Something that always struck me odd,....

[Sanjuro]

every British transport helicopter I have been in has had the crew with rifles as well as their pistols

AFAIK this goes back to the 1980s in NI, when the PIRA managed to shoot down their first helo. The crew made a successful forced landing, and were climbing out the wreckage when the PIRA team came over the hill towards them, carrying some combination of AKs, M16s and an M60. The crew looked at their issued weapons (Browning 9mm or Walther PPK, I don't know which) and decided not to hang around for the rescue/recovery helo...

[perardua]

Originally Posted by Sanjuro

AFAIK this goes back to the 1980s in NI, when the PIRA managed to shoot down their first helo. The crew made a successful forced landing, and were climbing out the wreckage when the PIRA team came over the hill towards them, carrying some combination of AKs, M16s and an M60. The crew looked at their issued weapons (Browning 9mm or Walther PPK, I don't know which) and decided not to hang around for the rescue/recovery helo...

Sounds about right. And with helos, it makes sense to carry a proper rifle. You've got the space, and if you end up on the ground you'll want something other a 9mm. I also understand that Apache crews load their rifle magazines wholly with tracer, the idea being that their wingmen will still be in the air and thus the downed crews can use the tracer to indicate targets if the enemy are taking too much of an interest in them.