We marked a special anniversary in August, celebrating 35 years since the Lynx helicopter’s absolute world speed record over the Somerset skyline. We shared a piece to commemorate the feat that took place on the evening of 11 August 1986, when a Westland Lynx (known as ‘G-LYNX’) flew a 15 km course across the Somerset Levels, achieving an average speed of 249.10 mph (400.87 km/h), a record that still stands today.
As a permanent symbol to the World Speed Record, a team of Leonardo apprentices restored a retired Lynx Mk 7 to sit on the birthplace of the helicopter at our site in 
Yeovil, and was unveiled on the day of the anniversary. In the run-up to the big day, a team of apprentices and graduates had been running the 2-4-9 challenge, with participants taking part in physical challenges based around the number 249 (in reference to the aircraft’s top speed), from skipping to sailing, walking to swimming. The team raised over £4,700 for Yeovil Hospital Charity throughout the challenge.
Fresh from celebrating our continued success in the manufacture of helicopters in the UK, we also got a glimpse of the future of the industry in August, as we welcomed the latest cohort of apprentices to our helicopters facility. We were delighted to enrol more than 30 new UK apprentices at Yeovil for 2021, including groups taking on business roles, as well as Craft, Technical and Degree apprenticeships. Interested in taking on one of our helicopters apprenticeships in 2022 and joining a company with over 100 years of heritage in the industry? Find out more here.
Also looking to the future in August, we celebrated World Helicopter Day by releasing the AW149 trailer, ahead of the full video premiering at DSEI. In the trailer, we looked at the many features of the aircraft, which we think make it the ideal solution for the UK’s new medium helicopter requirement.
The month also saw media reports on our new support package for Royal Navy Merlin helicopters. The Ministry of Defence’s DE&S organisation took the opportunity to highlight the aircraft’s anti-submarine capability, casualty evacuation, troop ferrying and medium lift of up to 3.8 tonnes, as well 
as emphasising the 1,000 UK jobs retained by the package. There was more helicopter news later in the month, as it was reported that our Leonardo Norway Training Centre was training Royal Norwegian Air Force search and rescue crews as they converted from the Sea King to the AW101 SAR Queen helicopter and its integrated Osprey radar. Earlier in the year, a member of the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s 330 Squadron spoke to Leonardo to explain how the aircraft is transforming their All-Weather SAR capability.