July 2007 calendar
 

July’s photo is of a Chiltern Air Support Unit EC135 carrying out a casevac from the streets of Henley on Thames. The patient was an 80 year old woman who was severely injured by a dumper truck.

Wide screen:

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/...35%20thumb.jpg

Standard screen size:

http://www.helicopterservice.com.au/...01280thumb.jpg



As always, click on the thumbnail to open a higher resolution full picture, then right click to select "Set as Background" - for Windows users, that is.

excellent pic as always a real tonic :D

Fantastic pic John. :ok:

S.

If I'm right the pilot was a venerable member of this community, now retired but still showing that old age and cunning will always overcome youth and enthusiasm:ok:

Lovely pic once more.

verticalhold - would that explain why he chose to land there and not on the playing fields just across the river 0.3 miles away?
Worried about the zimmer frame rubber feet wearing away perhaps! ;)

Sooo glad the bunting wasn't around, as shown on google earth!
(taking cover)

Sid;

He tends to worry more about overspill in his rubber pants. The only pilot I've met with a bladder endurance less than a 135 to dry tanks.

I've probably got the pilot totally wrong and libelled some poor b***er from Chiltern ASU! But I'm pretty sure the pic has appeared in the old age and retirement thread as flown by wassatboing.

VH

Great calendar John. :ok:



No.
It was because a lady had lost both her legs and one of her arms and it was a case of land there or she'd die.
A crew decision was made to go ahead.
No damage, other than blossom being blown from the hanging baskets.
The lady survived for three weeks and had her family around her when she finally succumbed.

Good decision by wassatboing and the crew. :ok:

Nothing to do with the sound of running water then?

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...overbridge.jpg

Before we all get on our high horses about CRM, life or death, land ambulances to aircraft etc take a look at the same area when googles' pics were taken.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g1...id/bunting.jpg

As I said above, "Sooo glad the bunting wasn't around, as shown on google earth!"

One of the best aviators I've ever flown with, and one of the best ones to spend a long time with when you are waiting for the pax.

He once described the decision process for this pick up to me. Not a choice I would have wanted to make, he deserved the highest recognition for his efforts and so did all the crew.

Nice to see the pic as the calender.

Although I would never wish to be in the same position as that poor lady, I would sincerely hope that, if I was, the pilot would make the same selfless decision.

I don't know the individual concerned, but from what I have gleaned from other posts it is a crying shame that such an obviously skilled and courageous pilot should be forced to retire.

Just my .015 euro...

I notice what has started as a mickey take (is that PC?) of the pilot in questions bladder capacity, has started a discussion on Police operations in a life or death situation.

For my tuppence on this, I would refer to the last comment by topcat28 (his first by the way! :suspect: )

I would like to know what was meant by a 'selfless descision', because the way I read it, Selfless : Tending to consider the welfare of others before one's own, would mean a normally unacceptable risk to the pilot, his crew, the aircraft and those around the area including the casualty, the ambulance crews, police attending and of course the onlookers.

In fact it was clearly not a selfless descision, as Heliport tells us "A crew decision was made to go ahead", it was a calculated decision ultimately made by the pilot but with consultation with his crew.....which is the purpose of CRM courses.

Well done all, something the rest of us can learn by, as much as when it all goes wrong. :D

Wassatboing (who provided the piccie) was a few terms ahead of me at Dartmouth: I'm pleased to see that he is held in suitably high esteem by his peers :ok:

I was also impressed by the crew operation evident in this photo, with every one of them contributing to the manouevre. A tribute to the CASU, I would suggest :D

If thats the departure John, someone must have told them that they had better go back and take the casualty with them next time!! ;)

SS,

Good on you: I'm sure you know what I mean :p

Ouch Sid :ouch:, that's a tad harsh; certainly not the way I read it! A "newcomer" has given praise whilst also touching on the age discrimination issue and I suspect that that was all that was meant by it with a possible poor choice of word. :ok:

Cheers

Whirls

Apologies for my "poor choice" of word. Although I'm sure it was crew decision, my comment was based upon the fact that the pilot is ultimately responsible. If it had all gone horribly wrong - it would have been his career on the line. Someone less comitted might have been tempted to play safe and land in a field.

As has been pointed out, that was my first post. For some reason it seemed necessary for that to be made to sound like an insult. I've been lurking for a year or so. I think I'll go back to that, and keep my views to myself.

Not an insult but a comment regarding being wary as it's not unknown for well-known rotorheads to have more than one login name for "mischief" purposes. I suspect SynicalSid was thinking more along those lines.

There's no need to keep your views to yourself and return to lurking; just learn to give the grumpy ones a slap occassionally!

Cheers

Whirls

You are quite correct Whirlygig, some of us need discipline once in a while http://www.party107.com/forum/images...miley_abxh.gif
Thank you ! :E

Please continue to contribute topcat, after all as I said earlier, we all learn from when things go right as much as when they go wrong and we all have something to learn from each other.

However, when you say "Someone less comitted might have been tempted to play safe and land in a field." I think you step on dodgy ground.

I am sure all of us in this business are comitted to provide the best service possible. When we get the life or death call (which is when a police helicopter undertakes a casevac role) and find ourselves in the position Wassatboing was in, we are probably high on fuel, working ad-hoc and in a grey area as far as the CAA are possibly concerned.
'Playing Safe' is the game we are in.

So, when we get the call, turn out for the job and play safe by landing in a nearby field as opposed to the centre of a town, after weighing up all the risks, please don't say we are not comitted.

Now. Who shall I give this spade to? :}

Cheers

Whirls

I'm not quite sure you can say that sort of thing these days WG :eek:

However, I hope it is one that has a ladder integral to it in order to climb out at the end of this thread...

...like this one,

http://www.oli.tudelft.nl/uselog/pic...mic_spade2.jpg