Nige,
The problem I see is that, having previously decided that these ac were not fit to have an RTS for safety reasons, is it not reasonable for Joe Public (and Jack Pilot) to say "These ac were previously considered unsafe, what has changed?" Is your statement of "We are at war, these Chinooks were flown regularly, why not use them?" good enough.
Or put it another way, in your dealings with the big wheels, if they said "We are at war, these
Hercules were flown regularly, why not use them?" would you lessen your campaign to have ESF fitted?
Or do you think it is one rule for SH and another rule for AT?
As far as I understand they were delivered to spec, so why can't they be signed off?
I thought that you of all people would have learned that something delivered to spec isn't necessarily safe.
sw