Pilot for the Queen


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According to this “tabloid” at one point there were 5 qualified pilots ... 2 have recently been pretty much fired from any Royal duties, one is no longer allowed to drive a car let alone fly a helicopter so having lost 3 pilots in 12 months it’s probably the reason they are looking to hire. That aside are any of them type certified?
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-new...t-even-7264067
Last edited by nomorehelosforme; 21st February 2020 at 00:44.
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From: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
It was about 15 years ago, in a C+. The RTO wasn't the only company to do so. At the time there was no available, fully certified C+ simulator so there was no choice.
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C+ is a variant, once the differences training carried out, any certified a/c or sim should suffice I should have thought. A standard hover engines off in a S76 should be fairly benign; why risk doing it high (if it was so)?
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From: Wandering the FIR and cyberspace often at highly unsociable times
I have no reason to state anything other than the way it was and btw, the incident referred to didn't occur during "standard hover engines off" training; it was during OEI training. When the C+ first came into service, the cockpit layout and engine control systems were totally different from previous variants (I also flew the A+ and the C and latterly the B). There is now (thankfully) no need to carry out OEI training for the C+ and C++ in the actual aircraft because there are certified simulators which are sufficiently representative. From personal experience, the published short field takeoff technique for the C+ was tricky even in ideal circumstances and uncomfortable for the passengers. In nil wind, or "light and variable" wind conditions it was marginal. I personally had an "interesting" experience during OEI training on the C+, thankfully without bending anything. Others weren't quite so lucky.
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I have no reason to state anything other than the way it was and btw, the incident referred to didn't occur during "standard hover engines off" training; it was during OEI training. When the C+ first came into service, the cockpit layout and engine control systems were totally different from previous variants (I also flew the A+ and the C and latterly the B). There is now (thankfully) no need to carry out OEI training for the C+ and C++ in the actual aircraft because there are certified simulators which are sufficiently representative. From personal experience, the published short field takeoff technique for the C+ was tricky even in ideal circumstances and uncomfortable for the passengers. In nil wind, or "light and variable" wind conditions it was marginal. I personally had an "interesting" experience during OEI training on the C+, thankfully without bending anything. Others weren't quite so lucky.
One thing the couple of S76 variants I have flown seem to have in common was a precipitous energy profile.




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They did that in the real aircraft? Employer too strapped for sim sessions?
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Two points :
1. Whilst I am a strong advocate of the values of simulator training - greater scope for emergencies and malfunctions, ability to freeze, rebrief and retry to mention but a couple, we should guard against forcing ourselves down the road of complete reliance on the simulator for purely commercial reasons. In the specific case of the S76 vertical procedures, with the exception of the Bristow S76 simulator in Aberdeen, simulator profile models are mostly unable to reproduce accurately the performance of the aircraft during these exercises. Consideration should be given to allowing the aircraft to be used under closely controlled conditions to give real time handling experience, perhaps on an alternate check basis. It may already be too late as oil companies are unwilling to agree to any increased risk to their allocated aircraft.
2. The Queen`s Flight job has to be the pinnacle of the corporate sector, certainly in the UK - best aircraft. best maintenance, to the minute scheduling ( no waiting in cold wet fields waiting for inebriated passengers who turn up late) someone to meet you at each landing site with on the spot weather reporting, fuel on hand whenever you want it, what`s not to like ? Perhaps a few grand on the salary would go down well. :
1. Whilst I am a strong advocate of the values of simulator training - greater scope for emergencies and malfunctions, ability to freeze, rebrief and retry to mention but a couple, we should guard against forcing ourselves down the road of complete reliance on the simulator for purely commercial reasons. In the specific case of the S76 vertical procedures, with the exception of the Bristow S76 simulator in Aberdeen, simulator profile models are mostly unable to reproduce accurately the performance of the aircraft during these exercises. Consideration should be given to allowing the aircraft to be used under closely controlled conditions to give real time handling experience, perhaps on an alternate check basis. It may already be too late as oil companies are unwilling to agree to any increased risk to their allocated aircraft.
2. The Queen`s Flight job has to be the pinnacle of the corporate sector, certainly in the UK - best aircraft. best maintenance, to the minute scheduling ( no waiting in cold wet fields waiting for inebriated passengers who turn up late) someone to meet you at each landing site with on the spot weather reporting, fuel on hand whenever you want it, what`s not to like ? Perhaps a few grand on the salary would go down well. :





