Embarked Ops
I don't think anyone is saying that the RAF can't land on a ship. It's what goes on beyond the point of "chocks & lashings" that SME knowledge comes in. Again your facts are wrong about CHF embarking - heard of Auriga & Cougar? Sea Kings were on both with crews embarking between op tours. Surely it's obvious why CHF haven't embarked a full SQN recently? The whole idea for future force 2020 is to have a capabilty suited to fight "a war" not "the war". It's been decided (rightly) that littoral manouever is very much a part of that future force capability- hence the need for 3 CDO BDE and supporting arms including dedicated lift assets -CHF.
The point Pheasant has made but is falling on deaf ears is that to support the embarked helos there are a number of experienced aviators in key positions utilising their embarked experience to support ops safely. These include Wings, little F, upper air ops and other positions within Brigade. Have a quick straw poll in the crewroom on Monday - You'll need a wing cdr for wings, a sqn ldr for liitle f, a f/lt & a f/sgt for air ops-all aviators for a 2-3 year draft to an LPH. That's just a few positions - there are many more but i can't be asked to list them, it's Sat PM and it's beer o'clock. The point is there is much more to landing on a ship. Now ... Beer....