Royal Navy offers locals a special thank you with flight in Merlin helicopter

Residents who let the crews of the Commando Helicopter Force use their land for training have had their generosity repaid in the shape of a flight on board a Merlin Mk4.

Every summer, landowners and their families who allow their fields in the Yeovilton area to be used by the CHF are given the chance to take to the air in one of the helicopters they see above their land.

Landowners' Day takes place at the nearby Royal Naval Air Station Merryfield in Somerset, and is the unit's way of saying thank you to the local people for their continued support for the Royal Navy and Royal Marines' aviation training.

One of the residents this year was Milly Ellis, who said: "I feel really privileged because you see it happening at home all the time.

"It's so cool to then be able to go up in the helicopter that you see coming into land and just find out what the guys do and what they're training for."

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The Somerset residents receive no financial compensation for allowing the flying training to take place over their land, so Landowners' Day is a way in which the CHF can repay their generosity.

Guests are given the opportunity get to get up close and personal with the CHF's kit and equipment, see the engineering behind the cutting-edge helicopters, try on some of the flying kit and chat to the men and women who they usually see in the skies above them. 

Commander John Wilson, the head of force development at the Commando Helicopter Force, said: "Landowners' Day is really important to CHF. 

"It's our opportunity to say thank you to the local community for allowing us to use their land in support of our training and also to build relationships with the local community, informing them of what CHF does and also to let them know that their continued support is really important to CHF."

Getting the chance to operate over privately owned land is particularly important to the crews of the Wildcat AH1s and Merlin Mk4s as they spend more time training over land than sea. 

The CHF's role is to provide troop and equipment movement for its primary "customers" - the Royal Marine Commandos.

The CHF has to operate in the same environment as the Marines, ranging from Arctic to desert conditions.