Well said HiLife - couldn't disagree with anything you have said - I trust therefore you noted my degrees of saracsm and cynicism in my previous post re AW101.
My point therefore holds - UK politicians (of both main parties) - particularly in their dying moments - have been known to support what is perceived to be the best political way forward from their perspective - and AW produced helos have been previously in favour in this respect - often! - sadly these decisions do not neccessairly take any in depth account of the very facts you have rightly detailed. So anyone taking bets between now and the next election of the outcome of the SAR-H platform selection should be at the very least a tad wary!
Personally I believe the AW101 would make an excellent SAR-H platform (in certain numbers within a mixed fleet) from purely an operational perspective. I totally agree that the cost of ownership would be expensive on the face of it depending on who you talk to and despite earlier customer experiences....but such a price has been paid by UK governments before ---and now I am repeating myself...
Cheers
Last edited by Tallsar; 28th Sep 2009 at 10:52.