I seem to have stirred up a hornet's nest of rear crew angst by merely stating that this is a pilot's rumour network and it is only natural that pilots look at any thread from their perspective.
I didn't start the name-calling that came from Wiretensioner and Flungdung. The remark about your life in my hands is perfectly true as I think it was angelonawire who had a dramatic incident due to pilot inputs, but I do not think of myself as the god in the front as those with chips on their shoulders seem to think. SAR is a whole crew evolution and any weakness in the composition of the crew can be disastrous.
I couldn't position the winchman without the accurate patter from the winchop and he couldn't position the winchman without accurate and precise flying from me. The winchman relies on his safety by trusting the 2 of us. The casualty’s life depends on the bravery of the winchman. It is a true crew operation. Which is why I am surprised at the remarks made by some rearcrew who seem to have issues that would have CRM consequences if allowed to come to light during SAROPs.
For info I may not be an active SAR pilot now but I did do 10yrs Seaking SAR (B CAT) with many fine rearcrew who didn't have the anti-pilot views that seem to be held by some on here.
332M