Researched 2026-10-11 from the sources listed below. Airframes move between hangars, workshops and loans: check with South Wales Aviation Museum before travelling to see this one.
The airframe in brief
| Serial / registration | XV647 |
|---|---|
| Type | Westland Sea King HU.5 |
| First flew | 6 September 1969 |
| Delivered | 26 September 1969, as HAS.1 |
| Constructor's number | WA635 |
| Units / operator | Royal Navy; 771 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Culdrose |
| Conversions | HAS.5 (from March 1982); HU.5 |
| Civil registration | G-CMFN (June 2022) |
| Arrived | October 2025 |
| Status | On display |
| Where | South Wales Aviation Museum, Barry |
The story of XV647
XV647 first flew on 6 September 1969. It was delivered to the Royal Navy twenty days later as a Sea King HAS.1 anti-submarine helicopter. In 1978, flying as call sign 412, it ditched in the Gulf of Mexico. It stayed afloat with its rotors turning and taxied on the water until HMS Blake arrived and craned it aboard.
On 23 March 1982 it went to the repair yard at Fleetlands for conversion to HAS.5 standard. It later moved into search and rescue. In 1989 it was photographed at an international SAR meet at Leeuwarden in the Netherlands. Records give its conversion to HU.5 standard at Culdrose in June 1993. It flew with 771 Naval Air Squadron at RNAS Culdrose in Cornwall, wearing the code 28 in its later years.
XV647 was withdrawn and moved to Gosport for storage in September 2015. In September 2021 it went to Historic Helicopters at Chard in Somerset. It was entered on the UK civil register as G-CMFN in June 2022. In October 2025 it moved to the South Wales Aviation Museum, where it is displayed indoors.
Seeing XV647 today
Displayed inside the hangar in Royal Navy search-and-rescue markings, code 28.
| Museum | Adult entry | Airframes | Headline exhibit |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Wales Aviation MuseumBarry, Vale of Glamorgan | £10 | 73 | The resident Harrier and a growing VC10/Tornado-era collection, most with steps and open canopies. Kids exit wearing thousand-yard grins. |
Also known as: G-CMFN · Sea King HU5 XV647 · Rescue Sea King 28