Happy or No?

[Yellowbaron]

Things must get better?
How can we help?
What about the new shift plans?
One crew trains as one crew?
4 need wets then 4 fly on one sortie? Not 1 on 4 sorties.
Engineers 12 hour shifts. 3days, 3 nights, 6 off. Or 4 days 4 off, 4 nights 4 off?100% maint.
:confused:

[gashman]

I sympathise with these problems. Guard against a "grass is greener" approach to our job. I'm living on the "other side" at the moment and there are certainly a few patches of brown grass over here.

So how does this core working week of the RN's work? Seems like a good idea, as long as we keep the flex to be able to "push it up" when we need to, rather than have a fixed number of working hours per week.

As for fixed crews, we used to "crew up" for major exercises and Ops, and I have to say it helped out to second guess what your crewee was thinking when the tac environmet got a tad busy.

Maybe look further afield to see if other services/countries have had these probs and solved them?

[Yellowbaron]

How about we just do our job?
Cover military flights.
When they cease flying we go onto pager and are always ready for big disasters ie Piper Alpha etc..
As we lose people/experience/airframe hours that is all we will be able to do.

[Brain Potter]

I would be very surprised if there is any period of time longer than just a few minutes when there are no military aircraft airborne in the UK FIRs.

[whowhenwhy]

Yes but they'll be american. Hours, that feel like days, can go by without an RAF ac airborne within the FIR. Is it just me, or since Telic have we flown a LOT less than we used to?

[ralphmalph]

Don't know about RAF aircraft but there are probably plenty RN and Army aircraft flying!!!:confused:

[Bob Viking]

20 ish fast jet squadrons, 10 ish multi squadrons and lots of helos in the RAF nowadays. Chances of there being many quiet periods. Slim to bugg3r all I would say!
I would say there's still plenty of flying. Telic doesn't have so much to do with it. Bloody defence cuts might though!
BV;)

[JTIDS]

How about we buy a new aircraft...

Or if that is too much, how about reversing the decision on putting the engineering out to contract....

[Brain Potter]

whowhenwhy - they might be talking to London or Scottish Control?

With some of our schedules it often feels like we are the only ac airborne in the FIR (at 0300).

[buoy15]

Brain

Are SCATCMIL and LATCTMIL awake at that time of morning ?

The lonliest flight in the world is transitting the pond, west to east, at 27k, not on NATS, at 0200z, for 6 hrs, listening to World Service on HF for company

You may get the odd banter on Chatline 131.8 or Frieght Train 123.45

However, as a last resort, you can still plunder the Porn Bag for a good read - if you have one !

[tablet_eraser]

buoy15, as someone who has to watch you trudging back in at 0200Z, I know just how boring it is! And yes, LATCC and ScATCC are both awake at that time, D&D as cantankerous as ever ;) (as I think I would be if some scopie called me with a dial-through emergency during the small-hour re-run of Diagnosis Murder)!

[Brain Potter]

At least there are no "Practice Pan, Practice Pan...." calls on guard at that time of night :O