airborne_artist
"Which oil rigs have you lived on?"
For the past 15 yrs:- 40sA, 40sB, 40sD, Iolair, Safe Felicia, Poly Concorde, Tharos, Esmonde and a few nightstops on others.
I think you have a romantic memory of life on a rig. A few months in the summer may be OK, but winters can be very challenging with lots of night flying in marginal weather. Rules and regulations have also mushroomed since 1980; for instance you get told off if you don't hold onto the handrail when climbing stairways.
In 1980 the 40s were only 5yrs old. They haven't been modernised much since then.
While offshore basing suits some people there are not a lot of volunteers in my company. A recent shortage of volunteers saw the offshore allowance increased by 300% as once pilots had been offshore based many were reluctant to repeat the experience.
The constant 15days on/13 off also has a wearing effect on family life. So as I said life on the rigs is not fun and I wouldn't do it if it did not fit in with my lifestyle requirements.
HF