RWS 29 – Ocean Rescues and a Tail Rotor Failure with Jerry Grayson

As a Royal Navy SAR pilot Jerry Grayson was involved in a number of high profile rescue missions along with the crews of the Wessex helicopters he piloted. He has written a book – Rescue Pilot – that captures many of the stories of this part of his career. Jerry decided early on in life …

Continue reading "RWS 29 – Ocean Rescues and a Tail Rotor Failure with Jerry Grayson"

The post RWS 29 – Ocean Rescues and a Tail Rotor Failure with Jerry Grayson appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.

Jerry Grayson was a RAN SAR pilot flying Wessex helicopters before starting his own company and later moving into film flying.

As a Royal Navy SAR pilot Jerry Grayson was involved in a number of high profile rescue missions along with the crews of the Wessex helicopters he piloted. He has written a book – Rescue Pilot – that captures many of the stories of this part of his career.

Jerry decided early on in life that he was going to fly. He ended up at a very young age in the Royal Navy flying Sea Kings, Whirlwinds and Wessex machines. In this interview we cover several of the tales from his Navy career including his time upon the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

[Tweet “I’d had enough of school, its time to go flying”]

[Tweet “The deck of a carrier is THE most exciting place on earth”]

This of course only gets as a few years into Jerry’s career. After leaving the Navy, Jerry started a commercial helicopter company which saw him involved in a wide range of operations and flying a variety of helicopters.

One incident that we spend a little time going into depth on is a tailrotor driveshaft failure that Jerry experienced in an Augusta 109. It’s our hope that listeners might be able to draw in some small way from this experience should they ever find themselves unlucky enough to be in a similar situation.

Jerry has since gone on to significant success and renown as a helicopter film pilot with contracts on several high profile films (including Blackhawk Down with past guest Dennis Kenyon), Formula 1, Soccer World Cup, Olympics, Commonwealth Games and even written, directed and flown for an IMAX film.

There is a lot more to Jerry’s career and achievements so you’ll just have to listen to find out.

Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes | Play in new window | Download

In this week’s episode:

00:52 Rescue Pilot – book by Jerry Grayson

02:40 Book background and media appearances

07:06 BBC Fast Net Yacht Race reunion radio show

09:38 Finding old Whirlwind/Wessex airframes – firefighting training props, paintball field targets

11:50 Air Force Cross – highest award for gallantry in the air (UK) – Greek Medal of Honour

15:47 Meeting the Queen

16:40 Selection board for Royal Navy at 16

18:30 Flying scholarship to civil PPL school and running errands for Micky Lauder, race driver

19:55 British aircraft carrier Ark Royal

20:50 PlaneGuard role to pick up fixed wing aircraft ditching off carriers

22:45 Seaking stranded on the surface with one engine at night

26:35 Navigating overwater before GPS

30:30 Losing map out the window

32:40 Flying the Whirlwind/Wessex

37:30 Film flying and division of cockpit duties

38:50 Tail rotor failure in an Augusta 109

48:15 Airborne external inspection of tail rotor by S76

50:55 The last mile to the runway down to 60kts run on

56:10 Some advice on flying

58:50 What is next for Jerry Grayson

1:01:36 Video of Jerry talking about the Wessex helicopter and the book

1:02:00 Feedback on the show, leave a comment

Links from this week’s episode:

Episode Sponsors trainmorepilots.com

Rescue Pilot – book website

Helifilms Australia – Jerry’s Aerial Filming Company

World Helicopter Day

Jerry talks a little bit about the Wessex helicopter and rescues at sea in this promo video for his book.

[leadplayer_vid id=”555079860B909″]

Jerry is flying in this photo of a Wessex at a base display day. A marine pulled a smoke grenade in the cabin putting the cockpit into IMC on departure.

[Tweet “The airflow in a helicopter is specifically designed to take your map out the window”]

[Tweet “So macho to climb up the side and mount your trusty steed (Wessex Helicopter)”]

Be part of the conversation and get involved in the comments section below. What questions do you have about Jerry’s interview?

The post RWS 29 – Ocean Rescues and a Tail Rotor Failure with Jerry Grayson appeared first on The Rotary Wing Show Podcast.