Heavy checks in Aberdeen

[abzheli]

I am wondering if there is any news about any of the companies (Bristows or CHC) continuing to do G checks. I know a few guys heard where may be heavy checks starting again at CHC due to a go slow in Norway.

[rag it]

There is no go slow in Norway, that is there normal pace;)

[Heliman74]

Shouldn't this thread be titled "Heavy Chicks in Aberdeen". There are plenty of them ;)

[Blackhawk9]

Why would you want to do a G check in Aberdeen anyway , Having worked in Aberdeen and Stavanger I know which place puts out the better quality helicopter, Stavanger may be a bit slower but the facilities and workshops put out a much better quality aircraft than you would ever get out of Aberdeen . and i've done 8 G checks between the two places.

[ironchefflay]

Why would you want to do a G check in Aberdeen anyway , Having worked in Aberdeen and Stavanger I know which place puts out the better quality helicopter, Stavanger may be a bit slower but the facilities and workshops put out a much better quality aircraft than you would ever get out of Aberdeen . and i've done 8 G checks between the two places.apart from not taking offence to that, Getting an L2 back with more problems than it went away with after more than 6 MONTHS in Norway isnt painting a great picture for that argument! the tectonic plates move quicker than that!

besides, it would be Scotia doing their own aircraft. not Heli-one. different people different management of checks.

we are also more than capable of doing our own S92 1250hr checks, which we used to do quite happily till we were told it must go to Norway for that.

i wont say what i think is going on with these 'great' ideas!

[Blackhawk9]

ironchefflay, Mate I agree with you on one point since Heli-1 (Heli-None - No support ,No spares, No idea) took over, the whole shooting match has gone down hill. But you have to admit the facilities in Stavanger are about the best in the world outside of a manufacturer thats why I spent only six months in Aberdeen and 3 years in Stavanger , I got sick of the busted ass tooling and cold hangars in Aberdeen and the Ladies in Stavanger were much warmer ;-)

[abzheli]

Why are British registered aircraft serviced in Norway and not in Aberdeen. Surely they the facilities at Dyce to carry out there own G checks retaining British jobs.

[Oldlae]

abzheli,
In one word economics, but, if the a/c are G reg the CAA would have to approve the facilities I presume. But since I retired 10 years ago the world has gone mad.

[Blackhawk9]

The thing is the days of passionate helicopter people like Alan Bristow,Morten Hancke ,Bob Schreiner and Guy Lloyd are over these were all owners who had passion for helicopters and their employees and there word ment somthing ,we are all owned now by publicly listed companies with faceless boards of directors who only care about the profit margin, we engineers and pilots are mere numbers to make that profit becauce we are passionate about our work means nothing to them , its the mighty dollar that controls everything, and that is why the heavy maintenance is done in Norway, the facilities were built in the day of Morten Hancke when money was rolled back into the company (could any of you see any helicopter company today building facilities like Stavanger....I think not), and Norway has strong Unions and labour laws the UK does not, I was in Norway when CHC took over they had all these plans to change things , cut costs, move the workshops etc to Aberdeen were it was cheaper.....then they hit the unions and Norwegian labour laws, it was good to watch them backpedaling, component and heavy maintenance will always be done first in Norway and any overflow if its cheaper will go to Aberdeen were people can be hired and fired at a whim (to hard to deal with Norway!!)
Unfortunatly thats the way of our industry now Norway, Danmark and Australia with Pilot and Engineer unions who are willing and able to strike are not interfied with as much as the UK and Global ops with no unions and no ability to stand up to/negotiate with management of the various companies, its unfortunate but thats the way of the global conglomerates we work for.

And yes Aberdeen may be cheaper to do a G check but it is also home of the famous 28 day G check and we all know that was a G check in name only.

[la grua]

The 4 week G-check occured in october 04 and featured in a edition of CHC's 'rotortales' magazine[still viewable on chc.ca website].
It was a decent airframe[ex bond] and logistics were all in place.
To add fuel to fire,best G checks in abz, came out of bristow heavies,at least during the 90's.