Ah! KiwiNedNZ! I was thinking about this just the other day as I changed my calendar to the last page.
Here goes.
Daft on aviation since an early age but in my teens it became clear my eyes weren't good enough. Walked away.
Some years later I joined a mountain rescue team. That involved flying in Westland Sea King, Westland Wessex and Sikorsky S-61N. Usually, this occurred when it was dark or snowing or both.
In 2009, the bid process for the later-withdrawn 25 year contract for UK SAR Helicopters was in progress. Nearly everyone who talked or wrote about it was clearly talking fanciful rubbish. I wanted the facts and I wanted all of our guys in the team to have the facts.
Through the collapse of that bid process, and then through the bid and implementations for the GAP and MAIN UK SAR Helicopter Service contracts, I have kept digging for the facts and trying to pass those on to SAR volunteers, police, and the wider public. Along the way I have been sought out by national bodies, police, journalists and others to help them understand the changes. I had the chance to travel across the world and share free lunches, a lot of coffee and a lot of Powerpoint with some of the world's greatest SAR airmen. (Not forgetting the opportunity to be a complete pain in the 4r5e on pprune. Thanks guys for putting up with me.)
Still at it. Ran a MR helicopter training exercise on Saturday and talked helo stuff with police on Sunday and again yesterday.
If all else fails, read the instructions.