A great video that shows the role of the Agusta Westland AW101 in James Bond’s latest outing
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A great video that shows the role of the Agusta Westland AW101 in James Bond’s latest outing
Its a shame what they do to it in the film though! Despite gearbox and armament issues, is still think they are brilliant helos!
did anyone spot the wildcat in the film as well, or was it just me?
“or was it just me?” – there were three Wildcats. Were you watching a bootleg?
Merlin is neither fish nor foul. Not big or powerful enough to equal a Chinook. Too big to easily get in or out of some LZs.
Blackhawk all the way, baby.
Monty, or NH90 for the controversial pick
Everyone talks about Merlin being a big helicopter and it is but people should not think a UH60 is small just because they see grey Sea hawks taking off and landing on frigates etc.
Merlin with rotors running is 22.8M long and you get 24-28 troops. UH 60 with rotors running is 19.8 M long for 14 troops. To give a comparison Wildcat is 12.5m long and Puma only 18.15M.
UH 60 is longer than both Puma and NH90 when it comes to getting in and out of LZs.
@Monty
At least you can fastrope out of it if you can’t land. Chinooks are not exactly known to be fastrope platforms.
As for the helo, my criterias are simple. It works? End of story. For now. As you can guess, I’m not really picky.
In the future? Who knows. Decide then.
@wiseape thought there was more than one, but at the island could swear there was a “normal” naval lynx in the mix as well. It wasn’t a bootleg but i was distracted by the fat disgusting pile of vomitus mass to my left shovelling scoff like her arm was on auto reload!!
@paul g – you have my sympathies. I have been known to suggest to fellow local cinema goers that perhaps they should head for Pizzahut next door!
btw, am I alone in thinking the end of the film was a bit crap? Whatever happened to blowing up villain’s lairs?
I must say I thought the Merlin looked massive in Skyfall. I’ve driven past parked ones at Culdrose hundreds of times but never really clocked their real size.
What gun was supposed to be inside the one in Skyfall ‘cos it sounded huge!
Thought the trio of Wildcat sequence was a bit weak. Shame considering they should be about the quickest and most agile copters in the air today. Showcase them properly next time boys
The door gun looks like an M3M .50cal.
How long before we get an FAA F-35B in a Bond film?
As soon as the RAF can spare one.
I am sure I have seen RAF Careers sponsoring programmes on some or other telly station, but I can’t remember which one.
What else would I like to see in a Bond film.
Well a proper gun for a start, so dump the 1930s PPK. Bond borrowed a Berretta 92F in “Licence to kill”. The Americans should lend him one again.
If he must have a small Walther, how about the 9×19 PPS?
More RN ships. I know there are hardly any left, but it would be good to see a T45, Astute or even a QE in a plotline.
A Typhoon or a C-17 so the RAF gets a look in.
X
The RAF have a recruitment advert with a female Corporal “allegedly” on the jetty during Op highbrow ( Beirut evac) in 2006 sorting people out and streaming them. She was wearing normal office clothing.
Well apart from the fact that refugees were streamed by the FCo offsite and delivered to the ships and there were no RAF personnel on the jetty never mind in skirt and shirt it was a good advert.
@ APATS
Yes I remember that advert. I had problems with the scenario too…..
As for RAF rig of the day, well my entire knowledge of how the RAF operate comes from the 1969 film Battle of Britain in which Susannah York takes on the whole of Luftwaffe with just her hand bag dressed in a skirt and shirt. Therefore I thought that part of the advert was entirely realistic. I cannot remember if Michael Cain or Kenneth More wore skirts or not.
TD
NH90….. nooooooooooo don’t do it.We are struggling to get them into service let alone work properly
“Product placement” in a Bond film doesn’t come cheap; we’ll probably see a lot of Chinese stuff in the next one.
Hello Fromafar – what’s up with the NH90?
Checkout the advertising on the canopy at 1:12. Someone has a sense of humour:
@Observer – I assure you that a Chinook is a quite capable fastrope platform and I myself much prefer to fastrope off the ramp of a CH47 than slide my ass out the door of a Blackhawk.
Well Blackhawk design is actually a waste of an helicopter space and easy of use, much bigger than a Twin Huey and not much more troops.
Instead Merlin or NH90 have the rear ramp and much more spacious cabin.