RAF logging of hours...
Quote:
I have had many days where the crabs would run out of crew duty having logged 8/10 hrs flying, when in fact their matelot colleagues who have been flying with them all day have only logged 6/7 and thus can still continue to fly, even though they've both been strapped to their seats for the same amount of time.
Commonsense, a commodity lacking in certain forces, would dictate that, once again, the fishy folk have got things wrong.....
Beags, quite where have we 'Fishy Folk' got it wrong? What' is this 'once again'? Where have we previously showed daftness? (not that we are immune from doing so you understand, like anyone else) The blokes on the ground are in a far worse position than we are with far less sleep, more privations and in far more danger; they require our capability, it is our job to provide it in the best and most efficient means possible whilst maintaining an appropriate margin for safety.
Our common sense dictates that, given that RW hours here are severely limited by higher and that we in the RN have always recorded airborne time it seems wise to continue this - firstly it's what we've always done and secondly we might have half a dozen or more pax/refuels of 10 minutes plus - that's an hour straight away for a quiet day. If we log chock-chock then we will add another 1-3 hrs per tasking line per day and these are hours that then can not be used to support those on the ground. I'm not paid to accrue BA / Virgin tokens as fast as possible, I am paid to move blokes, water, ammo and kit by air because by doing so the body count is lower and the severely injured are fewer.
Perhaps you think we lack common sense since we are seeing ourselves off with fewer hours and longer on the poles? Maybe we are but I somehow feel happier doing that, providing a better service to others in need, rather than thinking of how I can better serve myself.
Edited for mong punctuation...
BEAGLE:
Regrettably, some people regard the concept of Crew Duty Time as a challenge to their can-do spirit and manhood. This is an outdated and frankly dangerous attitude and leads to lip service being paid to cumulative fatigue risks. There is bugger-all point in pressing for another trip in support of the lads on the ground if you subsequently pile in on landing...
Hence my view is that someone claiming to have operated for 7 hours in the same epoch that a colleague has claimed to operate for 10 is setting a very dangerous precedent. It isn't clever and no-one gives a stuff how it appears in a personal flying logbook, the issue is whether the 7 is as accurate a representation of cumulative fatigue as the 10. What would be the effect of the 'extra 3'....?
Beagle - I'm afraid i agree with 'Something Witty' 100%. Crew duty in terms of flying hour is 8 max, 10 with Command extension, more in exceptional circumstances, and total crew duty time 14 hours, 16 with command extension, and again more in extremis is normal in theatre.
My point is that some of our crab brethren will be well within their 14 hour rest crew duty time, and they will NOT support the troops on the ground further because they say they have flown their maximum 8 hrs per day (even though maybe 90 minutes of this has been sat on the deck at BSN waiting for a re-fuel or waiting for further orders)...
BEAGLE - Crew duty time is not a challenge. Do the blokes sat on the deck (that we are trying to support form the air) wrap their hand in after they have been working for 8 hours?
The point is, and as I made very clear in my first post - why do diffent units within JHC have very dissimilar rules for logging flying hours. I read, about 6 months ago, a new draft of the JHC FOB to draw a line in the soil about this, to make our crab sisters tow the sensible line about only logging airborne time, (not time from first burning and turning to shutting down) and what happened?
What happened was that a massive stink was kicked up by some old and bold light blue who decided that because this was the way we had always done business, then we should continue to do so.
IS IT ANY WONDER ROYAL AND PONGO KNOW THEY CAN ALWAYS RELY ON THE RN TO GET THEM OUT OF THE S**T?