Originally Posted by
jeepys
... it would not prove financially viable to have a rescue helicopter every 30 miles for instance. ...
This, of course is where we have come from in the distant past. When this all started, if they needed a SAR helicopter across the other side of the country, somebody put it on a truck and drove it there.
(Plenty of stories of Whirlwind and predecessors not making it as far as 30 miles.)