With consummate skill, a Royal Navy pilot holds his 19-ton Sea
King helicopter steady on one wheel, on an ice-covered rock, in the
ultimate balancing act of man and machine.
The so-called "pinnacle manoeuvre" is on a precarious 4,000ft
mountain ridge near Bardufoss in Norway during intensive training
which enables pilots to land their aircraft as easily as most
people park a family car.
Touchdown: A Sea King performs the amazing one-wheel
pinnacle landing on a rock
Last week, Sea King and Lynx pilots from the Navy's prestigious
Commando Helicopter Force were put through their paces 168 miles
inside the Arctic Circle as they prepare for deployment to
Afghanistan in two months time.
The wastelands of Norway are perfect for pilots to practise
potentially dangerous landings because the snow presents almost
identical conditions to those they will face on Afghanistan's front
line in Helmand province.
The "pinnacle" begins with the helicopter flying down one side
of a valley so it can turn quickly should an enemy attack from the
ground. As the commander and pilot in the cockpit carefully lower
the craft towards the ground, snow often billows beneath the
blades, reducing visibility to zero.
The third crewman opens the rear side door and "talks down" the
helicopter inch by inch until one front wheel touches the outcrop
of rock.
The crew practise the manoeuvre again and again, forming a close
bond of trust as they work as a team, knowing that in a few weeks
they will have to use these extraordinary skills to drop off troops
on operations, and, more importantly, rescue wounded comrades from
the battlefield.
Lieutenant Commander Jim Newton, 35, the Officer Commanding at
the remote "Clockwork" base in Norway, said: "If you can operate
here at -30C then you can operate anywhere.
"The techniques the aircrew learn are fully transferable to
operating in the desert – the only thing that changes is the
temperature."
Source: Daily Mail UK, Mar. 8, 2008