jimf671

I am an engineer with experience of public procurement from both sides of the fence so I know where to go looking for the information.

Same again

Just spoken with the Bristow SAR training department Crab. They are extremely grateful and you will be pleased to know that I did not take the credit for your suggestion. I can't promise anything but there was talk of a Bristow Innovation Award. You are on the list of nominees - well done.

jimf671

SameAgain, if that's an indicator that a world-class standard of sarcasm is available within Bristow SAR then it is good news for their assimilation with local culture when operatiing out of Inverness.

lowfat

UK's new search and rescue helicopter service takes off at Humberside Airport | Grimsby Telegraph

jimf671

Recent training with Bristow Humberside is shown on the following website.

SAR helicopter awareness training with new Bristow Sikorsky S92A aircraft operating out of Humberside International Airport - Bolton Mountain Rescue Team

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Surely, with such a huge investment in 'state of the art' modern aircraft and superbly trained crews - it should be much, much better, not just 'as good as'!

Lucky they have the same 4 hours a day training allocation to hone those skill sets..................oh no, wait a minute.........................

jimf671

A good point Crab. However, I am concerned that it is a point that you then go on to over-play.

Until now the different providers have had different career paths and different crew structures including approaches to captaincy and command. Amongst bidders for this contract, there were also slightly different approaches in career path and command.

There will now be no three year tours, not everyone up front will have to be captain qualified, no commander up the back, and other differences. Although there will inevitably be a few who leave after a few years, we can expect most crew members to have a long career building up considerable experience in the way that you and others have done in SAR Force and the Fleet Air Arm.

I know that some on the bid teams looked at these factors during the bidding process. Perhaps one of them can step in and give us a thorough analysis.


The amount of training with MRT under the new regime has been questioned by teams across the country. However, the history is of teams not asking for enough from either military or civilian flights.


(Three months from now it will be a brave man who tells a certain about to be former Master Aircrew that he's doing a crap job just because he's wearing a different colour onesie and using a shed load of better kit.)

P3 Bellows

So Crab. If you had not been seen as a social media loose cannon and had now been in the employ of Bristows (all that experience) what would you be doing differently from what you have done in the past. Just imagine yourself in the new role and tell us what you would be doing now because you wanted to be, and could have been, part of it.

So rather than seem a bit bitter and twisted; tell us how you would be conducting yourself had your application been accepted.

P3

P6 Driver

There seems to be a little bitchiness creeping into this thread.

Not good reading for those who are impartial.

llamaman

P6 Driver. Sadly it's a theme running through this (and many other) threads. Some really valuable and incisive comments are consistently undermined by pointless willy -waving and conflict of egos. I guess that's the downside of an open forum.

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P3 - I suspect I would have been doing exactly what my ex-colleagues are doing - getting on with it and keeping my head down, hoping that someone in charge has a plan that will work.

Any shortcomings in training hours provision were put in place long before any of us were interviewed for positions and the training pipeline will have been dictated by cost in order to keep the bid lower than everyone else's.

The people involved in creating the bid may well have been qualified SAR guys but what experience did they have of being training providers of front-line SAR?

They had to sell their business case to 'big' Bristow and win the competition - training is an easy target when you are not a trainer - perhaps you can understand my opposition to the whole process because I have been a trainer for the last 30 years.

Loose cannon maybe - but what were they afraid of? Someone asking pertinent questions?

Again, not bitter or twisted - you and others seem determined that I should be - just disappointed that someone could be so petty and small-minded.

Jim - yes, in a few years time, there will be the requisite experience in role and on type - that is fine but the service has to be at the required standard from the word go, not building up to the required standard over 5 years.

avturboy

Simple question ... having visited Caernarfon today I see the building is complete, when do ops start there?

jimf671

Caernarfon (replaces Valley), 2 x Sikorsky S-92, 1 July 2015.

The chief pilot may be known to many of this parish.

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the Japanese sniper returns

jimf671

Your career in the diplomatic service has been cancelled Crab. AGAIN.

Clever Richard

Those on this thread constantly berating the military way of doing things must be annoyed that the boss of the first civvy base is ex-RAF SAR. Just to rub it in, she might have been trained by Crab. Ouch!


Quick question, what is the Caernarfon chief pilot's background?

jimf671

As at Humberside, it will be someone with considerable experience of civilian SAR flying.

;-)

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Ex-RAF SAR as well He left to work with Irish CG and now Bristow.

Clever Richard - which base are we talking about?

Same again

Can I suggest you read the posts again Clever Richard? The berating is mostly by Crab and his fellow cast members towards civilianised SAR and Bristow. Most of the crew members of Bristow UK SAR are ex-military so are not likely to berate their own backgrounds.

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Hmmm - sounds like massberation to me