As a former military aviator, with experience of civil SAR (S61 and B212) I have found this to be one of the few interesting posts on PPRuNe for a while and it has highlighted the old dictum of 'plus ca change, c'est toujours la meme chose' between the services. How refreshing to see that our 2 test pilots are former non Air Force (of whichever country) aviators and have given a (well deserved thumbs-up or 'BZ') to Triple whilst our resident 'Crab' (for whose well-thought answers, I have now, as always, the greatest respect) still displays the typical 'Crab' opinions which so made me loathe my time as an exchange pilot with the 'Crabs'. Whilst on my exchange I was threatened with a court martial (never happened because I had taken great care to sit down and learn ALL their never-to-be-broken-under-any-circumstances rules) and almost had to file against a Senior Officer for Redress of Grievance. Thansk goodness for a new Station Commander and new Flight Commander before I finished my tour.
Triple Torque, I commend you for having made public what happened to you and your thinking behind your decision to press on with your mission. I hope that if I ever have to call on the resources of an SAR unit, you are the commander of the aircraft trying to save me.
Nick and Shawn - really good to see that, in common with many of the test pilots I have met, you are down-to-earth, practical people who still understand what ordinary pilots think about and have to go through.