It is a complete farce:
When you are next dangling from a winch, in a sea-state 7, at night, trying to save the life of some sailor, whilst the winch op is skillfully guiding the pilot; think of the FS or WO musicians blowing their own trumpet or pulling their string who are getting paid higher basic pay than you.
Justify that?
High and Low pay bands for each trade can can be seen at:
http://www.rafcom.co.uk/pay_allowances/pay_aux.cfm