Send'em - you seem proud of the fact that you are often tardy in informing the tasking authority for ALL UK SAR helicopters that you have launched one of their assets - that sounds very professional - not!
You seem to typify the MCA protectionist/partitionist attitude - are you the guy who only as a last resort calls the ARRCK to get Chivenor or Culdrose in, especially when Portland are at home overnight and your only asset is Lee?
I have met and worked with many cavalry officers and generally they are good (if slightly pompous) chaps but it is an interesting change of direction from Army to MCA - perhaps your underlying attitude to RAF aircrew is given away by your comments about the Offs Mess at Kinloss and erks painting our aircraft
No seconds every morning? Now you are being fatuous - even during our worst periods the availability is still over 80% - can you read the RCS through your tainted glasses?
Droopy and Steve, thanks for the info.
Running In - don't confuse ATC transponders with I-band transponders - TCAS won't alert to an I band one. The I band ones show up on an I band radar so that in multi-aircraft ops, everyone with compatible kit can see all the others, esp at night or in poor wx. So the S61 and S92 radars will only see aircraft ahead of them - our blind arc is only 30 degrees, theirs is 240 degrees (assuming 60 degree sweep either side of nose). Knowing exactly where the aircraft is means not having to take TCAS avoiding action when it detects the ATC transponder - that would be a pain in the backside when you are trying to conduct a search.