RAF team from north Hampshire prepare to wow the crowds
A helicopter from RAF Odiham will be displaying at several air shows this summer
A team of RAF personnel from north Hampshire will be demonstrating their aviation skills to thousands of people this summer.
The Chinook helicopter display team from RAF Odiham near Basingstoke will be flying to several major air displays to show off the role of the giant transport helicopter.
Team manager Bob Mauchline says everyone is enthusiast to get started:
"It's not a role we do very often but it is important to put across what we do, value for money for the public and just explain why we do what we do when we're flying low at night and upsetting people we can explain why we do that."
Crewman Josh Lyons has told us it's going to be great to meet the public:
"people can come up to you and have a chat and at the end of the day we're just ordinary people who happen to do a very different job but I think it's important people who are interest in a career in the armed forces or are aviation enthusiasts can come over and have a chat with us because as I say we're just regular down to earth people."
The Chinook Role demo team will be supported by another team from RAF Benson in south Oxfordshire. Josh explains their role:
"This year again we're supported by joint helicopter support squadron at RAF Benson so you'll see an internal load driven out of the back (of the helicopter) and it's a capability demonstration for them where you'll see that rapidly re-rigged to become an underslung load which you'll see used later in the demonstration."
The team are making limited appearances this summer due to operational demands but they begin on Sunday at Cosford airshow and they're also due to display for all three days of the Royal International Air Tattoo.