The Lynxes are coming….

In recent years Historic Helicopters brought back a number of historic helicopter types like Whirlwind, Wessex and Sea King to flying condition.

The group led by Andrew Whitehouse has now been able to tackle the restoration of yet another helicopter, a Westland Lynx AH Mk7, G-LNKX. The 1980 built machine, was flown by the British Royal Army as XZ616 (c/n 167) until it was withdrawn from military service.

Historic Helicopters received a temporary permit from the Civil Aviation Authority on 18 November. It is meant for ‘Flight testing for the issue of a Permit to Fly, including associated ferry journeys if applicable’. With this temporary permit in hand, a first successful flight was made one day later already, on 19 November.

It is not the only Lynx that may be flown in the United Kingdom, as another machine (former XZ678 with c/n 244) was taken up in the civilian register on 10 November 2021. This Lynx, believed to be stored at Sproughton, was registered as G-NCKY to Graham Paul Hinkley of Bury St. Edmunds.

Photo: Toby Mack under CC conditions via Flickr