Waterford SAR daily loop

bizguy

Stupid question but it has to be asked........

Most days, around the same time every morning, I hear the SAR helicopter passing over my house on its way back to Waterford Airport.

Out of curiosity, I started checking Marine Traffic which shows the SAR's flight path, times and speeds.

It seems that every day they fly the same 10 minute loop...from the airport heading northeast as far as JFK Arboretum in Wexford, then a U turn and back to the airport (see Marine Traffic image attached). This morning they've done the same loop 3 times in just an hour. Typically they dont drop below 70 knots on this run.

I know a lot of their training takes place near Tramore (which is South of the airport) and I often see speeds of 9 knots which proves this.

Any idea what the purpose of this northern loop might be?

Thanks

b757

The new S92 took over from the S61 in WAT a few weeks back, what you see here is them practicing ILS (Instrument Landing System) approaches.

Here is the chart for the ILS Approach onto RWY 21:
http://www.waterfordairport.ie/images/eiwfad2.24-3%20ILS21.pdf

bizguy

Thanks very much for that b757 :cool: