UK SAR 2013 privatisation: the new thread
Good answers 
Heard that before somewhere.
The situation we are in is one where Bristow will have to carry the can for every shortcoming of their customer's contract writing and the regulator's lack of experience of some of the operating conditions as well as any mistakes they make themselves. The military's excellent PR and outstanding crew performances in spite of some rubbish kit and poor support give Bristow an even steeper hill to climb.
With a few week to go, they need to be out there telling everyone about all the good stuff they are doing. This is the world they are operating in. They must have known all this when they signed the contract.
The situation we are in is one where Bristow will have to carry the can for every shortcoming of their customer's contract writing and the regulator's lack of experience of some of the operating conditions as well as any mistakes they make themselves. The military's excellent PR and outstanding crew performances in spite of some rubbish kit and poor support give Bristow an even steeper hill to climb.
With a few week to go, they need to be out there telling everyone about all the good stuff they are doing. This is the world they are operating in. They must have known all this when they signed the contract.
They must have had a pretty shrewd idea what the training burden would be when they signed the contract as well but their training system is creaking badly.
With a few week to go, they need to be out there telling everyone about all the good stuff they are doing. This is the world they are operating in. They must have known all this when they signed the contract.
Frankly I'm sure they have better things to do than right now than pander to yours, crabs and the orange ones need in here. Get a grip.
I should point out for the benefit of the "orange one" and others who have a long line of technical questions that I don't work for Bristows and have no involvement with the SAR contract. I do however know quite a few of the Bristows pilots.
What I object to is armchair experts; some with a "little knowledge" who state for the benefit of all that it's going to be s##t without knowing a great deal about it.
And Jim; what you are saying is that the MOD PR machine was able to paper over the cracks of some truly shocking serviceability issues and Bristows should be using a PR system to the same effect..........really?
It's not PR that matters to the individual who finds themselves in difficulty and in need of rescue.
It's not PR that matters to the individual who finds themselves in difficulty and in need of rescue.
Please don't fret Crab. Those currently training with Bristow have actually flown helicopters before, have rescued people in distress before and will do so again in nice, shiny, new helicopters without too much trouble.
Info please
So we can fill in some of the missing gaps of information can somebody please tell me when Bristows were awarded the UK SAR contract. Not a rough date but the exact date please.
Perhaps Crab, Tango, Jim or Vsf can help out here as they are as we know the experts and fonts of all knowledge.
Perhaps Crab, Tango, Jim or Vsf can help out here as they are as we know the experts and fonts of all knowledge.
The greatest thing about SAR Seakings are the four pink floppy components in the green onesies.
New colour of onesy, some gold bars, couple of thousand more shaft horsepower and the job's a goodun.
Then there's the .. em ... eh ... paperwork of course.
So we can fill in some of the missing gaps of information can somebody please tell me when Bristows were awarded the UK SAR contract. Not a rough date but the exact date please.
Perhaps Crab, Tango, Jim or Vsf can help out here as they are as we know the experts and fonts of all knowledge.
Perhaps Crab, Tango, Jim or Vsf can help out here as they are as we know the experts and fonts of all knowledge.
26th March 2013
The bidders had their phonecalls several days before that and some other elements lagged a bit. It was a couple of months before the redacted contract docs were in the public domain.
If you search for UK SAR Helicopter Service on businesslink you should find the contract docs and some stuff is still on the DfT bit of gov.uk.
the MOD PR machine was able to paper over the cracks of some truly shocking serviceability issues
And on plenty of occasions (even in recent years when the 2nd Standby requirement had been dropped), the RAF SAR units have managed to get both their aircraft airborne simultaneously on SAROps.
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Being from the semi-detached part of the UK an a frequent traveller on the ferries, what happens when something like this happens again ?
Sealink-Holyhead
Sealink-Holyhead
Please don't fret Crab. Those currently training with Bristow have actually flown helicopters before, have rescued people in distress before and will do so again in nice, shiny, new helicopters without too much trouble.
Fortunately there are some with all the relevant skill sets and experience but it is not the case that all have by any means. The paucity of training hours as part of the contract means that much of the continuity training (read bringing up to the standard of those they replace) is expected to be done 'on the job' ie during SAROps. Anyone with any experience of SAR trg will tell you that is not quality training and in no way replaces proper structured training.
The new training system is so thorough that it is quite possible to complete it without actually winching at all!
The bidders had their phonecalls several days before that and some other elements lagged a bit. It was a couple of months before the redacted contract docs were in the public domain.
The new training system is so thorough that it is quite possible to complete it without actually winching at all!