crab@,
I guess I read that comment as an incidental aside to the true task of the recce, more of a sop to the press to prevent the very attitude that we are seeing here of deriding the trip rather than supporting a professional approach by the crews. Nonetheless, I see the tenuous association that prompted your comment about 771NAS: sorry.
I'm sure that many in the UK are aware that other nations do Polair, SAR and Ambo quite differently and yet they seem to manage quite well and (dare I mention) quite professionally without much of the territory marking that seems to prevail within discussions on RH. Our VicPol do Polair, SAR and Ambo; other State Polair do both SAR and Polair. Ambo contracts around the nation are done by both State and by contract operators, day and night, plus they all are winch equipped and SAR capable.
The sooner that the UK CAA drag themselves into the latter half of the 20th Century and allow Police ops to catch up with the rest of the world, the better.
My 6c worth
