Southern North Sea Single Pilot Operations
 

Do any of the SNS Operators still operate single pilot, or is it all two crew nowadays? If not, how long ago did it all change?

All SNS ops have been two-crew (pilots) since the early 90's. When I started on the SNS in '87 there were still single pilot ops on the S76, the WG30 and the 365C. The WG30 & S76 usually used a company crewman, but the 365C out of Humberside was purely single pilot.

The requirement for two-pilot ops was originally from the oil/gas companies but has since become mandatory from the CAA/JAA/EASA.

Conoco operating from Strubby & North Denes were one of the first to require co-pilots on their SA365N's. I was one of several taken on at that time, and the offshore workers genuinely thought we were Government Youth Training Scheme (YTS) workers, a training initiative of the time. Certain Captains of the time (Griffothefog) thought we were basically 75kgs of unusable fuel. :{
Thanks Griff :ok:

But you were great company 902 and if we flew together again these days you would be hard pressed to get me to touch the sticks at all :ok:

The exuberance of young command could make one a bit paranoid back then and in my defence I was single pilot on the Auk and 40's when I wasn't on detachment to your patch, so it was a hard habit to break :p

Hope all is well bud.

Are you actually allowed to touch the sticks these days???? :\

We only push buttons these days :{