Coastguard Helicopter

India Juliet

 

IJ & SSILB in training.

Once a month Sandown & Shanklin Inshore Lifeboat crew train with the old Coastguard Helicopter - India Juliet.

 

 The old Solent Coastguard Helicopter, which was based at Lee on Solent, used to be a SIKORSKY S61N. It had a crew of 4, consisting of 2 pilots, 1 winch man, and 1 winch operator. All the captains and winch crew must have had military or coastguard experience, and have previously served on a dedicated search and rescue unit.

The helicopter has a maximum speed of 131 knots (150 miles per hour), an endurance of 4 hours, and can seat 19 passengers, although it could carry up to 35 survivors for short distances.

Included in the state of the art specifications is auto hover, the ability to fly complex search patterns using advanced navigational equipment, and a Forward Looking Infra Red camera, known as FLIR, which is unique to the Coastguard helicopters. The FLIR equipment is invaluable for searching for persons or vessels at night and in all weather conditions.

When it was Solent based, the helicopter was responsible for assisting people in an area from Hastings to Bournemouth .

From 21.00 to 09.00 it also covers Poole Bay in the East, to Start Point in Devon to the West.

This area extends out to the mid-point of the English Channel incorporating an area of approximately 4000 square miles.

The helicopter was operational 24 hours a day 365 days a year, and wass typically airborne within 3 minutes of a request for its service.

The helicopter was controlled by either the Coastguard for maritime incidents or the Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Kinloss in Scotland for civil aviation or military incidents.

The types of emergencies attended are wide and varied.

These include searching for people lost overboard from ships, vessels on fire, divers with the 'bends', people stuck on cliffs, evacuating people with various injuries from all types of vessels and transferring critically ill patients to specialist hospitals.

 

Fly over from IJ.

 

Aircraft Data

Sikorsky S61N

Maximum Speed :131 Knots (150 mph)

Endurance : 4 Hours

Range : 400 Nautical Miles

Seating : 19 survivors (can carry up to 35)

Crew : 2 pilots, 1 winch man, 1 winch operator

Length : 22.2 metres

Height : 5.7 metres

Width : 6.1 metres

Weight : 9.3 tonnes

 

IJ at her base at Lee on Solent.

The commercial version of the Sikorsky Sea King (S61N) is adapted for Search and Rescue Operations, which is operated by Bristows Helicopters on behalf of H.M. Coastguard.

 

Specialist Equipment includes :

FLIR 4000 (Forward Looking Infra Red) Video Camera

Variable Speed 300' Electric Winch

Colour Search / Weather Radar with GPS

Navigational Interface

Multi - Frequency Radio Direction Finder

Fully Coupled Auto Pilot & Auto Hover System

 

First Aid Equipment includes :

Heart Monitor & Defibrillator

Oxygen Therapy Equipment

Entenox

Aspirator

Intubation and Infusion Equipment

Splints & Burns Pack

Comprehensive First Aid Equipment

 

IJ's Kit and some of her crew.