For decades it has been the saviour of stricken mountaineers and fishermen in peril.
And now a campaign has been launched to preserve one of the RAF’s iconic yellow Sea King search and rescue helicopters as a visitor attraction.
The aircraft are due to be taken out of service and replaced by Bristow’s AgustaWestland AW189s from the beginning of April.
And the Morayvia charity – established to create an interactive science and technology centre at Kinloss in Moray – has already won star-studded backing for its campaign to buy one.
RAF Lossiemouth-based Sea Kings have been performing search and rescue missions all over the north and north-east since the 1970s
Morayvia was formed in May 2011 to develop work started by the Nimrod Heritage Group, and preserve the last remaining example of the XV244 maritime patrol plane.
Group members have launched a “Save A Sea King” fundraising drive and if the group is successful a decommissioned helicopter would be sited at Morayvia’s new base at the former Abbeylands Primary School in Kinloss.
High-profile figures who have already given their backing to the cause including journalist and TV presenter Lorraine Kelly, actress Joanna Lumley mountain rescue specialist David “Heavy” Whalley.
Ms Kelly said: “I give my full support to this campaign, and I’m right behind everyone who wants to save a Sea King.”
Mr Whalley was a member of the RAF Mountain Rescue Team for 36 years and said he would be sad to see the Sea Kings go.
The 62-year-old said: “It’s a great campaign, and I would ask everyone to get behind it.
“To me, these helicopters are wonderful things. I spent my life onboard the Sea Kings ever since they started in the 1970s.”
Morayvia co-founder, Mark Mair, said yesterday: “We all see the Sea Kings flying around, but the only time you ever get in it is when it’s life or death or you have a serious injury.
“If we raise the funds to buy one, it would give people the chance to see inside the aircraft, learn about it and get a glimpse of a helicopter which has saved countless lives and assisted many in emergencies.
“The helicopter is iconic. The crews that fly it are iconic, and the engineers that keep it in the air are unsung heroes. It would be a tremendous tribute to all of them.”