PPRuNe Forums

PPRuNe Forums (https://www.pprune.org/)
-   Military Aviation (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation-57/)
-   -   ULTIMATE RESCUE HELICOPTER (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/492123-ultimate-rescue-helicopter.html)

KPax 3rd Aug 2012 15:18

ULTIMATE RESCUE HELICOPTER
 
Watch the second part of the new series 'helicopter rescue' and the commentator quoted 'Sea King, the ultimate rescue helicopter, is this true?

david parry 3rd Aug 2012 19:11

Nope he should have said a Wessex;)

Willard Whyte 3rd Aug 2012 19:44

If I were a long way out at sea I'd rather there was a '53E on standby.

TorqueOfTheDevil 3rd Aug 2012 20:40


'Sea King, the ultimate rescue helicopter, is this true?
The Sea King is the ultimate military rescue helicopter in the UK.

leopold bloom 3rd Aug 2012 21:09

Sea King
 
Yes, of course it is.:ok:

TheWizard 3rd Aug 2012 22:11

Fixed for you


Originally Posted by TorqueOfTheDevil (Post 7341151)
The Sea King is the ultimate yellow military rescue helicopter flown by the RAF in the UK


Willard Whyte 4th Aug 2012 00:46


The Sea King is the only military rescue helicopter in the UK.
Fixed for you, again.

Oh, so glad I don't have to attempt to regurgitate any trite 'mission statements' any more.


"To generate and sustain a world-leading Search and Rescue capability, including Command Control and Coordination, helicopters and Mountain Rescue Service Force elements, to be a force for good and contribute to the Ministry of Defence's mission"
More barf than SARF.

SASless 4th Aug 2012 01:31

errrrrr....not quite true about the Sea King being the only.....seems to remember some USAF Helicopters being there as well.

Old-Duffer 4th Aug 2012 05:26

All this stuff about 'ultimate rescue helicopters' .... if you are bobbing about in the oggin, you will be grateful for ANY rescue helicopter. You also know that the guys and gals flying these things will do their very, very best to get you - be grateful!

Interestingly, however, one of the pilots did discuss what would happen if the aircraft got into difficulties and I'm not sure I've heard stated explicitly on camera before.

My fear about what replaces Sea King, is will it be 'best of breed' or 'cheapest' and bought to keep some MP's constituents in a job. I saw recently an aircraft, supposedly being offered as an SAR cab, in which the crew couldn't stand upright in the back :ugh::{

O-D

diginagain 4th Aug 2012 05:38

You can stand upright in the back of a JIGSAW 332L2.
But only if you're a Person Of Restricted Growth.

effortless 4th Aug 2012 07:04

Watched a rescue attempt in Brighton a few weeks ago. Didn't recognise the helo at all. Looked very civvy to me. Didn't look to have a lot of room inside either but I guess it was cheap to run. Unsuccessful rescue but not SARS fault.

Old-Duffer 4th Aug 2012 08:50

What's The Solution?
 
Maybe the time has come with this Thread to move it on.

Sea King has proved a pretty good cab but the airframes etc are now approaching or past their sell by date.

First question then: would a fleet replacement of Sea Kings by new Sea Kings with updated cockpits and other goodies be an answer ie is the spec of the current Sea King 3A still fit for purpose?

Second question: if the answer to the first question is 'NO' - however you wish to express that word, what represents an outline spec for an SAR aircraft which fulfils the needs of the UK, Falklands and wherever else we want to provide SAR cover?

Third question: Is the current RN/RAF/Coastguard mix efficient, sustainable, necessary and if not, what should it be and what would the basing strategy be?

Old Duffer

Willard Whyte 4th Aug 2012 09:26

I suspect, as ever, that a greater proportion of mission success can be put down to the crews not the airframe.

A shame some people, on the many threads covering capabilities of kit, seem to take any criticism of their (current or former) mount as criticism of their operational skills. In truth their ability to cope with sub-optimal equipment highlights crews' abilities even more.

dervish 4th Aug 2012 09:37


Sea King has proved a pretty good cab but the airframes etc are now approaching or past their sell by date.
New Sea Kings continued to be built into the 90s so many are nowhere near the hours of the original Mk1s. I think the tooling was scrapped after the 3A buy in 93-94. The oddity of the SK fleet is that most of the ASaCs, which by common consent are superb, are original Mk1s. This was because they were meant to be purely temporary, with Merlins being the preferred/best bid for the upgrade to Mk7. But then the RN insisted on specifying new Sea Kings, rejecting Merlin. As new ones couldn’t be built, and the RN wouldn’t swap the old cabs for newer ones which were surplus, the old ones had to be modified. Because of this, DGA(N) withdrew support for the Mk7 programme.



First question then: would a fleet replacement of Sea Kings by new Sea Kings with updated cockpits and other goodies be an answer ie is the spec of the current Sea King 3A still fit for purpose?
At the RAF’s insistence, to save money the spec of the Mk3A was actually downgraded from what had been developed in the 80s. Other parts of it are excellent. I think most would say the 3A is fit for purpose. They are 25 years newer than most of the Mk7s, so someone will make good use of them.

10W 4th Aug 2012 10:29

Taking Gannet SAR Flight as an example, 298 call outs in 2011 with 240 people given assistance.

Any new cabs replacing the Sea King will have quite a tough act to follow :ok:

Old-Duffer 4th Aug 2012 11:15

Just This Once,

No, Sir, the previous correspondence hasn't passed me by. I posed the questions because after the - how can I put this delicately - difficulties over the way forward, I have seen nothing which convinces me that the services are going to get out of the SAR business anytime soon. It follows that until I see an alternative 'game plan' with a robust transition plan, I judge nobody actually knows where this is all going. I am cynical/realistic enough to know that we shan't simply bin SAR and leave it all to the coastguards

I have always regarded military run SAR as being a pretty good recruiting Sgt and it is very popular amongst the civvy population. The decision to send Flt Lt Wales to SAR was a master stroke in many ways.

One only needs to look at almost every facet of public policy to know that:
a. we are deep in the smelly stuff.
b. nobody seems to actually have a grasp of the way forward.
c the political elite is doing what they always do when a and b apply and that is; look at all sorts of unimportant issues - HofL reform, gay marriage etc, elected police commissioners - which will cost money we don't have.
I'm not being party political just wondering what the country is sliding towards.

Old Duffer

Just This Once... 4th Aug 2012 11:17


...how can I put this delicately - difficulties over the way forward
Fair enough!:ok:

Sun Who 4th Aug 2012 14:42

SAR-H
 

I am cynical/realistic enough to know that we shan't simply bin SAR and leave it all to the coastguards
And yet, amazingly, 'we' will.
Sadly, military SAR is a lifed service. No MoD money will be spent on it post transition to MCA SAR, and that transition willhappen on time.

Sun.

TorqueOfTheDevil 4th Aug 2012 15:25

Oh dear, it was clearly too much to expect people to understand what ultimate actually means...

As for a replacement, the only capability which a modern aircraft has, which the Sea King lacks, is the ability to transit at a decent speed.


All times are GMT. The time now is 10:30.


Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.