Originally Posted by
jimf671
I did indeed suggest to BHL management a location in Scotland
but it wasn't Inverness in spite of what it has to offer. UK SAR does not have a centroid based on population. It's a mistake made regularly in other spheres, such as for mobile phone coverage where, a bit like SAR, it's not when people are at home that they most need the service!
Of about 2500 jobs per year, maybe 10 are in the major population centres of London and the West Midlands and about 600 are in the Highlands and Islands.
The location that I had suggested was South Queensferry since it possesses good transport links similar to Lee and already has nearby facilities that would assist one to broaden the type of SAR training provided thus enlarging the potential customer base: air, sea, river, mountain. Thinking big.
It is about 300nm from the extreme reaches of the UK (and Ireland!) and a lot nearer the centroid of helicopter SAR activity than the Solent.
Yep, but that's still in Scotland.