N7-204 Aircraft History:
- First Flight 22/10/62.
- First ever deck landing on the RAN’s FFG (HMAS Adelaide) 16Dec81.
- Withdrawn from service 31/12/89.
- To Hawker de Havilland Victoria as training aid but was never used in that role.
- Passed on to the proposed National & Air Space museum, but that never materialised.
- Currently on display at the National Aviation Museum, Moorabbin.
Aircraft Images:
The first deck landing of an RAN helicopter on the brand new HMAS Adelaide 16 December 1981 in Jervis Bay. Aircraft crew: LEUT Peake, SBLT Leddy. The Wessex was temporarily ‘assigned’ to the FFG but was too large: it could not land fore and aft with adequate clearances and did not fit in the hangar. The aircraft remained aboard for the subsequent entry into Sydney and was flown off the following day. The AS350 Squirrel subsequently took over the role for FFG Flights, even though it was not designed as a shipborne aircraft. (RAN Photo from Peake collection)
Wessex 814 in an Air Display. Imagery Scanned from Navy Historic Archive (Jeff Chartier collection)
