A familiar sight in the skies above Cornwall and Devon but less so elsewhere, Ian Harding considers the unique and specialised operations of the Dauphin II helicopter that performs an important Flag Officer Sea Training role on behalf of the Royal Navy.
![3. ZJ165 AS365 RN IHarding EGDR sharp [LEAD].jpg FOST AS365 N2 Dauphin II [Ian Harding]](https://fullfatthings-keyaero.b-cdn.net/sites/keyaero/files/inline-images/3.%20ZJ165%20AS365%20RN%20IHarding%20EGDR%20sharp%20%5BLEAD%5D.jpg)
British International Helicopters (BIH) has operated the Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) helicopter support programme on behalf of the Royal Navy for more than a decade, using two Airbus Helicopters AS365 N2 Dauphin IIs. Before that, both aircraft were owned by Bond Helicopters, which managed the FOST programme from 1997.