Chinooks from 27 Squadron at RAF Odiham joined the ship for Exercise Hathi Pol, a recurring Royal Navy–RAF training programme. Aircrew, engineers, aircraft handlers and flight-control, bridge and operations-room personnel practised working together in the shipboard environment.
One task was transferring a Chinook from the flight deck to the hangar so engineers could maintain it under cover. That is necessary for longer deployments aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth or her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales.
The 99-foot-long Chinook ZH777 fitted onto the aircraft lift with its nose overhanging the edge and its rotors spread. Lowering the 12-tonne helicopter to hangar level took 60 seconds, after which personnel manoeuvred it inside.
The exercise gave RAF personnel experience of working at sea and allowed aircrew to earn the required qualifications. It also helped the carrier’s crew rebuild aviation-handling skills following substantial overhaul work in Rosyth and Portsmouth.
For the ship’s aircraft handlers, the Chinooks provided practice with helicopters they do not routinely operate. The exercise concluded with the aircraft on deck as HMS Queen Elizabeth arrived in Gibraltar for a week-long visit.
