Helicopter groundcrews

[Tony Chambers]

I'm not a pilot but have over 14 years of working on the ground with rotary with some left hand seat work assisting with navigation and observation. A couple of questions here.
1 this is a great forum but is there any other groundies out there and do we have a forum to chat about ground related rotary issues or should we continue groundy topics in here?
2 Whats the pilots views on groundies? Some hate us some just get on with us.
3 whats the pilots views on those who are not pilots but have an interest or ground experience actually putting their views on here.
Not trying to stir things up just finding the right place to chat about ground related rotary issues and not just the tech and flight stuff. :ok:

[NickLappos]

Tony,
I dont know about others, but I depend on my ground crew for critical operations, where they hold the safety of the operation in their hands. Therefore, they are quite important in my book, and they are fully briefed, fully qualified members of the team.

[autosync]

It would take a very stupid arrogant pilot to upset or piss off anyone on the ground!

[helicopter-redeye]

Stick with us Groundies, we need to know whats going on when we are in the air ....

:O

[ShyTorque]

You are very often an essential part of the team so why not post your stuff here too! :ok:

[Aesir]

"2 Whats the pilots views on groundies? Some hate us some just get on with us."

I have never meet a pilot who hate´s ground personnell, of course some time pilots may become annoyed if mistakes are made due to the nature of operation but hate or dislike, No.

We are all part of a team engineers, pilots, operations, ATC, ground personnell, refuelers and so on and it´s great to hear everones views on this forum as long as its helicopter related.

[handysnaks]

and remember, quite a lot of us were groundies first:D

[Gomer Pylot]

It has been my experience over the years that you will find as#$%@es everywhere, in the air and on the ground. My usual approach is to ignore those and get along with everyone else. In many operations, pilots can, if necessary get along without too much help on the ground. We can do the dispatching ourselves, and do our own refuelling, etc, but it's a lot more work, and I respect anyone who makes my life easier. Maintenance technicians are a group that it's impossible to get along without, and I always respect them. In short, we're all in this together, so creating friction is simply stupid. Whatever you do on the ground, do it well and you'll get the respect of most of the pilots, and the rest aren't worth worrying about.

[Tony Chambers]

Thanks to all those that posted a reply it's great to see that groundies do get the respect they deserve. Air or ground we are all keeping the industry flying. I posted this because as an ex forces groundy alot of comments are made by some mil pilots that groundies are useless and not needed.
Nicklapos - fully qualified members of the team. So are your groundies in the USA qualified?

[CyclicRick]

Good groundcrew are worth their weight in gold.
The bunch I work with are a mob of insulting/smelly/p*** taking reprobates, but I luv 'em 'cos the're great and to a good job. I trust them in everything, and they trust me too. They are not adversed to ask my advice just as much as I ask theirs too on anything, they can critisize aswell.
I started out in the AAC as one, it was good fun and I enjoyed it very much. Now I'm on the other side and it's nice to see what I looked like from this perpective.

:ok:

[Oogle]

Who gives a toss what pilots think! Some are too far up themselves for my liking.

The air and groundcrews are an essential part of a helicopter operation especially SAR/EMS.

These are words from a pilot. ;)

Keep up the good work.