It is my opinion that this mod programme has not gone far enough to improve the operational capabillity of the Puma. All this guff about having to have anticipators is frankly a 'red herring' in that many, many pilots over the Puma's lifetime have learned how to overcome that lack of technical finesse by operating the aircraft properly and within the necessary constraints. There have been very few incidents which have necessitated such a mod programme as this. The glass cockpit - well whoopeedoo!! - so the pilots are 'rocketed' into the 21st century - how operationally necessary was that? So far then we have spent £300m on these 'improvements' but haven't actually improved anything for the users.
So what then is missing from this great initiative? I'll tell you what.....the cabin volume for the Puma Mk II for crying out loud!! For years and years the crewman have been moaning about the lack of volume and troop carrying capacity in the cabin. In the early days we used all the 16 seats. We used to carry 16 troops with bergens (small ones) and there was no bloody space to move anywhere in the back. We 'sorted' that by reducing the number of troops in a 'standard load' to 12 plus bergens. We would then max out with Milans and we were back to 'square one' again. Oh! and don't forget the occasional use of a long range fuel tank. That's a reduction of another 2 troops! Now we're down to 10 troops!!
So frankly this whole 'dog's dinner' of a mod programme has not addressed properly the root operational problem of the Puma Mk I ergo there is not enough cabin volume to do the best job. There may be extra engine power but
no extra cabin volume to utilise it!
The solution to
all the bloody problems has been staring people in the face for years and that is the
SUPER PUMA!!! It has everything the RAF needs to eradicate the handling problems; engines with anticipators, a glass cockpit and
room in the back for 25 troops. But more importantly, it would have given the Puma Sqns a proper chance to give the user units a better service in the field by way of more cabin volume for more troops, bigger bergens and more weapons.
IMHO this £300M has been totally wasted and the naive team who allowed it through without consideration of the
REAL problem should be ashamed to be part of this scam.
I bet that the team who put this together did not include an experienced crewman.
QED
End of rant