Fixed wing to SAR

[digimate]

Hello all,

Just after some helpful tips for an up and coming pre-select, i have read some posts regards rotary conversion but not much for fixed wing cross overs. Due to spending time by the pool with the Americans i have not had chance to get to a SAR unit to gets some well needed experience and advice.

Any positive advice would be appreciated.

[Moose Loadie]

I crossed fixed wing to SAR a while back. SARTU can be a funny place but heres my advice.
Go with an open mind, don't try and guess what they are looking for. It's all about how quickly you pick stuff up. Don't think that just because you've never voice marshalled before that the rotary guys have a head start, thats not what selection is about. Listen to what the instructors tell you, take it onboard and try implement it into the flight. Always ask for a debrief.
Most of all just be yourself. Don't beat yourself up if part of a trip goes pear shaped, just put it out of your mind and concentrate on the next phase. If you don't understand something, either ask the instructors or get one of the guys on the long course to talk you through it.
Good luck and if you need any more info drop me a pm.:ok:

[[email protected]]

There is a reason that SARTU seems hard - it's because a winchman's life is hard and dangerous. The learning curve at SARTU is steep but it's steeper still at the OCU and when you get out to the Sqn after a brief acceptance and suddenly you ARE the duty winchman.......then you realise why. No-one to hold your hand and it's up to you to be the big, brave hero trying to stabilise a casualty on a pitching deck or a slippery mountainside, desperately trying to remember all your PHTLS protocols and contra-indicators for drugs.

There may have been odd characters at times at SARTU, but they had all been and done the job for real and knew what the students might face in the real world. Those that slag SARTU off out of hand are usually those who failed it - not because, as they often perceive, their faces didn't fit but because they weren't good enough.

[shawtarce]

Don’t worry too much, if you make it through the Griffin phase, the Sea King has a kettle, so you’ll still be able to make the pilots a cup of tea.

Pay heed to the good advice from CRAB and MOOSE. If you don’t know or don’t understand, ask somebody. SAR isn’t about competition, it’s about team work. Everyone wants everyone else to be good at their job. It’s the only way we can do what we do.

It’s a great job and highly rewarding. You won’t regret it.

Good luck

ShawTarce

[OverTq]

'There may have been odd characters at times at SARTU'.

Crab - that has to be the understatement of all time!

[digimate]

Thanks for all the advice, i will be myself, it is as much for me to see if i am right for them and vise versa.

ShawTarce you obviously haven't tasted my tea.

Rgds

[Green Hat/Yellow Hat]

SARTU has been through a huge transformation, the Boss is Father Christmas!!

[[email protected]]

As opposed to Queen of the Fairies:)










Oooooooooh I'll go straight to hell for that one...........................