baze

Hi guys and girls.

can you please help me out, I might be moving to Edinburgh and I am looking for all Heli operators in the area (if any) within 1:30 hr traveling. I have 2500+ hrs, AS332 & SA365 rated, me/ir, sar/nvg/sling etc....

all info would be really appreciated

Hot_LZ

PDG work out of Cumbernauld.

Bristow/CHC/Bond from Aberdeen.

A few guys who work from ABZ live in the central belt.

LZ

baze

thanks LZ, tell me....those guys living in the central belt, do you know if they travel each day to ABZ or stay during the working days there?

Baze

Bravo73

It's a 2.5 to 3hrs drive from Edinburgh to Aberdeen. I personally don't think that I would want to be doing that twice a day.

John R81

Much quicker commute by helicopter - under 50 min from Cumbrhnauld if you arn't sightseeing. At least thats what the VMED said last time I did it Engine start to stop, flight time 40 min

misterbonkers

What a great idea! Spend most of your wages commuting by helicopter!:

If the cost of the helicopter doesn't break the Aberdeen landing and handling probably will (or the weather!) Lol.

I suspect PDG may be interested in your talents and their Cumbernauld base Isn't too far from Edinburgh. If you PM me I'll send you the appropriate contact info.

baze

Thanks all,

I´m aware of length of travelling by car, was not sure of other transport f.eks if direct-railway would be an option

misterbonkers, I´ll PM you thanks again

Finnrotor.com

Bond (air services) also has 135's based in Glasgow for police & ambulance and a 105 in Perth, if those are not too far away for you..

Bravo73

That information is also readily available online.

nationalrail.co.uk tells me that there is the occasional train direct from Edinburgh to Dyce. It takes 2hrs 37mins. Dyce station is close to one of the ABZ operators; the other side of the airfield is a taxi (or very occasional bus) ride away.

Would I want to do that every day? Definitely not. Would it be realistic to do that before a flying duty? Nope.

John R81

I still say commute by helicopter - that's what I do

Bravo73

But you're not an offshore pilot, are you John?

tu154

Not doable by helicopter, not when you just have to be there for your report time regardless of the weather. Not on the days where you are on the first wave and wouldn't be able to land early enough to make your report time because the airport isn't open in time. Not on the days where the weather is good enough for a departure to offshore, but not a landing so you can't get in. Not on the days when you couldn't get out of your own landing site because of the weather. (And it's going to have to be a twin). Not on the days where your positioning flight would count towards your FTL and limit your flying. Not on the days where you land your last flight just as the airport closes.

There's enough pressure on trying to get your company flights away on the marginal days, without having the additional pressure of trying to get to work as well...

John R81

Bravo 73 :- Rats! You sussed me out!

tu154 - Yup! Agree all of the above. My rides are day/night VFR so lots of times when I can't be sure of Wx. as I have to make the trip then car / train / commercial flights are the only option. Occasionally I am driving along under better-than-forecast skies and wishing I was "up there" but very clear in my mind its preferable to the reverse. Never regretted taking the safer option.

Also there are days when the workload means I can't be sure to have the right mind-set to pilot myself, and then I take a CPL and (sometimes) make myself useful with coms / nav / passing a bottle of water. Other times I am not useful at all and just take the time to gaze out on God's wonderful creation.

(Didn't actually mean heli-commuting in Scotland for N Sea crew as a serious proposition. But then given the weather, the roads, the winter, I would not want to live too far out of Aberdeen if I needed to be somewhere on-time and early in the day. Certainly not as far as Edinburgh. I would look for accommodation closer to work, and on a road that is ploughed / gritted in the winter; and make sure to swap to winter tyres for November through March. Last couple of winters have been mild up there, but the two before reached -18 C (min temp) and stayed below 0 C for several weeks.)

Hot_LZ

Baez, apologies for my delayed response. The guys who live in the central belt most certainly do not commute. They are on the different rosters offered and stay up while working and back down when off.

The different rosters are:
5/2/5/9
7/7
15/13

Lz