After 35 years of sterling service, flying in all parts of the world in all weather conditions, the navy's Sea King helicopters are due to make their final flight, then officially retire.
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In their final journey today, the three remaining Sea Kings will travel in formation from HMAS Albatross, Nowra, over Sydney Harbour then on to Canberra and back to Nowra.
Long the workhorse helicopter of the Australian navy, Sea Kings have flown more than 60,000 hours.
With their departure, the navy's 817 Squadron will be decommissioned at a ceremony at Nowra tomorrow.
Squadron commanding officer Commander Paul Moggach said it would be a sad and emotional day.
''I have been associated with the Sea King and squadron for 19 years but I am not the longest serving,'' he said. ''One of my pilots, Lieutenant-Commander Tanzi Lea, is retiring on Friday ... and he has been flying for almost 40 years. He has more than 11,000 hours total, including 10,000 hours in the Sea King, spread across his time in the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy.
''He has instructed generations of Australian Sea King aircrew and he more than any of us will really feel the emotion.''
Commander Moggach said Sea Kings got under your skin.
''It's such a wonderful aircraft. It has been a great servant to the navy and Australia over the years,'' he said.
Westland Sea King helicopters, a British-built version of the US Sikorsky Sea King, entered Australian service in 1975, flying from the aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne and subsequently from a variety of Australian ships wherever the navy has operated.
A total of 13 have served with the RAN, with seven lost in a variety of incidents. By far the worst was the crash of Sea King callsign Shark 02 on Nias Island, Indonesia, on April2, 2005, with the loss of nine personnel.
That led to a review of naval aviation and the decision to retire the Sea King and replace it with the new Eurocopter MRH-90.
Commander Moggach flew Sea Kings off HMAS Kanimbla in the Gulf during the 2003 Iraq War. After a transmission bearing failure, on a flight over Iraq, he managed to guide Sea King Shark 07 for 33km to make an emergency landing at a British base. He will pilot the very same aircraft at the head of the formation on the final flight.
