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Rescue vehicle which helped at Lockerbie retired

Braemar Mountain Rescue Team Old faded photo of red rescue vehicle on a road behind a wall in between fields, with the wreckage of a passenger plane in the background.Braemar Mountain Rescue Team
The vehicle helped at Lockerbie after the terrorism attack in 1988

A rescue vehicle which has seen duty including helping in the aftermath of the Lockerbie disaster has been retired after nearly 40 years of service.

The Flexmobile - affectionately called "Old Flex" - has been a key part of Braemar Mountain Rescue Team efforts since 1985.

Over the years, it has helped to rescue numerous hillwalkers and climbers, as well as providing shelter for its crews during treacherous conditions.

It was also called in to help recover casualties after the Lockerbie bombing claimed 270 lives four days before Christmas in 1988, when Pan Am flight 103 was blown up while flying from London to New York.

Red vehicle with tank-style caterpillar tracks, red body with white writing which says Braemar Mountain Rescue, and the word ambulance in red on blue and yellow checks, on snow, with snowy hillside in background.
The rescue vehicle is affectionately called "Old Flex"

For four decades, the flexmobile has played a crucial role in the work of the Braemar Mountain Rescue Team.

Equipped with caterpillar treads, the six-tonne (6,000kg) emergency vehicle has tackled some of the toughest of terrains and weather conditions.

John Drysdale, president of the Braemar Mountain Rescue Team, first got behind the wheel of Old Flex in 1987.

"It can make the difference between life and death for a casualty, but also the well-being of the rescuers themselves," he told BBC Scotland News.

"If we're in deep snow - we have passed snow ploughs before - and certainly when we get up into the high mountains, she's very, very effective.

"We have a second one which we got in 2006, which is slightly bigger. But this is the old favourite – she's been through an awful lot of stuff with the team, both on the hill and off the hill.

"We've used her both on the hill in rescues and searches and I've helped rescue motorists stuck in snow. There's very little that stops her. She can handle just about everything that's thrown at her."

Man with grey moustache looking at camera, wearing red, white and blue warm wool hat, and a bright red jacket, with a snowy scene behind and a cloudy blue sky.
John Drysdale, of Braemar Mountain Rescue Team, said Old Flex was very effective

Recalling Lockerbie, Mr Drysdale said: "We were called out after the disaster in Lockerbie.

"We drove down overnight and two of us went straight up to Tundergarth, where the cockpit came down.

"And later that day we recovered casualties from the hill.

"We gave them a bit of respect. It was done as professionally as we could.

"And it's like everything else in mountain rescue – we were bringing people home to their loved ones."

Braemar Mountain Rescue Team Red vehicles with tank-style caterpillar tracks, red body with white writing which says Braemar Mountain Rescue, and the word ambulance in red on blue and yellow checks, on snow, on a snowy hillside, with rescuers in bright mountain gear.Braemar Mountain Rescue Team
Rescues often have to be carried out in difficult conditions

Earlier this year, Old Flex was taken to South Queensferry to be filmed as part of a new drama series about the Lockerbie disaster, starring Colin Firth.

However, after almost 40 years, it is now time for Old Flex to go out of service.

Its place of retirement will be Glenshee Ski Centre, where manager David Patterson knows its history and says it will be well looked after.

Man with grey hair, wearing a blue hooded top with the hood down, looking at camera, with a snowy scene behind and a cloudy blue sky.
David Patterson is manager of the Glenshee Ski Centre

"I was a team member for 20 odd years, I used to drive the machine with John," he said.

"We might use it for taking people on tours, or we've got a couple of cafes around the area, so we might use it for transporting staff around."

Asked what it was like to drive, he said: "Exhilarating, exciting, it's a good machine."

The mountain rescue team is encouraging people to give Old Flex a salute if they see her at Glenshee as a tribute to the now retired emergency hero.

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