he he - yes, whenever they landed somewhere the tin would be passed around the gathered crowd for donations to keep the fleet flying! ;D
Actually, thinking about it, I think every mechanical section in the RNZAF, including ours, used those coffeee tins for something or other. Great for keeping bits and pieces in. So perhaps unofficially standard equipment.
For those interested - in photo one, the large orange canvas pack to the left is the Arctic Survival Pack. This was carried when the choppers were going into the mountains or to the Antarctic. You'd be surprised the amount of stuff in them! Some awesome equipment. I used to service them. They were not always carried, only to cold regions.+One is also stowed in the chopper further down behind the pilot's seat. I believe this was the rescue stand by chopper at the time. It usually had one fitted for short notice ops.
Also in that chopper in the last photo you can see a green canvas back on the troopseat. That contanied the winching strops from memory, and I think it also had some smoke flares in that back - we serviced them too. I don't recall what esle was in those packs.
There should be a rectangular pack in there too which was the standard Iroqois survival pack. I think it is under the seat on the far side from the camera. That was in case of crashing and had gear to survive and a radio beacon, etc.
The helmet hanging in the cockpit was an ALPHA helmet, worn by all our aircrew by that time.
And on the metal stretcher there's an orange pack - that one I'm proud of particularly. It contained a special stretcher harness that I co-designed with fellow Safety and Surfcae Worker LAC Simon Williamson. We were given this task in May 1991 because just prior to this, a rescue went horribly wrong. 3 Sqn was winching a very sick Asian fisherman from a boat. Halfway up he came to life, had a freak out fit and somehow wriggled out of the standard NATO harness that had been in use since we got the choppers. He fell a consdierable distance into the sea. I cannot recall if this killed him or if he had to be rescued again.
Anyway, Simon had just begun the design work when I was posted to Wigram and he became my boss and mentor in the Fabric Bay section. He brought me in and some of my design ideas were incorporated. Though most of the design was Simon's, and a little mine, I was the one who did the proving of the new harness. (Simon was a really big bloke and I was considered "standard size" so better to test with)
So I was strapped into this innovative and fully adjustable, non-escapable harness. Then I was lifted by several aircrew, and tipped upside down and on every angle to see if I could slip out. The look of fear on my face made them think I had no confdence in the design. I certainly had confidence in the design, just not them. I expected them to drop me at any time. Luckily that didn't happen.
This was not enough, being held and shaken upside down over the concrete floor. They then loaded me onto a Sioux stretcher rack, and took me for a trip of a lifetime around the airfield. The pilots tried their best to make me fall out. I never knew the Sioux was so manouvreable till that day. Only harm done was to me stomach (I don't know how I wasn't sick!)
The tests passed, and we dre up a manual for the use and servicing of it. I was the lucky bunny again chosen by the poweers that be, and my face is in the manual in the example photos. I'd love to see that again!
We manufactured enough for 3 Det and they put them into service. Within weeks one was used on another difficult rescue, where the patient packed a mental. We got glowing feedback that it worked stunningly well. The harness was designed to restrain the patient without causing further injury, and all its aims worked.
Next 3 Sqn in Auckland wanted some so it went into service there, and we heard a little later that somehow word had got to other air forces and they were to begin using our design too! I don't recall who now.
As far as I recall the manual did not recognise the designers, Simon and myself, so our connection to a harness that now saves loads of lives has probably faded into obscurity. Oh well.
