Just how long does it take for a qualified and combat ready member of rotary winged aircrew to convert to Merlin or even Wildcat?
I can understand that a cadre of experienced guys will set up and run the 700 series sqn which kicks off Merlin for the Navy but the essentials of operating the aircraft don't take four years, surely. The simulators at Benson, for example, provide type conversion and tactical instruction and one assumes there will be some secondment of crews to the RAF and vice versa.
I smell a political rat here! The rat in question could be nibbling in several different directions.
Old Duffer