Originally Posted by
SouthernExplorer
I would take exception to JimFs view somewhat. The main thrust of the joint teams statement is not so much the lack of capability of the aircraft as to the lack of deployment of the aircraft for particular tasks. (However there is also a lack of capability - we have only recently gone over to the 189 as our cover. Previously the 139 could lift 2 MR team members only. (Or 3 if you left a crew member behind). The 189 can just lift a part - although only a small one. the ground clearance on the aircraft is a real bugbear though. Actually getting it on the ground is a real issue.)
There is no lack of deployment. Going back across 10 years of SK numbers, the two most relevant bases are doing 30% more jobs. They fly past my house on the way to Lochaber from Inverness. Aircrew joke about 'the Ben Nevis helicopter'. There is no point in bringing up ground clearance since nobody can change that. A new regime of any kind cannot magically create a modern helicopter with Wessex undercarriage. Anyway, I have hung off the sill of a Sea King at arms length and dropped onto rocky ground as it hovered at ten feet, so this is not new. The aircraft are as contracted for the carrying of a 'MRT Standard Load' (see Definitions, Sch 1.0, page 20) and that definition looks like much of it came from either Cairngorm or Lochaber.
Originally Posted by
SouthernExplorer
I think the main thrust of the article is that the aircraft should be deployed where available to cover the type of incidents described. If they can make the job safer then they should do so? There is also the small matter of why a team member should give up more time/income than necessary to save the government money.
Team member time? The capability and availability of these aircraft saves huge amounts of team member time by going in and picking up people without needing our participation. I can go back to my bed. Sometimes it swings the other way. It has always been thus.
As for saving the government money, this contract has been let on the basis of the £1.6bn being approximately 85% of the total costs and the rest is variable costs. This has deliberately been organised by MCA Aviation so that there is no financial incentive for the operator to restrict the service. Any restriction imposed by ARCC Fareham is for the purpose of maintaining the asset and ensuring that the next job and the job after that can also get done.
I note that they are trying to take aim at the DfT/MCA while cuddling up to the aircrew yet so much is at the Captain's discretion. This is not a good look.
Originally Posted by
SouthernExplorer
Also there is a further statement in response/support from a respected ex-Military MR team member available on the Cairngorm MR Facebook page. It's worth a read.
He's doing his best to support those out on the ground. However, he's not on the end of the phone with ARCC Fareham understanding how his successors work and he's not organising helicopter training exercises under the new regime as I was just a couple of days ago.
Originally Posted by
SouthernExplorer
Also note that there was/is a split in MR in Scotland with the 4 busiest teams forming iSMR largely in a debate over how government funding was distributed to MR in Scotland. MR in Scotland (unlike England and Wales) receives quite a bit of government funding. In England and Wales the biggest government funding given to MR is the recently introduced VAT rebate.
Surely this can't be true? I heard them repeatedly strenuously deny it was about the money. Are you telling me that it really was about the money? They lied? I am shocked.
The Justice Department funding has been great. Most particularly, it has enabled teams operating in areas of low population with little fund-raising base to fund modern operations that ensure that anyone in distress in these areas is just as well served as someone in the honeypot areas. SMR continue to work with ScotGov on securing appropriate funding into the future. It is particularly impressive that whether it's the main grant money or the LIBOR fine money, SMR have ensured that the entire movement has had the chance to benefit whether they are doing one job a month or five jobs a month.
"They're aw oot o step but oor Jock."