How can ten hours per month be enough for that - especially when pilots have IF stats to complete as well? SAR can be a risky business and serious skill fade afflicts even the most experienced of operators.
If 20-25 hours a month is the requirement to deliver competency on the quoted wide variety of SAR skills could one of the RAF/RN pilots please divulge their annual total of flying in SAR for the last 12 months.
I estimate based on 25 hours/month with taskings on top I would expect you must be flying about 450-500 hours a year? Is this correct?
10 hours/month is too simplistic a calculation not taking in to account leave, sim training and various other commitments that remove a crew member from his/her flying duties. The estimated work pattern for BHL crew is 7-8 shifts a month restricted by FTL and ultimately the WTD of 2000 hours. This equates to about 15 hours a month, with taskings on top you're looking at roughly 25 hours a month. If that's flown over an average of 7 shifts in the month you're in the air for over 3.5 hours per shift. That doesn't sound insignificant to me. In fact it almost exactly reflects my own flying for the last 12 months having taken my full compliment of leave and 2 sim trips.
Flying in a civilian SAR unit I have never taken note of how many hours there are remaining for training that month. I don't know any crew who has and even if they did I firmly believe they would go training anyway. I know they would have the backing of the company to train beyond currency to competency.
I cannot imagine a scenario where crews were informed by MFO there would be no more training as the hours had run out.
Flounder (Just an unskilled, incompetent try hard staring through the misted perspex trying to do my best)