D-Day minus 2 folks

Best wishes to everyone.
I pray that whatever decisions are being made at this precise moment, as we that serve sup our elevenses brew, some words are echoing into some ears;


“Safety in police aviation is our priority”


Anyway, what ever happens ...

… atb.



Mods - as this post is number 666, perhaps it's time for a 'UK NPAS discussion thread: Mk 5' thread, as we venture into new times?

Could this be what NPAS have in mind for the future. I could just see Dixon of Dock Green flying it off the office roof

Hirobo launches remote control one-man helicopter - 10/10/2012 - Flight Global

http://images.gizmag.com/inline/hiro...icopter-11.jpg
http://www.gizmag.com/hirobo-persona...icopter/29684/

Best of luck chaps... That's going to be one big conference call at six'o'clock

Guess the whole thing was borne of financial cutbacks, looks like it will continue to be a race to the bottom.

At least those over 55 should leave with a pension. Good luck to those leaving and to those who will be required to carry on with an almost impossible task.

How much have they just spent refurbishing Wattisham?

£75,000 ish

Doomed! We're all doomed!

Two years ago it was crucial that the Wattisham operation moved 6 minutes towards Norfolk to better cover Norfolk (who joined NPAS and gave up their asu on that promise) and to cover Cambridgeshire (who gave up their aircraft.......). Have the Met Joined yet?

How did the conference call go. Was it anything like this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-KaOJ_jVXI

When the cameras go in the cabs think about this if you've got the radio on
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XFBUM8dMqw

According to Twitter (almost as reliable as pprune) this is the decision on Base closures:

Durham
Warton
Rhuddlan
Halfpenny Green
Ripley
Sheffield
Husbands Bosworth
Wattisham
Pembury
Humberside


Haven't seen an official list but this seems legit.

If they are closing that many bases - there can't be many left is there ?

Don't forget Lippitts Hill, other than that it looks quite accurate.

Lippetts is relocating West a bit to Elstree. It's not entirely a closure.

What happened to it only being 5 bases?
10 is nearly half of them, and all for a 14% saving??????

6 aircraft around London and non for the whole of East Anglia and the East of England

Those forces with the biggest budgets obviously had the most votes!

Those London aircraft won't be going east at night, no fuel in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambs, Lincs. Better get that sorted in advance. What an absolute disaster......

Cabby :

Prediction for 2016. Change in airframes, cameras in the cab, and closer monitoring of on scene times - forces billed by the minute when on scene.


Change in airframes : To what and why ?

Cameras in cabs : For what purpose ?

Closer time management : Why ?


Do you have any experience what so ever with blue light aviation Cabby ? At least add some explanation to your predictions, as none of them appear to make any sense. So please do tell us why.

I don't post often but I do note your negative tones in relation to "Plod"


Merry

Well they had to get the cash to buy the Fixed Wings from somewhere ...

I suspect the Savings made with these closures, and the revenue still being
top sliced from Forces as part of the Fleet replacement / upgrade program will cover that !

Isn't / wasn't that sum arrived at from calculations of the expected life of the original Fleet ?

With fewer bases & aircraft to maintain and replace,
will these costs now be passed on to the Forces, so that they DO end up paying less for Air Support,
as originally advertised, rather than actually paying more in some cases for a less effective service ?

Nail

when I worked at Boreham 15 years ago (before Suffolk ASU) we would venture into Suffolk and Norfolk rarely and on a payment per hour basis, the observers had no local knowledge, the forces had no concept of police aviation. Looks like we're about to turn the clock back even further, I say again (3 years after the last time I said it) losing the aircraft is bad enough, but closing the bases means no fuel options in many of those counties at night which means the far flung aircraft that remain will have to return to their own bases to refuel before accepting a job in one of those unsupported counties.


Might as well just close the lot rather than waste taxpayers cash on huge transit times to get fuel and arrive long after you're needed.

Will the team that have destroyed Police aviation ever be held to account for their actions?

NO!

The 'team' responsible are the current government. If it wasn't for ridiculous budget cuts to policing, we wouldn't have lost most of our horses /dogs /divers /Helicopters/ traffic officers... Still at least we now have Police Crime Commissioners...