To chuck in a slightly different angle; what do the Flight Safety Officers have to say about this? I was an SFSO for a bit, and understood that part of my job was to say what everyone else was thinking. One had the option to phone up Harry Staish or even the Air Force Board about this sort of thing. A quick flick through the log book shows 220 hrs per year on my first tour (around 1990). And yes, decreasing hours and likely consequences thereof was on my PVR form. It's very hard to criticise the JP or his authoriser directly, as the frontline has been trying to keep going the proud RAF tradition of doing everything with nothing. A senior USAF Officer once told me "If you guys had our airplanes, we'd still be a colony." I think the responsibility for Nige & Kenny (RIP) has to lie with the Senior RAF types who accepted the loss of hours.