A rare Sea King arrived at Henstridge airfield in Somerset on 2nd April 2026 having been passed around the UK over the last few years...
This Sea King was built at Westland Helicopters, Yeovil as construction number WA829 and first flew in October 1979 with test registration G-17-26. This was built as a Sea King Mk92 which was named for export as a Westland Commando 2C which was for troop transport. It went on to be one of four Commando 2's delivered to the Qatari Air Force on 4th February 1976 and was given the registration QA23. This airframe went on to be transferred to the Qatari Royal Flight for VIP transport duties.
In 2006 C/N WA829 was donated to the Sierra Leone Armed Forces and registered SL-01, to be used as their sole VIP transport helicopter.
I have been sent these fantastic images of SL-01 working hard in Sierra Leone.
In 2008 it was noted stored at Freetown-Cockerill Barracks, Sierra Leone - with it's flying days now behind it! On 15th July 2015 SL-01 was delivered to Dunsfold aerodrome in the UK. It remained here until 2022 where it was moved to Southampton Docks to be exported to China as a ground instructional airframe. The export licence for this was refused and it remained at the docks for a few more months.
She was finally moved to a new location on 11th May 2023, when she became an exibit at the South Wales Air Museum at St Athan, going on display on 3rd September 2023. This was relatively short lived though, as SL-01 came off display on 7th January 2026 and sprung up at Henstridge airfield on 2nd April 2026.
And this is where SL-01 is at the time of writing (04/05/2026), I plan to keep an eye on it's next move. It's currently sat outside an events company on the airfield. I'm just praying she stays in one piece and will eventually get the rotors back on!
