A familiar sight in the skies above Cornwall and Devon but less so elsewhere, Ian Harding considers the unique and specialised operations of the Dauphin II helicopter that performs an important Flag Officer Sea Training role on behalf of the Royal Navy.
British International Helicopters (BIH) has operated the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) helicopter support programme on behalf of the Royal Navy for more than a decade, using two Airbus Helicopters AS365 N2 Dauphin IIs. Before that, both aircraft were owned by Bond Helicopters, which managed the FOST programme from 1997.
Despite carrying Royal Navy titles, both helicopters are unusual in that they bear military registrations (ZJ164 and ZJ165) despite their civilian ownership. At present, only ZJ165 is available to fulfil the wide variety of tasks required. BIH supported UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) operations in the Falkland Islands and South Atlantic Islands for many years using two civilian-registered Sikorsky S-61Ns and Leonardo Helicopters AW189s, both of which are based at RAF Mount Pleasant.
Based at Newquay Cornwall Airport, this small but unique Dauphin fleet has performed the important role on behalf of FOST, primarily operating not only fro…
