Happy Birthday Pedro
French Navy squadron, 35 Flotille have celebrated 20 years of flying the AS365 Dauphin.
They marked the occasion during a mission to the aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle on February 23.
It was on February 9, 1990, that the first SA 365F Dauphin No. 6313 and 6318 wearing the colours of the Navy were approved for service at Naval Air Station St. Mandrier by Lieutenant Commander Garraud, commander of the squadron 23S . The story is that two days before the handover ceremony, the commander of the squadron, while carrying out conversion training flight on the Dauphin was diverted to retrieve a fighter pilot ejected in the Mediterranean during a training flight.
In the late eighties, the advent of new generation fighters like Super Etendard and increased night operations from aircraft carriers led the Navy to seek a helicopter equipped with an auto-hover system which could be used safely at night. This aircraft would replace the aging Alouette III and give the air wing an embarked SAR capability.
Today, the two aircraft carrier Foch and Clemenceau have left the ranks of the Navy but the Dolphins are still there, now providing backup and support of the air group on the Charles de Gaulle, always accompanied by an "old lady" an Alouette 3.
However, they are now being implemented by the fleet 35F with the whole family "Dolphin" which has grown gradually in the years and now account for more than three "Dauphin Pedro 'eight Dauphin ( N, N2 and N3) that ensure the protection of all marine coastal metropolitan and autumn 2011 on the shores Polynesian.
As to the origin of the name "Pedro", it dates from the Korean War in the early 1950s. It owes its name to an American helicopter pilot, the first to conduct a rescue mission for the benefit of an onboard aircraft.
By French Navy
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