SAR Helicopter Aircrew International Society

[Arctic Tern]

I am considering launching an International Society for SAR Helicopter Aircrew and am keen to run a quick survey to see whether anyone out there is interested in joining. This Society (if we get enough interest) will be a non-profit making organisation that will be focused on the effective sharing of information and news for SAR helicopter crews. I appreciate that a number of other outfits have tried this, with varying degrees of success; nevertheless, I believe we have a recipe that will attract the majority of SAR Boys in the UK. I don't suspect that Shepards need to start worrying yet!!!
I hope the moderators will tolerate this post, particularly as its all done for the benefit of helicopter aviators :ok:
Please PM me with your thoughts.

[Heliport]

No problem at all - you're very welcome to make this thread your survey which will give you a more accurate idea than inviting people to PM you.

Why not kick off with some information & news for SAR helicopter crews?


Heliport

[Arctic Tern]

Thanks Heliport.
I will produce some news and views for a future post. For what it's worth, I have received some encouraging responses. Infact, I forgot all about the Police Aviation crews. These guys do some excellent work in assisting the military SAR crews. If there's anyone else out there who feels that they have a contribution to SAR who want to join a Helicopter SAR Society please join this thread.
On a different note, the aviation press has been littered with details of Asian and Eastern European countries who have been spending lots of cash on SAR helicopter capabilities. Thailand, Malaysia, Russia, China and Slovenia to mention just a few. Has there been a new ICAO directive on SAR coverage? More importantly, lots of these countries are buying Russian choppers like the Mil-171, why is it that Eurocopter, Westlands, Agusta Bell, etc aren't winning these contracts?
Finally, what is the general feeling about MCA Harmonization and the possibility of civilian SAR crews rescueing downed FJ pilots in the future?
That should be enough to generate some feedback.

[JKnife]

I see in another posting (Defibrillator use in flight) you mention the SARworld.com (www.sarworld.com) website but you haven't mentioned it here. Are you involved with this website and are trying to increase it's scope or are you trying to set something up that is different and/or in competition with it?

It just sounds like you are trying to set up something that is already in place although admittedly the SARworld website doesn't appear to have been that well publicised outside of those already in SAR.

JKnife

[Arctic Tern]

Jknife.
What a suspicious mind you have. By the way, can I assume from your logon name that you are a SAR Boy ????
I started this thread with a genuine interest in establishing whether there is sufficient support for launching a SAR Boys society. Perhaps you could advise me!!!
Regarding SARworld, I have no intention of attempting to compete with these boys. From what I can see they are slowly gathering a loyal readership and I can only assume that they do not have the financial resources to advertise their site more widely; particularly as they claim to be a non-profit making venture.

[JKnife]

Arctic Tern

Anything that can bring together the SAR crews of this world to an open forum can only be good, be they civil or military.

However, just be careful of the term "SAR boys". There are some very capable "SAR girls" in the job as well. The UK military have had female SAR pilots for 10 years now, and I suspect there are more on other SAR operations throughout the world as well.

I take it that by including the Police units, you also mean the HEMS as well?

Good luck with the venture and I look forward to reading more about it in time.

JKnife

[Autorotate]

Arctic Tern - Anything I can do to help promote the cause and get the word out around the globe please drop me a PM.

:E

[matador]

I think it's a great idea and will find a great support among the people involved, but it would be good to know what type of SAR we're talking about, i.e. montain SAR, maritime SAR, ...
Buen vuelo:O

[Arctic Tern]

JKnife, Autorotate, matador.
VMT for your responses. I will update Pprune on our progress soon. In answer to the questions; yes we mean to include HEMS, Police, Fire, MRTs SAR helos (boys and girls) and any other rescue organisations. Please spread the word and keep reading Pprune for more news. If you want more info about who is gonna run things, or the basic constitution then PM me.

Arctic

[Arctic Tern]

Haven't had a huge amount of interest to my request for feedback on the International SAR Society suggestion. I have to assume that if people aren't willing to respond to my posts on a variety of bulletin boards then they are even less likely to make the effort to apply to be members of a SAR society. I will continue to test the water via other means.