Oh dear Tourist and TC - so the RAF have procedural IRs, the MCA crews have procedural IRs, all the police and AA have the same yet RN SAR is so special that they just don't need it - Wow, you guys are so tough......or do the pair of you just sound faintly unprofessional????? I trust your attitude is not representative of the RN SAR Force as a whole.
Plymouth Airport (until they closed it) was a prime example where procedural IF was used to get in when the airfield was shut - Plymouth Derriford Hospital didn't have a HLS for Sea King and it is just across the road from the airport.Without using procedural IF to get in the casualty would have to endure a much longer flight to a hospital with better weather conditions. This is just one example and I am sure there are many others across the UK. Oh no I must be talking total ****e again
Merlin_driver - yes the Sea King has TD TU autopilot and the 3A has a similar (SN500) set up to the Merlin I believe. You are right about taking a while to get used to the aircraft flying itself better than the pilot but that is why we do so much training with it. The glass cockpit in the 139 isn't so daunting, I found it quite straightforward after an hour or two - it is just a case of knowing where to look for the information you want and adjusting to how it is presented.