CYHeli…The limiting factor for multi crewing on EMS is the weight penalty. SPRS even more so with an already very heavy L III. For mission reasons a crewy, or down the wire person, and another crewy to do the winching is all the luxury of crew an EMS can usually afford. I wish it was different but alas not.
As for the CP IR, well as an instructor I always passed a student on their capabilities and if they met the aeronautical experience qualifications as laid down in the Orders/Regs. Yes, if a CP flies around fat dumb and happy for 50 hours with no training, they will not pass an initial CIR most likely. It is however a good way of getting them into the IFR environment and have them practice the skills ready for that initial test. I am very much in favour of the CP IR for this reason. You can be just as well prepared as a candidate by doing formal training as you can by a mixture of on the job and specific training. Also, it is cost effective for companies to allow them to progress people from a non-command to a command seat.
Pohm1…I hope you are correct with your prediction. Esso will have some expansion and the Otways is Bristows ‘newer’ adventure, but as for Timor, we’ve all been waiting a long time and I think there is still some more waiting to do.
Geoff