Without detracting from the abilities of the current generation of equipment, the Sea King auto hover was introduced into RN service in late 1969/early 1970 (can't remember the exact date, I was on the IFTU from February 1970). Analogue computer era, it was, and still is, a remarkable piece of kit.

Both John Bentley & John Mac are top banana pilots, having spent a lot of time @ SYY and currently playing in A109's i can certainly vouch for John Bentleys flying skills and John Mac's drinking skills.

It was great to see them both as i am the furthest south you can get from SYY now in a program that focused on the flying rather than all the other rubbish that seems to get dragged in with other docu's.

I suppose John Nichol the Gulf Nav commentator will be booked solid now it is going to kick off, but if your here John, - any others coming worth watching??

:D :D :D :D :D :D :cool:

Here in Ireland we use the SN501, a truly fantastic peace of kit. However as someone said, it does a lot of things BUT collision avoidance ain't one of them!

Labarynth Seal

You seemed surprised that Puma's weren't in use? I reckon you'd struggle to find a SAR crew in the UK or Ireland who could be pursuaded to give up his Ultra Reliable, Supremely Stable (if a little old!:) ) S-61 for a jittery, unreliable Puma! SAR really does need a stable platform, that certainly isn't provided by a Puma! Not to mention very cramped working conditions for the Aircrewmen & a habit of electrical glitches in damp weather! The S-61 may be long in the tooth but in my book she beats a Puma Hands down! (& I'm including L2's in that!)


Nice job though :D !!

BBC SAR Prog
 

Roofus - Valid point, but i was kinda thinking of the de - icing facilities on the Puma. Then again, pro's and cons in each machine.....

LS

Roofus

I am surprised at your comments regarding the Super Puma. In Europe the Super Puma is used very successfully in the SAR Role. It is faster, and has better icing clearance than the venerable S-61 and Sea King. I agree that the cabin size is smaller, but it is still bigger than Bell 412's, Dauphins and other similar machines used for SAR and EMS work.

The Super Puma is not the most stable of machines, but I have been told by those that fly the Mark 2 Super Puma that it is a much more stable machine, more like a S-61 and Sea King to hover with.

Don't knock it until you've tried it I would suggest.

BHPS

Labarynth Seal Valid point, pro's & con's! Pro's & con's! :D

BHPS Accepted, don't knock it until you've tried it! I only have 750 hours on Super Pumas, so I wouldn't know which one I would prefer would I? Thanks for pointing out my deficiencies!

I fully accept that I ain't flown the L2, but.... I too know those who do/have.
It maintains it's 'unstable' nature & shares the quirks of electrical faults! You only have to look at the trouble 'Jigsaw' is having getting on it's feet to start it's trial. Not too mention all the problems they are having in ABZ with the L2. It's making the L1 look reliable!!
It's icing clearances are better, it is indeed bigger than 412's & the like! But as I said before...in my book you can't beat the S-61 with a Puma of any kind.....in my book !!
But then I'm fortunate, range is often not a problem, freezing levels don't often impose on a flight etc etc!

Now if I could have a civvy version of the Blackhawk!!:D :D :D

Roofus

Wow, 750 hours on the Super Puma, you must know your stuff then. ;)

From guys I have spoken too, I got the impression that the 'L2s of Scotia were performing well, and certainly no worse than the 'L. I certainly felt that the guys who fly the 'L2 prefer it to the L.

Don't know much about the "Jigsaw" aircraft though, other than the picture I saw on a website. You obviously know something about the project, so can you give us details for those of us who might like a change of career in the next year or so?

BHPS

Roofus - I think you may be suprised at the rate Jigsaw is ramping up now the aircraft is in Aberdeen. The first spell offshore is due in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile Bristow have just given the crew of the Portland S-61 safety awards for 'conducting an effective emergency landing without injury to anyone onboard' after the fire last July.
http://www.aaib.dft.gov.uk/special/gbbhm/gbbhm.htm

I`ve got a chance to fly on board one of Coast Guard S-61s a few years ago - not only they have a good autohover (Louis Newmark), autopilot is coupled to do automatic search patterns, automatic transition from search to hover by doing traffic pattern, taking wind corrections, letdown and hover on the spot where "overfly" key was hit by the pilot when crewman shouts for visual contact with target. Winch operator can move helicopter during hover with a joystick and can set drift, following target blown downwind, etc, etc. Incredible machine, incredible people and perfectly made procedures.
I work as winch operator in (mostly) mountain rescues and am experimenting with small camera attached to my helmet. Already got some good videofootage. (and loads of blurred, misdirected...shots) I`m taping intercom conversation, so the videofootages taken are quite handy for instruction and debriefings.

SAR rearcrew
 

Had enough of military life. Love SAR, loads of experience, need a job, Help! Please!

Call CHC Australia (lastly called Llyods).

Or you could try CHC Ireland Ltd :ok:

George - break open a new box of loyalty tablets and take it like a man!!!!!!

Eventually our lords and masters will realise that ignoring the rearcrew (despite the laughable airman aircrew sustainability study) is a bad thing and just posting more ab initios to SAR without taking real steps to retain our experienced operators will result in a loss of capability and credibility.

Fancy being an SAR pilot?
 

Try This
http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/rockface/

RESCUE SIM - how good is this?
 

Beware - this is VERY addictive - and bloody good fun - but I can't stop killing the down the wire man!!

:} :} :} :}

(you'll go blind!)

Try This Rescue Simulator

:ok: :ok:

I like it alot!!!

only 5 missions but it will take time to go through them all.

Nice music:yuk:

Okay How do I get to the critical victim in the first rescue mission? The twit is sitting under a tree, I keep dropping the wire man into the tree doing God knows what damage to his privste parts:yuk:

Don't they make a heavey metal penetrator to get through this cr*p!

How it works:

Victims are Green, Orange or Red. They start Green, then after a certain time they go to Orange, then after time they go to Red, then they die. The idea is to get them before they die or you lose. At the start, some are already red, some are already orange, and the remainder are green, thus you must prioritise the rescues. And beware - you can run out of fuel too!

T-Rich, the trick is to lower the winch guy down clear of the tree, then back the helo so the winchman remains clear of the tree whilst the helo is above the tree, for the pick up. There appears to be no issue with dragging the cable through the tree, just avoid dragging the crewman. Once picked up, you have to reverse the procedure. It is tricky because the winch is at a different rate than the helicopter, and you can only bash the crewman on the ground so many times before he dies. If you can pick the guy up without taking too many knocks on the crewman, he will survive being pulled up through the tree, but then you will not be able to knock him around in subsequent pick ups.

I reckon that recue is the most difficult of the game! Also, dont forget that you can get an "insane height" winch bonus for the really high ones, and sheep/cattle can be rescued too.

Enjoy!:ok:

Already been on 2 other threads! Repetetiveness..........:hmm:

Fancy being a SAR pilot?
 

Then test yourself here

Guess I won't be then:(