okay, I appreciate the military and those civilian SAR units are the experts and currency and competency are two different things but I disagree with your opionion that winching is a step in the wrong direction for UK AA and that they should concentrate on 24hr operations first.
I might not have done much winching (well recently anyway) but I can assure you night AA operations are disproportionately more expensive than more day hours added to a unit hours bill. As night operations require the operator to jump through several more hoops when it comes to equiping the aircraft for night operations and training the crew, also there is the landing at ad hoc sites with the increased risk involved. There is also a lack of night capable hospital landing sites as civilian regulations require the HLSs to be lit with obstruction protection which operators have to conform to in CAA and JAR regulations before night landings are allowed.
I stick with the view that winching is an extra tool to aid patient rescue if used correctly to save time and benefit the patient, if the UK AA units wish to spend their money on winches then i'm sure this will result in them saving more lives without threatening anyone elses empires.
MS