Apache and Lynx Mk7 air show appearances 2013 - 16 June 2013
A list of air show appearances by the Army Air Corps display Lynx Mk7 and an Apache from Wattisham station is available from the left navigation under 'Role Demonstrations and Displays'. The next appearance of the Apache is at the South East Air Show (Manston International Airport) on Saturday 22 June and RNAS Yeovilton Air Day on Saturday 13 July for the Lynx MK7.
656 Squadron Army Air Corps celebrate 70 years of flying - 11 June 2013
On Friday 7 June 656 Squadron Army Air Corps, part of 4 Regiment Army Air Corps, celebrated 70 years of flying with a with a get-together, including an Apache flypast, for serving soldiers, veterans and families at the unit’s base at Wattisham Flying Station. The Squadron, originally a Royal Air Force Air Observation Post Squadron formed up on 31 December 1942 at RAF Westley, Suffolk, under command of Major DW Coyle, Royal Artillery and was equipped with the Auster Mk1 and Mk3 aircraft.
Major Piers Lewis, Officer Commanding 656 Sqn AAC, said: “It’s important to bring everyone together to mark the anniversary because it is our soldiers, past and present, who make the squadron what it is. Mixing across the generations helps create the sense of identity and purpose that is behind our successful history. 656 Squadron started in the Second World War in flimsy Auster aircraft and is now at the forefront of operating the Apache. We were the first frontline squadron to receive the helicopter in 2003, the first to put it onboard a Royal Navy ship in 2005, the first to deploy to Afghanistan in 2006 and then flew the first operational sorties from a ship in 2011.”