SEA KING RESTORATION


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Restoring vintage helicopters isn't for the faint-hearted, but approached in the right way things can be less complex


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tepping into the Historic Helicopters hangar in Somerset you are greeted with a pretty impressive sight. Most obvious are the two huge Sea King helicopters, but then you notice the Whirlwind, Scout and enough spare parts to probably keep a small air force operational! We spoke to owner Andrew Whitehouse about his operation and his experience of working


with the CAA’s General Aviation Unit, all while sitting in the cockpit of one of the Sea Kings. “We have a number of old helicopters that we’re intent on getting in the air” explained Andrew. “Started with the Whirlwind, then the Wessex 5 and the Sea King we’re sat in then another Sea King in the bay and a Lynx Mark 7 and another Sea King to do after that.” The operation has five full-time engineers and holds an A8-23 Maintenance and A8-25 Continuing Airworthiness Management approvals from the CAA.


HOW HAS THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CAA BEEN? “Never been a problem at all” says Andrew. “Whatever you ask, if you ask in the right manner and to the right person then you normally get an answer quite quickly. “The best way to work with the CAA is by prior agreement. So, when we were thinking about restoring


the Wessex rather than go blundering in the first thing I did was speak to the CAA. Our surveyor came back and said he didn’t see a problem with that. Same with the Sea King, which is a big aircraft, we asked again, and the surveyor came back and said, ‘you’ve done a Wessex I don’t see a problem with that’


FLYING HERITAGE 11


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