ON the 1st of September, 1955, the Humber life-boat City of Bradford III carried out an exercise in conjunction with a helicopter of the Royal Air Force station at North Cotes.

In the morning the pilot of the air- craft lectured to the Spurn Point, Flamborough and Bridlington coast- guards and to the coxswain superinten- dent of the Humber life-boat station, Captain W. S. Anderson, on the use of helicopters for life-saving, and a practice was arranged for the afternoon.

The life-boat was launched at 2.25, and five minutes later the helicopter came overhead. The exercise was carried out half a mile from the beach.

The masts of the life-boat and the windscreen were taken down, and the helicopter hovered some ten feet above the life-boat. Even at this distance it was impossible to commun- icate with the pilot by loud-hailer because of the noise of the helicopter, and the exercise showed that the problems of direct communication between life-boats and helicopters require further study.

Three members of the crew were then picked up from the life-boat in turn. It was found that the wire of the canvas belt could be slipped over each man's head and under his arm- pits and drawn tight in a few seconds, and the whole manoeuvre of taking up three men in turn and landing them on the beach was carried out in eleven minutes..