On Sunday 21st October, two members from Dartmoor Search And Rescue Team (Ashburton) joined ten members from the Tavistock team (including a members of SARDA, the Search And Rescue Dogs Association, and his dog!) for Search And Rescue helicopter familiarisation at RNAS Culdrose with 771 Naval Air Squadron. Craig Scollick, an Ashburton team member, told us of his experience.

"It was a fine day with light winds and good visibility, and even the pilot and crew said it was a great day to be flying. Our pilot was Lieutenant Commander C. A. Godwin. After the safety brief we were divided into two groups for our flights. Each group had a 45 minute flight along the Cornish coast, past Mullion, and around St Michael's Mount, before returning to Culdrose. Once back at the airfield, we were
winched out of the helicopter down to the grass, a distance of about 6 to 8 metres, which is quite enough to make you check your harness! Even the SARDA dog was winched down. "

The Dartmoor Search And Rescue Teams (Okehampton, Ashburton, Tavistock and Plymouth) are members of the Mountain Rescue Council, which co-ordinates mountain rescue in England and Wales. They are often involved with lowland and urban searches as well as moorland, and can be called out to Cornwall and Dorset, as well as Devon.771 Naval Air Squadron, based at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (HMS Seahawk), near Helston, Cornwall, is tasked primarily with military and civilian Search and Rescue (SAR). Their operating area spans the Cornish Peninsula, the Isles of Scilly, the Western English Channel, and the Southwest Approaches to a 200nm radius, as well as inland areas.