Paul Kennard chats about flying the Chinook for the RAF including his time flying operationally in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.
I saw a guy land a helicopter with a dead engine once. The guy faired at exactly the right time, skidded down the road just a few feet and came to a stop. Smoke was pouring out of the engine compartment and as I ran up the pilot and passengers jumped out. No fire, just a lot of smoke, and the pilot was the whitest black guy I ever saw. But he performed brilliantly.
That line cracked me up "I'll just sit here 10 minutes then while you turn the boat around, don't think so i'll just land" brilliant interview as always.
sorry..46:30 and then at 47:00, That is what a good crew is for. We landed twice in Hawaii (C-130) because of an abnormal red X environmental. it is amazing what a pin hole through a ten cent rubber check valve can do.
Darnit, your interviews are making me regret becoming a musician instead of signing up for the airforce a decade ago! :) Oh well, armchair general is a fun hobby... Loads of respect for these people, their discipline, commitment and work ethic. Thanks for doing this!
That was a great interview and a really in depth look into flying and operating a military helicopter. Very interesting, I could listen to him all day talking about that stuff.. What a great job he had.. Top man, top interview Thanks
To be frank quite hooked to your series since the very beginning, but must say, this is the best interview by far I've ever seen. Period. Quite to the point, realistic, and reminded me of my initial training sufferings. My hat off. Nicely done.
I spent 10 years in the US army with 2 tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. I think I have flown in most of the transport aircraft that the US military has. I have flown a lot in the AH-60 Blackhawk, Chinook, C-130, C-17 Globemaster, and once in a C-5 Galaxy (which was by far the largest aircraft I have ever flown in). One think you can count on is that the US always makes great aircraft and weapons! I'm happy that the Brits can enjoy our technology, aircraft and other weapon systems.
Really interesting Interview. And the fact Paul understands team work in the military was clearly explained. Had some memorable times in the back of a Wessex and Abseiling out.
Fairly new to this channel, so currently checking out a lot of these video’s but I must say this is an absolutely fabulous interview and so far my absolute favorite. Wasn’t bored for a second of it! Great work by both of you.
Great interview, about one of my favorite machines. What I like about the podcast an channel is that it doesn't evolve only around fast and fancy jets. Keep up
well what a great episode bit sad its over hahaha paul seems a great guy really interesting to hear about the chinook thanks for this upload and thanks for the time paul
Just re watching a few old ones. Only to find out the earlier ones are just as marvelous! So hope his experiences in Afghanistan will appear some day in the future in the shape of a book. Probably involves SAS, Taskforce Viper and similar stuff. Would love to learn more on that.
@@Aircrewinterview Most welcome. You are doing a tremendous job, getting all these stories together. I hope you'll manage to get a few Dutch fighter jocks in front of camera some time. like Colonel (ret.) Peter Tankink, the one who made the first post 1945 Dutch air to air kill on a Serbian Mig-29, or general (ret) (four star) general Dick Berlijn, who led the mission in F-104G Starfighters to divert attention from terrorists who held a train and its passengers hostage by flying low and full afterburner over it, while Dutch Royal Marines moved in to rescue the hostages and capture the culprits. Sadly, a dear friend of mine, full of stories, Col. (ret.) Willem Hageman - who also crossed the Atlantic from New Foundland to the Netherlands - passed away last year. He was a born storyteller and somewhat reminiscent of Lord Flashheart in the Blackadder series. A real Ironside. Used to 'kick ass' against F-15's from 32nd TFS "Wolfhounds" stationed at Soesterberg FB back in the 1980ies and early nineties. A sqn that sadly no longer is there, since it was the sole USAFE sqn with the prefix 'Royal" granted by our Queen. I hope viewers do not mind the inherent 'Double Dutch' that these men bring along, Oxford English is not in their skill set. ;) Other than that, very much enjoy your channel! Cheers from the Netherlands.
I'm sure I missed something but Paul was saying that he did flying training on a fast jets or bust basis, then suddenly he was at Shawbury doing rotary training. Is there an explanation of how this happened? I've just discovered the series & I'm loving it - any chance of getting Robert Prest or Dave Gledhill, RAF F4 legends?
Hi Jason, it was quite simple. We got to the end of FJ Lead-In on Tucano when the RAF decided the holding time to get to Valley was too long (approx 3 years) so 90% of my course was sent Rotary as the wait was less (6 months) and they were trying to build a pool of pilots to feed the Helicopter OCUs while the helicopter training migrated from 2FTS to DHFS. Hope that helps! BTW, David has done an interview and a 'Happy Hour' for the channel!
@@paulkennard5993 Thanks for the reply, I've been devouring the series now that I'm working from home, there's been a few great ones. I've seen Dave Gledhill's ones & a few others, what a fantastic series! Totally random question, when you were serving, did you ever meet a pilot called Steve Rov**y? He was in my ATC Sqn in the mid 80s.
@@paulkennard5993 How cool! When I first met him, he was an ATC corporal, the boy done good! Better than me anyway, I failed OASC & ended up in the Civil Service! I work by Tower Bridge & Chinooks go up the river every day - makes me envious!
@@jasonwebb7574 It was always an immense privilege to fly through our Nation's capital. I can assure you that the view is superb! Oh, and 'did better' is entirely subjective; to have served your country in whatever capacity is noble and worthy…
Informative and entertaining interview but Paul was wrong about the Mk3; the fault was wholly with MoD forcing a bespoke cockpit. Boeing tried many times to guide them back to CH-47E cockpit but the MoD knew better 🤔
Aircrew Interview along with the “secure radios for chinook, or a new paint job for a tornado?” I thought the explanation of the limitations of the UOR/ UCR system was excellent
Thanks!:) Probably combined with my Norwegian English comprehension skills :D Your videos are excellent, I have seen a few already and enjoyed them a lot - good work. If I may, one comment related to intelligibility, the backing music on the intros are a litte bit loud, so if it's at all possible to adjust the mix to favour your narration in future videos that would be a very welcome change :)
