Well, our esteemed moderator has asked me to write about this, so how can I refuse.
The discussed pre-seminar mini-bash never happened; as I was trying to drive to my overnight stop in thick fog, I got a call from Muffin to say he didn't feel like turning out again owing to the weather. Just as well, as neither did I! I called the Nr Fairy, who wasn't going to the seminar but who'd planned to meet us, and he'd even forgotten what day it was.
So an early night seemed to be a the only option.
The seminar was in the main Quinetiq building at Farnborough; easy to find, and the first three arrivals seemed to be me, Muffin, and Pilotwolf. Obviously readers of this forum are keen and punctual. I think we were the only three PPRuNers; if anyone else was there, why didn't you introduce yourselves? You must have guessed who I was; everyone always does.
There must have been about a hundred people, though that's a very rough guess, and after a short introduction by Rod Dean, which was as forgettable as most introductions, David Cockburn talked on accident trends. I'm not sure I learned anything very new, but it was interesting, especially the fact that the small helo accident rate seemed to be coming down, if I remember rightly. Other than that...I did rather feel like I'd heard it all before, though that could be my memory.
After a break, David Broughton and John Gentleman talked on the use of GPS. First we got details of how it worked. This was all stuff I'd done for the CPL exams - and then forgotten - though I didn't realise how easily GPS can be jammed. Then info on using it, when not to use it, not to use it as the only means of nav as it can easily go wrong. Again, not much was new, and since I prefer map and compass, and only use the moving map on the GPS (can't get my head round coordinates; a map is easier), I didn't find it that inspiring, though again, all useful stuff.
Next was the visit to the AAIB hangars. This was definitely the most interesting part for me, by far. In fact, it was worth the long trip just for this. Most of the recent accidents we'd heard about were there, and the chap who took us round was very knowledgeable. They'd allowed more time for the trip than in previous years, and even longer would have been better IMHO.
After lunch, Nigel Talbot, CAA Chief Helicopter Test Pilot, gave a talk on helicopter handling and failures. There were the usual videos of wire strikes etc, and an interesting discussion on whether pilots can really respond to engine failures as quickly as it's assumed they can. Again, longer would have been better.
The open forum included all speakers, plus David Patterson, CAA Chief Helicopter Flight Examiner. Earlier we'd been given a summary of the proposed changes to Rule 5, and asked to discuss it during the open forum. Well, firstly there really wasn't long enough; secondly, I was amazed by how little the people involved - predominantly f/w pilots - seemd to understand about helo operations. I mentioned the problem with confined area approach practice and pinnacle approaches and other mountain flying, if the rule was made not below 500 ft agl. They said wasn't that covered in exemptions for takeoffs and landings? No, I said; you can't land in the Snowdonia National Park, where many schools go for mountain flying courses, but you can approach to a hover. They looked confused. When they said they were trying to prevent helicopter pilots flying low in marginal weather and thereby having accidents, I said would it help if they kept above 500 ft and flew into cloud? Quentin Smith said it could prevent them doing just what was safest; ie, flying low if necessary. I got the feeling the CAA bods didn't quite understand what we were getting at. At this point a suggested straw poll got an almost unanimous vote to leave Rule 5 as it is. I suggest we ALL write to the CAA, as they obviously need a simple explanation of how helicopters fly, and what helicopter pilots do!!!!!!
Since I gather some of them read PPRuNe, hopefully they'll read this anyway.
So, overall verdict? I would have gone just for the tour of the AAIB hangars. And I go to as many safety things as I can anyway, as I feel you can't go to too many. And it's nice to have one that's orientated towards helo pilots. But to be honest I didn't learn very much new. It was all a bit rushed, and consequently a bit superficial. The rest of the open forum had to be cut short for lack of time, and this could have been the best bit. Dennis Kenyon almost had to insist on asking about having instrument flying in the PPL syllabus, which he disagrees with. That in itself could have been a useful discussion, probably more so than the intricacies of GPS operation. And I did feel that some of the speakers STILL didn't really understand about helicopter flying; for instance, mentioning that in some areas of the country it's not possible to find somewhere to land in the event of bad weather. Really? Where? Most mountainous areas still have flat areas; most towns and cities have parks etc. If you don't leave it too late, it can be done. And they did say this seminar was aimed at pilots with some experience.
So it was good, but could have been better. My opinion anyway. Muffin, Pilotwolf - what did you think?