for them that our special operations forces use that will make them even more effective. We have a good interplay with them.” Senior Aircraftman Kyle Phillimore, RAF aircraft maintenance mechanic, grew up in Salisbury, 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Odiham, and as a child watched Chinooks pass overhead. It’s a big reason why he chose to work on the aircraft. Its distinctive sound told him whenever a Chinook was near and had him straining to catch a glimpse. “You could always hear them before you see them, so you looked for them,” Phillimore said. One of the 27 Squadron helicopters carries the yellow and green logo of a fierce-looking elephant, nicknamed Nellie. The squadron’s association with the elephant dates to its first aircraft type, the Martinsyde G100. This airplane, used during World War I, drew comparisons to the animal because it was so big. Names of the squadron’s first commander, current commander and a former squadron crewman recently lost in Afghanistan also are painted across the Chinook fuselage. A large number of Odiham men and women have been deployed to Afghanistan on multiple occasions. Their helicopters, which can carry 55 troops, 10 tons of freight or up to three tanks of extra fuel, are outfitted in protective armor up to head level, a necessity when operating in combat. Grindal has been sent to Afghanistan six times. The RAF pilot once flew his Chinook to three medical evacuations over 90 minutes. He took on enemy fire. At one point, brown cardboard particles rained down on Grindal in the cockpit, a problem he couldn’t immediately pinpoint. Once on the ground, he had his explanation. “It turns out we had 33 bullets in the aircraft,” Grindal said. “It flew back perfectly well. A round had gone through the cockpit and hit a safety switch and destroyed it, and then gone through the soundproofing, which explained the small pieces of cardboard floating down. That showed me what the Chinook could do.” 18 | BOEING FRONTIERS This past December, Flight Lt. Chris W. Dodd and his 27 Squadron Chinook crew were on emergency standby duty at Odiham when they were summoned to northern England to help deal with massive flooding in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Dodd was readily familiar with the response zone—he grew up in the area and relatives still live there. Dodd and the others ferried the local police commissioner to assess damage from above. Using one or more of the three trademark hooks on the belly of a Chinook, they brought in external loads of pumping equipment and generators. They repaired a building. They lowered 400 tons (360 metric tons) of sand in two days to quell the rushing waters. The Chinook helped stabilize a region that Dodd called home. For the pilot, the job was personal and satisfying. “It was one opportunity I wanted to have—to know that I achieved something and actually helped those people get their life back on track,” Dodd said. “I knew where we were and people directly affected by floods.” While the Chinook has kept the same general exterior, the Mk6 version of the helicopter’s new glass cockpit, or all-digital flight system, with four display screens, allows pilots to call up and display instrumentation and resources such as a moving GPS map and an infrared camera all at once, and multitask. They have digital tablets to further address flight issues and connect with crew members in the back of the helicopter. A pilot now can plot a sortie on a computer in a flight planning room, transfer it to a memory card, walk it to the helicopter and load it. Everything is more efficient. Accurate readings have replaced estimates. Pilots previously had to unfold a paper map when changing mission parameters. “With a change, you could be writing it up at the last minute or changing it while in airspace,” pointed out Flight Lt. Chris J. Dodd, no relation to the Odiham pilot of a similar name. “This makes it so much quicker and better.” Growing up in England, Sgt. Ben Continued on Page 22
Frontiers September 2016 Issue
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