I would much rather be a Dancopter PR manager than a BHL or CHC PR manager and I could never outperform you as a clown. A woefully misinformed clown at that. You are hilarious.

So lets see..... according to all your 'reliable' sources that is CHC, Bristow and Belair all doing Dancopters work for them. Makes me wonder what all the Dancopter machines, pilots and engineers will be doing?

Is your name CoCo by any chance? Hang on. I remember now - you are the one with the red nose who failed the Dancopter selection last month.

"So lets see..... according to all your 'reliable' sources that is CHC, Bristow and Belair all doing Dancopters work for them. Makes me wonder what all the Dancopter machines, pilots and engineers will be doing?"

Well, like I said, half of the work. :confused:

And misinformed? :rolleyes: Could you please come back here in a few days? I would love to hear you admitting you were wrong. To be clear, I am talking about Den Helder, not Norwich. Don't know about Norwich.

Dancopter crews will be pleased to hear that as they can all take some well earned leave from 1st July onwards. That must be why Bristow and CHC are madly recruiting pilots at the moment. Lets hope they get enough in time otherwise Dancopter might have to help them out.

By the way, my reliable sources tell me that Bristow is asking Bristow Australia to provide crews to help them in ABZ as they cannot cope with the workload at the moment. Surely this cannot be true?

Pfff, ok Epiphany, you can have the last word :hmm: Even if it doesn't make any sense or tickles any funny bones.

Have a very good evening my fellow ppruner :rolleyes:

Edit:
Yes, Bristow asking Bristow... Not Bristow asking Dancopter, CHC, Belair, NHV, etc. Boy, your comments are making less and less sense. Better stop now before you really make a fool out of yourself :ugh:

Bristow to fly for shell out of Den Helder......:rolleyes:

If I had any credibility I lost it all today ->> Quote myself: "My "definitely not Bristow" statement arises from the facts Bristow has informed their staff they lost SNS Shell, they are making EC155 crews etc. redundant and they have 2 out of 3 EC155's for sale..... Hence my conclusion"

So......
Expect the unexpected ? :ugh:
Never say never ? :suspect:

RP:{

RP, nice comment, and we all can (and do) make mistakes. Should I take that as an apology?!

My view is that Bristow's actions were the only ones they could make in response to those of Shell. Not wise to take that as some indication of a policy on the operator's part.

Don't know if there is a need to apologise because I only gave my opinion :cool:

I wonder if bristow had the balls to ask for a rediculous amount of money to be shell's b*tch again but I doubt it.....:(

Maybee you should look at fuelburn a bit, outbound on a flight that takes 1hour and 10 minuttes

The 155 and 139 comes pretty close, im not giving any exacts figures im just saying its close. Inbound its a different story

Don't know about the SNS but Bristow has sent 2 EC225s from Australia to UK. VH ZFD is already there and ZFC is on its way and will arrive in 2 weeks.

The AW139 6.8 ver without airco can offer:

1400kg of payload to the customer with 2h of total fuel (1.5h + final reserve).

1000kg of payload to the customer with 3h of total fuel (2.5h + final reserve).

This is perf class 1 numbers for a CHC operation.

Harald, can you give the numbers for the EC? Would be interesting to compare.

I See DC is having a toast ceremony of some kind in Den Helder on Sunday in combination with launching their first flight.
Cheers!

Terminus. Thank you for the confirmation.

Sadly there are small-minded posters here who are blinded by their dislike of smaller operators taking contracts from their own larger (and in their eyes somehow better) companies and will refuse to acknowlege that no operator, even one with enormous resources, can forecast and cope with unforseen circumstances.

Dancopter were handed contracts for 4 machines, in 2 different countries only 6 weeks or so before the start date which also happens to co-incide with the start of another large contract with new aircraft in Esbjerg. Anyone with an elementary knowledge of the helicopter industry knows that is an almost impossible task to complete in such a short time.

However, because the company have a good work ethic, they are working hard to complete the task. Shell knows this, which is one of the reasons that they were awarded the contract in the first place. I have no doubt that within a few months (which should have been the lead time in the first place) all contracts will be operating normally once sufficient personnel have been recruited and trained.

Yet Coco the Clown and others seem to think that Dancopter should have purchased aircraft and hired crews beforehand simply in the hope that they would be awarded a contract. Real life is not like that. Presumably he would also be happy to see the same crews made redundant once the contract was not awarded. His own company may well have a habit of making people redundant but Dancopter have never done that.

But what annoys me about cowardly people of that ilk is the fact that they often resort to mis-informed claims, innuendo and plain lies in a feeble attempt to damage reputation in the eyes of others.

Epiphany,

If you were not so clearly biased and blinkered in your views I think you would find others would be more receptive to, and less critical of, your comments. With you, there appears to be no compromise, and you are still creating every opportunity you can to put DC on a pedestal way above everyone else, with a clear attack on the work ethic of Bristow's and other's pilots (even though you will be working with some of them soon!). So, what is it you consider to be unforeseen, and who do you judge most readers to now be considering to be the small minded ones?

I agree that Shell have enormous responsibility for deciding to award their contract literally at the 12th hour, but you appear to have no awareness that DCs proposal to Shell should have included a detailed plan (with "Management of Change" processes) to show how they would be ready on time. Shell must therefore have known exactly how long it would take for DC to be ready, and have been totally capable of calculating the full impact of delaying their decision. Other bidders did fulfil the requirement to provide their plans. This is at the heart of people's frustration, as nothing about this contract award appears to be right, looking backwards.

You should also accept that many posters do have direct and reliable knowledge that DC continued to tell Shell, and half the rest of the world, that they'd be fully ready on 1st July, even as late as end-May. You need to get down off of your pedestal, accept and admit your share of responsibility for the imminent mess, and show some respect for others by acknowledging that all North Sea pilots are basically the same and will suffer the same issues at some point in their career.

Have you considered the fact that had Shell released the DC 155's from Nigeria in the previously agreed time frame that DC may well have been FULLY ready to start the SNS contract and that they were simply stating a fact in May?

Of course BHL would have been able to start fully on 1sJuly because they were already in situ as the previous contract holders.

I am not employed by DC as I have previously stated but I am familiar with DC - as I am with BHL and CHC and am therefore qualified to comment. I have no operator on a pedestaL as I have yet to meet one who deserves that accolade. What I am posting here for is to counter the false accusations that DC are a shoddy operator; as there are many readers here who know nothing about the company and would gain a very false impression reading some of the drivel posted on this thread.

Do I need to explain that an MoC process includes manpower, aircraft, parts, approvals, training, facilities, and every other factor involved in being ready, all with timeline? Surely not...

From what I can assess, the aircraft are already in Europe, so are now a minor factor, with some evidence that crewing is the limiting factor. Even if they are a factor, that'd still have been known from the timeline.

The main challenge was always going to be recruitment. For pilots, the timeline should have covered advertisement of vacancies, selection and interview processes, issue and signing of employment contracts, time for currently-employed pilots to serve notice, company induction, Operator Conversion (which I'm sure you know is not the same as an OPC, and required for all joiners), and availability of Line trainers. This isn't new, and is not rocket science. I'm sure CHC would have had a plan for a 'transition crew' of current company pilots to do the work until the new starters would be on line.

You are wasting your breath he obviously has no clue about the work that is supposed to be carried out to launch a contract.

He also forgets about the Ménage à trois Shell,Dancopter and the other shining light of excellence, Caverton.

If Dancopter only had 6 weeks notice not only will I get my coat I will eat it.

Epiphany
 

Hail to mazdadriver!

Man, you're getting killed out here Epiphany!

You're contradicting yourself so much, it's almost an art. Ever heard of a saying that involves a pot and a kettle?

Give it a rest and pack your bags. You're not going to 'win' this argument simply because you're not enough in the know, although you think you are.

Tell you what, if you leave this thread, I will. Deal?

RotorSwede and haraldnyborg
 

EC155 MTOM Clear Area 4920kg
Typical DOM 3350kg -
Disp. Load 1570kg
3 hours fuel +/- 930kg -
Av. payload 640kg

So that's 360 kg less then in a 139 when carrying 3 hours of fuel, which sounds about right.

So no, DC can't offer more payload in a 155 then in a 139, unless you use half destination minima as alternate minima (200'/900m for precision approach, so they can choose alternates closer by), don't have optional crash worthy fuel tanks and only carry 75 kilos of final reserve fuel on a standard offshore IFR flight, which they apparently do.

Hallo? CAA?

Coco and Lada. I take it that you work for Dancopter and are therefore intimately aquainted with Dancopter operations and the details of their bid for the SNS contract. No? I see. So how come you know so much about them and are so certain that Dancopter pilots fly overweight aircraft and lie to their customers? Rumours from other small-minded, envious, dinosaurs in your crewroom?

You should be ashamed of yourselves.

By the way - there is an open invite to a BBQ at Den Helder on Sunday to celebrate the launch of the SNS operation. Why don't you go along and ask the DC pilots yourselves?

No, I thought not. People like you never have the balls to do anything like that do you?

All done slagging each other off? :ugh:

Not quite RP.

I just overhear a rumour in our crewroom that the person formerly known as SNI was ' not a very nice person' (or words to that effect). Should I believe this rumour or wait until I meet SNI and make my own informed opinion?

So, the plan at the moment are 2 x 155s based at SH (DOP91 & 92). Will the others be operating from den Helder or is this it for the time being?

RP
 

Yes, I'm done here. Hanging up the gloves. I'll leave Epiphany to it to make a fool out of himself.

Have fun!

Signing off.

Last reply to Epiphany, I promise
 

"Why don't you go along and ask the DC pilots yourselves?"

I did. This is information from DC pilots themselves. Plus, I've seen it with my own eyes (oh yes, I was there), plus why don't you ask the Dutch CAA, they've dealt with it before.

Strange by the way that I don't hear any DC pilots defending the rumours...

Maybe they are a lot wiser then me by not responding. Credits to them then. I let myself get carried away way to much here. Therefore see my post above.

Ciao!

Bravo Ephipany! Yours is a voice or reason! You have my full respect because you clearly recognise their is too much sizeist bias by those in the big fat complacent fat operators.

mazdadriver Well some of the larger helicopters operators clearly struggle with managing change:) Luckily companies like Shell are adept at change and can provide suitable remedial actions to allow a smooth transfer to new helicopter operators and put all these things in place. In fact it is easier for proper MoC when introducing a small local operator as Shell can handle that rather than leaving it to some complacent global operator.

SNI - Dancopter pilots are too busy preparing for this prestigious contract to be posting nonsense on PPRuNe:)

Looking forward to the BBQ! Its just a pity that as he is retired the former MD of SAI will not be there to see another key step to moving to agile local operators has occurred.

Shell Management,

can you clarify you last point please:

"another key step to moving to agile local operators has occurred. "

if that was what SAI want, then why did they go out to the market with a global service provider tender instead of a number of local contracts?

Miles

Miles, I recommend you just ignore SM. If he was ever connected to Shell, it was at least eight years ago, and not SAI itself. His current connections are to a small operator, so he is totally biased and simply trying to appear knowledgeable and involved. He does not represent SAI, and does not know what they want.

Shell Management
 

Two things continue to amaze me about this 'Shell Management' individual, the first is that there are still people who appear to give credence to his strange preachings, error-strewn and grammatically incorrect posts, and second, that Shell Aircraft International have not taken steps to unmask him.

I am reminded of the English King Henry II's remark in AD 1170, "...will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest...."

Not, of course, to be taken as literally as the Henry's words were.

Saint Jack.....pretty good memory if you can recall something you heard in 1170....Me Mum should be so lucky!


Shell Management may just be known to several posters here at Rotorheads....but for some reason he has not been out'ed in the public forum.

One would wonder if real Shellies are happy having their organization represented by such an individual even if unofficially....but then they themselves have a somewhat controversial reputation amongst the working class who have to deal with them from what we read here.

Knowing more than a few of them myself.....I have to admit I find they do sometimes set themselves up for criticism.

All we have to do is look back at the Shell Decision to go with the EC-155 and Dornier in Nigeria. That whole evolution smacked of extra contract gratuities as it surely did not make either business or common sense when looked at by any real standard.

Imagine a Jet Aircraft without spoilers or speed brakes and with a history of engine problems. Then you spec a helicopter that is fast....long ranged....for a shuttle operation with very short legs for the majority of the operation.....and needs a runway to operate to any weight.

Ah yes....the ways of Shell!

So who is flying for Shell today?

In Den Helder, Bristow and Dancopter are flying for Shell today, with Bristow having the larger chunk of the workload (more flights, longer days) this week.

In Norwich, I believe Dancopter are on their own, with some minor modifications to the schedule to fit their capacity.

Dancopter have two EC155s at Norwich, handled by SaxonAir

Norwich Airport departure and arrival info tells a different story

Probably slow in updating their system. The BHL site shows a different picture:

Bristow Passenger Services

Does anyone know which company really got shell contract??

I don't know where DC kept their barbecue last Sunday in Den Helder, but it seems they kept it inside the helicopter.... Or at least close to it.

Aircraft is broken, again! Contract not even up and running for 5 days now.... Bristow crew having to save the day by flying their balls off. Are you keeping track of KPI's Shell?

Someone at Shell must be scratching behind his ears right now.

Hate to say I told you so....

You weren't invited - and I can smell the bull**** from here.

So can I, Epiphany, but I don't smell any of it coming from SNI's direction! What is it that you don't believe about what he wrote, and what evidence do you have in support?

I possibly doubt the credibility of CoCo The Clown as he was the one who originally told us the NVH do not attend sim training. This was proven to be false. He also told us that Dancopter 155's do not meet Shell specifications. This was proven to be false. He also told us that Dancopter pilots admitted to him personally that they regularly fly over max gross weight aircraft and regularly lie to their customers. It is laughable that he actually expects people to believe this.

SNI is a bitter and twisted individual who for some reason has a grudge against Dancopter and NHV and this bitterness has blinded him to truth and common sense. He is one who would never let the truth stand in the way of a good story and he therefore has no credibility.

My theory is that he wasw bullied at school and later in life failed both the NHV Dancopter pilot selection tests.

So, err, no evidence then! I believe from my own knowledge that what SNI wrote today is accurate.

As I recall it, the NHV/sim issue ended up being that at the time of the comment being made, NHV had only just started fulfilling this OGP requirement, so it was not false, just a month or two out of date.

It's still the case that only Bristow's 155B1s have the spec that Shell Aircraft required. Plenty of posts (including my own) to support that. Also not false.

I have no personal knowledge from which to comment on your last piece of character evidence, but once again suggest you get off of your own pedestal, to be seen as credible yourself in future.

Maybe DC 155's are not the same spec as Bristow 155's but funny enough they both meet the Shell requirements... otherwise they wouldn't be flying for them.

The Heli Holland machine was also good enough for Shell when they needed them and they still fly the 155 with internal liferafts.....

Shell their requirement/ safety is just like in any other company.........
money driven.

RP