Doncaster-Sheffield - 22/03/14

Arriving for maintenance with Cessna Service Centre is M-ARCH, a Cessna 750 Citation X. The Cessna 750 is the fastest business jet currently in production and can bowl along at Mach 0.9 if required, with two Rolls Royce AE3007 turbofans providing the thrust.

Not quite as sleek or as fast as the Cessna, the visit of Westland Sea King HAR3 XZ598/N of the RAF's 202 Squadron was, nonetheless, the highlight of my day.

The reason?

In my younger days I spent eight years serving with 202 Squadron at the then RAF Finningley, and my log book tells me I had two trips in the back of '598. The aircraft is currently based at RAF Leconfield on Humberside with the squadron's 'E' Flight.