GRIFFIN FLIES ABOVE MORVAL!  No not the fabulous creature with the wings of an eagle and the body of a lion! This Griffin is a helicopter and will be coming to the Morval Rally from the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury. Until 1997, the Royal Navy, Army and RAF each trained their own pilots. Now the one school at Shawbury provides basic rotary wing training for all three Services. Pilots start their training in Squirrels and then move onto the Griffin. (click any underlined text for more info.)
 The Griffin usually has a pilot plus another crew member and can carry a further twelve passengers. It is a twin-engined aircraft and the main rotor has a diameter of about 14 metres. The overall length is 17 metres and it has a top speed of 161 mph. When it arrives at Morval, the aircraft will land in a field immediately adjacent to the main rally arena and will be open to visitors. The RAF hope that everyone will take the opportunity to meet the crew who will be delighted to show visitors around and answer any questions about the Griffin.
 We are hoping that the RAF will allow the Griffin to stay at Morval on Sunday and Monday. For security reasons the helicopter will not remain overnight and therefore Rally visitors will be able to witness a landing and take-off on both of these days. The downdraught from the helicopter blows dust and debris in all directions and people watching aircraft movements are cautioned to protect their eyes and to be especially careful with children in the vicinity.
The Morval Rally treasurer has a grandson, Bobby, who undertook his initial training at Shawbury. Bobby has now completed advanced training in Sea King helicopters and operates with the Royal Marines. He deploys to Bosnia at the beginning of August. We hope that he returns home safely.
For a world of Griffin info click this:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=griffin+shawbury |
