22 October 2023
For many, the Gazelle is the ultimate helicopter and certainly for the Army Air Corps. So much so that when the Gazelle is withdrawn from active service at the end of October, 5 Regt AAC will be conducting a final fly past through the UK.
The farewell flight will be on Monday 23 October 2023 and will be departing from, stopping at or overflying, UK locations that have played an important role across the Gazelle’s service.
The Aérospatiale/Westlands Gazelle entered service 6 July 1974 and has provided service for the UK in several arenas including Northern Ireland, Germany, Hong Kong, Falklands, Iraq, Kosovo, Canada, Kenya, Belize and Cyprus.
The Gazelle has, at one time or another, served in every arm of the UK Armed Forces in training, reconnaissance, battlefield communication, direction of artillery fire, casualty evacuation and anti-tank roles.
The Gazelle helicopter retired from the @BritishArmy yesterday after 49 years of service. She was my first love! (I met my wife a few years later😉).
She’s like an old sports car; small, light, raw, crisp handling and a huge amount of fun.
I flew over 1000hrs in this aircraft… pic.twitter.com/ZlV9ZBikNJ
— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) October 24, 2023
