English: Pictured are Rear-crew of a Griffin HT1 Helicopter from 202(R) Sqn training on Anglesey.

202(R) Sqn "The Mucky Ducks" train Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Helicopter Pilots and Rear-crew in the disciplines of Mountain and Maritime Flying. Elements of Search and Rescue are also part of the training, to give the trainees a taste of what winching down from the aircraft feels like. This training consists of simulator training, in a classroom. They then move on to the physical simulator, called the Parrot, where the cab of an old huey is fitted with a winch, they have different terrains to then practice on, ranging from undulating terrain through to a simulated boat pitching up and down. After this phase, they move to the dry winching, photographed here. By this point, the principles of winching should be much easier, so the students aren't overloaded by the whole scenario, they go through the drills of spotting a casualty, directing the pilot to the casualty whilst having a winchman below the aircraft, recovering the casualty and then returning to station.

Following this phase, the students go out to sea, and winch from the MOD boat Smit.

202(R) Sqn is a whole force squadron, with Cobham pilots, winchmen and engineers working alongside RAF and Royal Navy Pilots and winchmen, giving the best experience and training possible.

Students graduating from 202(R) Sqn can go on to fly the Merlin, Wildcat, Chinook, Puma or Sea King (Navy).

202(R) Sqn "The Mucky Ducks" Provide all Royal Air Force and Royal Navy helicopter aircrew with basic Mountain, Maritime and Littoral flying skills by day and night and deliver advanced Search and Rescue training to military aircrew destined for specific roles.

RAF aircrew selected for Search and Rescue duties on helicopters proceed to 202(R) Squadron at RAF Valley alongside their colleagues from the Royal Navy and Army. The aircraft itself is a modern version of the famous 'Huey' family of helicopters used by many armed forces around the world.

The Griffins used by the UK forces entered service in 1995 at the newly-created Defence Helicopter School at RAF Shawbury replacing Gazelle and Wessex helicopters used in the flying training and search and rescue training roles.

• Organization: RAF
• Object Name: VAL-Official-20171020-477-097
• Category: MOD
• Supplemental Categories: Griffin, Helicopters, Aircraft, Equipment, Training, Royal Air Force, People
• Keywords: Advanced flying-training helicopter, Griffin HT1, Rotary, 202(R) Sqn, Mucky Ducks, Winching, RAF Valley, Royal Air Force, RAF, Squadron, Sqn, Search and Rescue, SAR, 202 Squadron, Personnel, Army, Equipment, Aircraft, Helicopter, Training
• Country: UK