FighterControl

After two previous 3 day events were cancelled due to weather and technical difficulties, the final flight of the Gazelle was truncated into a single day transit from Aldergrove to Fleetlands. After crossing the Irish Sea the trio and their crew called in at Barton Aerodrome for a refuel of both liquid and solids. Falling nicely over lunch allowed me to venture over and capture the event.

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Thanks for looking....

Absolutely brilliant shots! Caught these at Aldergrove this morning. Really sad to see them go after having them here for what feels like forever.

Lovely pics Kelvin!!

Lovely shots, sad to see another iconic type leaving the inventory.

Thanks for sharing these, nice shots. But the inevitable comes around and it's over fifty years since they entered service, so the Army have had their money's worth out of the fleet.

Nice set...End of an era..

Lovely photos but what a shame it was such a damp squib of a retirement flight. Very sad but as said above the AAC have certainly had their money's worth. Thankfully we'll keep on seeing them flying in private hands no doubt

Lovely set, and I'd agree with other comments what a pity the final tribute was a bit limited in view of the great service the Gazelle has given.

Maybe someone can confirm if there was an Airworthiness Directive issue regarding the delayed and curtailed retirement flights? Would make sense if true.

Brilliant set Kelvin right place right time..just what the history books need.
Thanks for posting

3Greens

Really nice to see these - thanks for recording them. Just checked my logbook and I flew in XZ320 as a Flight Test Engineer on 3rd and 4th March 1977 when it was brand new. These were the last flight tests at Yeovil before delivery. Thoroughly enjoyed flying in the Gazelle. We flew in the co-pilot's seat (port side in a helicopter) and pilot's were often keen to let us fly them to experience some stick time. We sometimes tested them on a Saturday morning, complete with time and a half pay - ridiculous - I would have paid to do it!

Reported elsewhere that Gazelle ZB690/ACC502 flew Aldergrove to Fleetlands earlier today as the last Gazelle to leave the Province .

binbrook87 wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 24, 2023 8:28 pm

Lovely photos but what a shame it was such a damp squib of a retirement flight. Very sad but as said above the AAC have certainly had their money's worth. Thankfully we'll keep on seeing them flying in private hands no doubt

Unfortunately much to the disappointment of both Squadron and spotter, weather and reliability stand for no man….. at least we got something I suppose….

Top drawer....

Great set of images, such a shame there was so little publicity compared to other aircraft that have departed in recent years

falconfighting wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 30, 2023 11:12 am

Great set of images, such a shame there was so little publicity compared to other aircraft that have departed in recent years

They advertised the intended flypast on a lot of social media forums, but alas weather and serviceability postponed the first 2 x 3 day multi location events and in the end it fizzled out into a bit of a muted goodbye. I'm glad to have at least recorded it for future reference.

Sad to see this type leaving the inventory . A type I did not see much. Some nice shots of these last Gazelle