XA290 wrote
I speak as someone who took full advantage of being an HP student ........ ahem....... 31 years ago.
Spot on. I was also an ex HP student 41 years ago now. I also saw the same things as you did in Aberdeen, the NSPA was forming during my first year in Aberdeen. Disillusioned as some may have been in the early 80s, they all freely shared their experience and taught me so much, for which I will always be grateful. That was the thing about Bristow, I never stopped learning. I also found time spent in the hangars watching some difficult jobs being done gave me an appreciation of the skills possessed by Engineering. Many ex colleagues are not around anymore but I do occasionally dig out the old logbook and remember who taught me what!
The bond (4 years in my day) was a very small price to pay for a skill set which has provided me with a 40+ year career so far. If I was a young person wanting to get into aviation, I would jump at this HP61 opportunity.