cyclic

Surely the two very experienced ex-RAF SAR standards chaps will be able to look at it before then.

JerryG

Hullo happy SARers. After a long lay-off from prune it's great to see that the arguments (both sensible and otherwise) continue to flourish on this subject in such a significant year.
Can anybody please point me towards a definitive list of when military squadrons and bases are handing over to their civvy replacements?

jimf671

MoD bases

Inverness (replaces Lossiemouth), 3 x Agusta Westland AW189, 1April 2015
Humberside (replaces Leconfield), 2 x Sikorsky S-92, 1 April 2015
Caernarfon (replaces Valley), 2 x Sikorsky S-92, 1 July 2015
Manston (replaces Wattisham), 2 x Agusta Westland AW189, 1 July 2015
Boulmer - MOD service discontinued 30 Sept 2015
St Athan (replaces Chivenor), 2 x Agusta Westland AW189, 1 Oct 2015
Prestwick, 2 x Agusta Westland AW189, 1 Jan 2016
Newquay (replaces Culdrose), 2 x Sikorsky S-92, 1 Jan 2016


MCA bases

Sumburgh, 2 x Sikorsky S-92, 1 April 2017
Lee-on-Solent, 2 x Agusta Westland AW189, 1 April 2017
Portland - MCA service discontinued 30 June 2017
Stornoway, 3 x Sikorsky S-92, 1 July 2017


(Note that this means that although Sumburgh and Stornoway may appear to be part of the same fleet and using the same kit they are actually not on the same contract and not under the same technical requirements until 2017.)


[A new plan for Manston/Wattisham is awaited.]

Thomas coupling

And the Falklands Jim?

jimf671

Do you really think that is anything to do with Bristow, TC?

We'll all know in a week or two.

[email protected]

I don't think Ladbrokes are giving odds of Inverness being up to speed with 189s by 1 April Well not this year anyway>

Manston might move to Lydd which would therefore make the case for moving Lee on Solent to Portland If that happens, don't get into trouble on the East coast as you will have only Humberside between Inverness and Lydd - oh, I forgot, the new helicopters are so fast it will make that all work!

10-base solution my @rse!

My money for the FI would go on BIH TC not Bristow (who have enough problems in this country!)

vfr440

I heard pre-Christmas that BIH have the FI contract, FWIW - VFR

jonnyloove

My understanding was bristow was proving one aircraft for oil and Gas support and a SAR asset as well to support Premier Oils exploration plans down there.

satsuma

Premier Oil might want to sit on their hands. The Sea Lion prospect is pretty deep and pretty distant. That make it pretty expensive to extract and I'm not convinced $50 a barrel will cover it. (Not that this has anything to do with the proper SAR contract.)

jimf671

With you on most of that Crab.

Expecting S-92 at Inverness and that will probably be confirmed in a couple of weeks.

Moving the 'vicinity of Wattisham' base even further south would not be clever. The Manston situation should be taken as an opportunity to move north and close the gap between there and Humberside.

I don't see too much wrong with the basic concept of the 10 Base Solution. The Bristow version however has the shortcomings to which you allude.

llamaman

Unfortunately the amended basing solution will be driven primarily by commercial factors. Don't be surprised if that already uncomfortably large gap on the east coast becomes even larger. Faster cabs will be an improvement but they can only be in one place at one time!

[email protected]

I get the impression that Kent will be the answer.

an argument that no-one wanted to hear when the divvying up of the UK was going on

Same again

Thought I could hear whining from somewhere so guessed it might be here

HAL9000

What some call whining others would call valid criticism of the basing solution for a very important contract.
The original basing solution was supposed to have been driven by an in depth study of the required helicopter coverage. This begs the question; in moving the base from Manston to Lydd has the necessary re-evaluation been done?
Obviously, as the taxpayer is both funding the contract and the customer then this information will be freely available ... won't it?

jimf671

Yes, any whining in the background is an APU.

The UK Gov't is due to pay over £1.6bn for this across the next 11 years, so it better be good.

However, redacted is a bit of a theme throughout the available paperwork.

Spanish Waltzer

Caernarfon and Manston have the same start date (Jul 15). There has been much publicity regarding the infrastructure work starting at each of the new bases and I believe the new build at caernarfon is well underway to meet the timeline. I guess wherever the Manston solution is relocated to will need a local supplier of temporary hangars and porta-cabins......assuming there will be crews and aircraft to fill them?!

jimf671

WATCH: Work on new £7m Search and Rescue helicopter base is flying ahead - Daily Post

[email protected]

now we are talking proper old-fashioned military SAR Maybe that was what they meant by no-lesser service (than we had 30 years ago)

3D CAM

Crab, not just the military! Civvy Portland operated out of a condemned, by the Navy, hangar, and portacabins for getting on ten years. With a two/three month spell with the aircraft getting its TLC from the Engineers out of doors. Great days. Pretty much like the early days of BHL in the Falklands.
Off at a tangent... With a purpose built faciilty at Portland only ten years old! Why build another at Lydd? Surely with these new super fast, warp speed, two places at once helicopters, then Lee could stay in place as could Portland?? Money saving for everyone!!!!!

3D

shetlander

Quote from a recent Bristow document...