THERE were no MiG-28s or battles in the sky, but pretty demanding health and safety regulations about helicopter blades and civilian authorisation forms.

I drove to the RAF base, with a photographer, at a time I normally only see if I am returning home from the night before, with the jokes from colleagues about Tony Scott’s iconic movie Top Gun ringing in my ears.

When I arrived, I found a number of impressive Chinook helicopters waiting for me, and some bleary-eyed soldiers.

After the necessary caffeine hit, I joined dozens of soldiers from the various regiments of Colchester’s 16 Air Assault Brigade for a briefing.

Flight Sergeant, and experienced combat crewman, Dan Baxter, explained the remarkable history of the helicopter which, along with the flight and medical teams on board, have saved countless hundreds of lives in the past decade.

After the briefing, the troops were given a chance to explore the Chinooks and then fly back to Colchester to gain experience outside of a war zone.

However, my own hopes of a trip back with the troops were dashed by the least macho circumstances possible – civilian authorisation regulations.

While at £26million each the aircraft is undoubtedly more valuable than a reporter sent to write about them, it was still disappointing not to get a chance to experience the flight.

Those on the training day included soldiers seeking a refresher course, newer recruits and those preparing for upcoming tours of Afghanistan.

But the one thing they had in common was they all wanted to be supporting their colleagues already out there. That explains why they can justify call signs like Ice, Viper and Merlin.