advice: S76 or AS 365 or ...?
Some of us in a land far away, years ago, were called "God's own Lunatics".....for good reason too.
I am quite comfy discussing this from the safety of my office chair, fine glass of Scotland's finest in my hand.....Toby Keith singing about a boot in someone's butt.
The real deal will be something else again....anyone of us who has been involved in those two way shooting range affairs can attest to that. I spent six weeks one time remembering why I should have stuck to the old soldiers rule of "Never volunteer for anything at anytime for any reason."
So far, what I have heard does not fill my heart with confidence that this is a venture for a married man with kids or an elderly parent that depends upon them for support.
As B-zorg points out....
Day time only, uniquely marked aircraft, single ship operation, no armor, no guns, no cover, no SAR, flying into the same places, probably using the same routes, altitudes, and non-secure comms....with lots of folks knowing the schedule ahead of time. Why one might as well paint "Shoot Me!" on the side of the aircraft and a great big ol' bullseye target on the belly. If you are haulling someone of some import.....he is by golly gonna be a target for the bad guys....and even if you show up in a Donald Trump S-61 with gold plated door handles.....you will still be the meat for the main course.
Better make sure you have lots of insurance that covers suicide....the insurance company will call it a war zone and seek to escape that way but I suggest one's counsel could well argue that the policy would still apply due to the suicide clause. Does it matter if I jump from a tall building or take on something like this....the end result is the same. Whether that logic will hold up in court.....now that is another thing.
I am quite comfy discussing this from the safety of my office chair, fine glass of Scotland's finest in my hand.....Toby Keith singing about a boot in someone's butt.
The real deal will be something else again....anyone of us who has been involved in those two way shooting range affairs can attest to that. I spent six weeks one time remembering why I should have stuck to the old soldiers rule of "Never volunteer for anything at anytime for any reason."
So far, what I have heard does not fill my heart with confidence that this is a venture for a married man with kids or an elderly parent that depends upon them for support.
As B-zorg points out....
Day time only, uniquely marked aircraft, single ship operation, no armor, no guns, no cover, no SAR, flying into the same places, probably using the same routes, altitudes, and non-secure comms....with lots of folks knowing the schedule ahead of time. Why one might as well paint "Shoot Me!" on the side of the aircraft and a great big ol' bullseye target on the belly. If you are haulling someone of some import.....he is by golly gonna be a target for the bad guys....and even if you show up in a Donald Trump S-61 with gold plated door handles.....you will still be the meat for the main course.
Better make sure you have lots of insurance that covers suicide....the insurance company will call it a war zone and seek to escape that way but I suggest one's counsel could well argue that the policy would still apply due to the suicide clause. Does it matter if I jump from a tall building or take on something like this....the end result is the same. Whether that logic will hold up in court.....now that is another thing.
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A very difficult environment to operate in safely particlarly when the contract has limitations imposed of the kind already mentioned. If you stand out from the crowd you make yourself a target, as a helicopter you are a kudos kill for insurgents, something to boast about. When you are operating into regular haunts by yourself with limited self protection you are going to have problems. Varying route, operating heights, and timings are good procedures however if the landing point is the same it focuses a strike option to that location. Lots of low tech communications, mobile phones, giving your time of lift and direction of travel will be used to plot your downfall. I would sugest another chat with the contractor.
Good luck
Good luck
Armed sentry types that do not venture forth from behind reinforced concrete cover are making $600 per day. Those guys that go mobile and thus are taking the bigger risks are making up to $1,000 per day. One outfit over there has lost 9 guys in 90 days.
This is still very much a shooting war.
This is still very much a shooting war.
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I have a friend out there at the moment on the ground doing risk assessment for £80-90k.
Flight crews for that operation would require in excess of £100k
I guess.
Iwouldn't do it for less
and i'd need good medical cover
and insurance
and access to reliable int
and personal protection
and something to put my head under when it all gets out of hand
Flight crews for that operation would require in excess of £100k
I guess.
Iwouldn't do it for less
and i'd need good medical cover
and insurance
and access to reliable int
and personal protection
and something to put my head under when it all gets out of hand
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SASless
Interesting to hear all the talk of aerial tactics. The guys I use to drink with at a bar in Bangkok got taken in their house at night. Unless your living and working on a military base, your real security risk is when your not flying, on the ground! No amount of money, small or large can be spent after they saw your head off.
Cheers
Interesting to hear all the talk of aerial tactics. The guys I use to drink with at a bar in Bangkok got taken in their house at night. Unless your living and working on a military base, your real security risk is when your not flying, on the ground! No amount of money, small or large can be spent after they saw your head off.
Cheers
Musket 33,
Dear boy....I have been taken in places all over the world....including Bangkok.....at least there you feel good about being taken unlike some other places.
The trick old chum is live in a neighborhood where there are plenty of guys with guns.....that all dress the same and use Kodiak....listen to Toby Keith and make animal sounds like "OOHRAH!", which they use as a universal greeting, sign of affirmation, endearment, and victory chant after whacking some bad guy in a most permanent way.
A lot of people in this world may not care for such company....but I find the rent much more agreeable in those neighborhoods. A case of beer or a bottle of Scotland's finest goes a long way towards improving the security aspect. Living out on the economy is not one of the choices.
Your current employer would have you doing your own shopping and living in the Osama bin Zarqawi housing estate maybe.....assuming that was the cheapest digs around....but maybe not these new outfits.
Dear boy....I have been taken in places all over the world....including Bangkok.....at least there you feel good about being taken unlike some other places.
The trick old chum is live in a neighborhood where there are plenty of guys with guns.....that all dress the same and use Kodiak....listen to Toby Keith and make animal sounds like "OOHRAH!", which they use as a universal greeting, sign of affirmation, endearment, and victory chant after whacking some bad guy in a most permanent way.
A lot of people in this world may not care for such company....but I find the rent much more agreeable in those neighborhoods. A case of beer or a bottle of Scotland's finest goes a long way towards improving the security aspect. Living out on the economy is not one of the choices.
Your current employer would have you doing your own shopping and living in the Osama bin Zarqawi housing estate maybe.....assuming that was the cheapest digs around....but maybe not these new outfits.
430....11 seats...some fuel...+48C....you sure? This isn't a place where you use a motorway for an emergency landing and wait for the engineers.
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There are people recruiting at the moment for pilots out there reputedly to fly either BO 105 or BK 117. 117 has a reasonable load but the bolkow will carry b@**%r all in those temps.
Strange crowd
Strange crowd
There is a certain amount of risk involved in Iraq!
Bear this information in mind....working in Iraq has some risks that transcend those normally encountered when working overseas. Make sure you are properly insured for all contingencies....death, dismemberment, permanent disability...longterm health care...medical repatriation. If the employer does not do that....I personally would pass the offer of employment along to someone else.
Foreign contractors, too, are often targeted by anti-U.S. guerrillas. At least 232 American civilian security and reconstruction contractors were killed in Iraq up to the end of 2004, according to the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
The Blackwater employees killed Saturday were in the last vehicle in a four-vehicle convoy and were traveling to Hillah from Baghdad, Callahan said. A foreign security official said they were in a black Chevrolet Suburban. The road south traverses an area known as the "Triangle of Death" because of the frequency of insurgent attacks.
"I can confirm that two American employees of Blackwater Security were killed early yesterday afternoon on the road to Hillah when an IED exploded next to their vehicle, Callahan said Sunday.
An IED is a military acronym for an improvised explosive device, or homemade bomb.
Officials at Blackwater's headquarters in Moyock, North Carolina, could not be reached for comment.
In March 2004, four Blackwater employees were killed in the turbulent city of Fallujah, and two of the corpses were hung from a bridge, triggering a bloody three-week siege of the restive Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad soon afterward.
Foreign contractors, too, are often targeted by anti-U.S. guerrillas. At least 232 American civilian security and reconstruction contractors were killed in Iraq up to the end of 2004, according to the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
The Blackwater employees killed Saturday were in the last vehicle in a four-vehicle convoy and were traveling to Hillah from Baghdad, Callahan said. A foreign security official said they were in a black Chevrolet Suburban. The road south traverses an area known as the "Triangle of Death" because of the frequency of insurgent attacks.
"I can confirm that two American employees of Blackwater Security were killed early yesterday afternoon on the road to Hillah when an IED exploded next to their vehicle, Callahan said Sunday.
An IED is a military acronym for an improvised explosive device, or homemade bomb.
Officials at Blackwater's headquarters in Moyock, North Carolina, could not be reached for comment.
In March 2004, four Blackwater employees were killed in the turbulent city of Fallujah, and two of the corpses were hung from a bridge, triggering a bloody three-week siege of the restive Sunni Muslim city west of Baghdad soon afterward.
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There are however different results depending on the operator. A lot of South African and US personnel have been killed but fewer UK operators have lost people, if any. Different methods of operation have differrent results.
