Re: UK Coastguard SAR - Bristow out??
You all seem to be missing the point,will the end user(the survivor/casualty)be able to depend on an,as yet, unproven SAR platform?
The areas the aircraft is going to be used in have extremes of weather,hurricane force winds,fog ,ice and snow and the very high sea states which requires a good winching platform.
Both bases have notoriously poor service by air/sea which causes problems for spares back up;what spares are required,it takes time and experience in the role to get that sorted,which the 92 does not have.
I am sure,as with all Sikorsky products,that eventually the 92 will become as trusted and admired as the 61;it will be left to the operational staff to do that;we do like a challenge though!