Thanks to SAR Crew - 8 Feb 11

[jayteeto]

SAR seems to be all negative at the moment, so I thought I would give them a few minutes of positive. Can I thank the Leconfield crew for their assistance in extracting the injured paraglider(er) from Saddleworth Moor yesterday. Yorkshire AA were on a job, so they called us from Blackpool. At scene, it was obvious we would struggle to get him off the hillside and we requested SAR. They attended quickly and got him away ASAP. People often comment on Air Ambulance vs SAR, today worked exactly as it should, we got there fast and they arrived just as he was packaged to move. Tick VG :ok:

[air pig]

Had to deal with them recently through ARCC,magical, top guys.

Regards

Air pig

[heights good]

Still w*nkers though :ok:

HG

[cazatou]

heights good

POTS and KETTLES?

[Thud_and_Blunder]

Somebody might need to explain SH/SAR banter to Caz, although from our experience on another thread I don't think you'll manage to get through.

Oh, and :ok: all round, including to the original poster. Blackpool is becoming like a second home these days - did you get the message that I made it to EGEG? Wind at 700' was 250/65kts from EGNH up to the front, then 010/8 within less than 1 nm.

[renfrew]

I live next to the Southern General Hospital in Glasgow and see the Prestwick Sea Kings several times a week.
HMS Gannet was again the busiest base last year with 379 call outs and of course it is under threat of closure!

[Tallsar]

Renfrew.....let it be clear, and notwthstanding the Soteria PFI is now cancelled in toto, there was never an intention to remove the SAR service provided from that area. Yes it was a fact that the facility/SAR Flight at Prestwick was to close...but that was because it was very expensive to rent compared with all the other similar bases across the UK..and a such a waste of taxpayers money for the next 25-30 years. The plan was therefore to move it just up the road to Glasgow...with no detriment whatsoever to the 24 hour SAR provision in that area...other than of course it would have had brand new shiney S92s...much more reliable than the old SK, and even better in the sort of nasty weather that hits that area so regularly -so it would have probably been even busier than now!

Cheers.

[Walrus75]

...much more reliable than the old SK, and even better in the sort of nasty weather that hits that area so regularly
Was there really any need for that?
After all the Ford Sierra that I bought, brand new, in 1990 was a fine car for 12 years and only then started throwing up random faults, easily fixable by the way... I had it for another 3 years at which point I traded it in for another Ford... a Focus, which is probably one of the finer mid-priced cars I've ever owned. TBH I'd have stuck with the Sierra if I could have been convinced that spares were available but sadly it may have been a case of robbing old hulks to maintain the old dear. The Focus is doing great (at 10 years old) and my son has just bought one too, in his words "...because you drive one and you know what's good", heyho, younger generation eh?!

In all honesty I would like to drive something more 'classy' but I don't believe that I'll get value for money - I want to own a Saab: my missus keeps dissing my desire - the company she works for has had one from new (in '06) and it's cost them 1000's in servicing and repair bills. My Focus has cost virtually naff all over that time period -she wins! ( I love my Focus TBH)

Give the old bird some (all!!) of the upgrades that she needs and we'll see how she does in the nasty environs of the Northern Irish Sea in (potential) comparison with other airframes (well, other than MRH/MRB anti-icing obviously!)


Point? I'm not really sure. Old ain't necessarily bad, maybe.

[Pheasant]

much more reliable than the old SK, and even better in the sort of nasty weather that hits that area so regularly -so it would have probably been even busier than now!

Pretty ironic statement given that Prestwick is, once again, the busiest SAR site in UK.

[Walrus75]

given that Prestwick is, once again, the busiest SAR site in UK.
And that statement is based on what? Number of hours flown? Number of people recovered alive? Number of people recovered dead? number of actual missions (jobs)? Number of searches carried out?

If one flight flies a total of 1000 hours on 400 jobs and another flies a total of 1000 hours on 300 jobs who is the busiest?

Let me put it another way... which is heavier, a ton of feathers or a ton of babies?

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."