EXERCISE COLD BLAZE - RYGGE NORWAY

 

EI1 OF 3   Dutch Aviation MEDIA 2012      PAGE 2 OF 3
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ROLLING OUT THE HELICOPTERS
While the action started on the platform, we were closely watched all day by this fine Norwegian F-5
 
Some groundcrew men still had a moment for a cigarette, before the last equipment came out of the containers
 
Next to 65 men/women there is a lot of equipment to be used in such an exercise, as the many different containers show.
 
Sometimes it's not quite as at home, when powerfail occurs, you have to look for another place to warm yourself up
   
Powerequipment, and a fire distinguisher....... (let's not talk about this inside information about this last one out here....   :-)))
 
Detail: Two badges of 298 Squadron
Time for the action, rolling out the machines that have been 'prepped' on the platform.
D-106 and D-664 Chinooks were here to practice the 'white-out' conditions in the Norwegian landscape
The systems have been heated up and set to work...
 
.... the Chinook is placed on a grid, to avoid slipping away on the frozen ground.
 
Major de Jong arranges the last details with his collegue Alexander while the loadmasters are ready to be connected
Rotors are turning already, final seconds to taxi to the point of airborne.
The roads are constantly kept clean from snow and as much ice as possible is scratched from the asphalt
Detail of such a truck with it's tools around
A view on the platform with containers and the second Chinook to start up.
D-106 is ready to leave... starts up and taxies to the runway of Rygge AFB. Meanwhile MAOT acts elsewhere
 
MAOT - MOBILE AIR OPERATIONS TEAM
The MAOT arrived at the spot where the white-out is going to be exercised on a frozen and snowy lake !
A small boathouse is used for equipment, sometimes the ice must be drilled to see if it's thick enough to carry a Chinook.
The map is studied on location and coordinates, to inform the Chinook crew and to determine the approach of the Chinook
This is the location (frozen lake) where the Chinook will land in short time after take-off
 
MAOT checks the exact and best location for the Chinook, this will be marked with a red line in the complete white world
The location is also checked, the Chinook will have to fly through this small corridor between trees and the rocks opposite
  This picture shows the narrow escape the Chinook will have to face during the white-out. Let's follow the process.
                      
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