I don't think Ladbrokes are giving odds of Inverness being up to speed with 189s by 1 April
Well not this year anyway>
Manston might move to Lydd which would therefore make the case for moving Lee on Solent to Portland
If that happens, don't get into trouble on the East coast as you will have only Humberside between Inverness and Lydd - oh, I forgot, the new helicopters are so fast it will make that all work!
10-base solution my @rse!
My money for the FI would go on BIH TC not Bristow (who have enough problems in this country!)
With you on most of that Crab.
Expecting S-92 at Inverness and that will probably be confirmed in a couple of weeks.
Moving the 'vicinity of Wattisham' base even further south would not be clever. The Manston situation should be taken as an opportunity to move north and close the gap between there and Humberside.
I don't see too much wrong with the basic concept of the 10 Base Solution. The Bristow version however has the shortcomings to which you allude.