussels

RS01, the oldest of the five Westland Sea King Mk.48 Search & Rescue helicopters of the Belgian Air Force has been flown to the Jubelpark/Cinquantenaire esplanade at Brussels in front of the Royal Army Museum where the aircraft will go on permanent display. The crew commanded by LtCol Aviator Rudy THEYS, Base Commander of Koksijde, had a hard time pinpointing the rather small landing area in very bad weather conditions which restricted visibility to a few hundred meters. The very professional crew made a perfect last landing with this Sea King which has clocked some 10.583 flying hours over more than 30 years of active service with the Belgian Air Force in which it flew some 523 intervention missions. However the very popular Sea King will not disappear from Belgian skies before 2013 when the last machine will be retired after having been replaced by the new twin engine, medium size NH Industries NH-90 helicopter.

Sea King RS01 in last formation

Last formation flight of RS01 leading RS04 and special paint RS05

RS01 and RS04 in formation flight

Flying along the sunny Belgian coast....

RS01 on approach to Jubelpark

Arriving at the Brussels' Jubelpark/Parc du Cinquantenaire in typical Belgian weather.

Final landing

Final touchdown.

 

 

Last updated 31/12/11 15:14   Daniel Brackx

brackda@gmail.com