As these are anonymous forums ....etc.... In fact the press may use it, or the unscrupulous, to elicit certain reactions.
Well why dont we use this to our advantage??
If its true that the industry contributors to the recent SAR conference were gagged about 2012 why hasn't the press picked up on the concerns that are being vocalised so openly here? the SAR product - whether it be RAF, MCA or RN is regularly in the news showing off deeds of great heroism. Therefore the media obviously think SAR stories sell papers etc. I think joe public might be interested to know what the future holds. That 4 years away from the transition starting there is such uncertainty about it all that a leading UK SAR conference didn't want to go there. Joe doesn't need to know all the nitty gritty facts, just enough for them to get a sniff that all may not be going according to plan. Interestingly one of the local rags down south which featured an item about the 139s arriving at Lee commented that the reduction in aircraft size was not to be worried about as there were going to be 2 139s based at Lee. Factually correct but I would suggest a tad misleading...