You've not done the course then?

Do let us know if you come across a file at Sumburgh marked IPCRESS. :E



A wee bit late with their order perhaps but last I heard was that the FIPS certification was the only thing that would slide beyond commencement of service.

SAR roster patterns
 

misterbonkers


SAR rosters tend to be along the lines of 6 days at work (during which you'll do three 24 hour shifts) followed by a few days off, typically three or four. Bristow are planning on reverting to this pattern on their Scottish island bases and moving away from the commuting roster that staff have worked in recent years.

They're also planning on no real planning or roster structure anywhere else. Well of course that's what fits the 'we always did it that way' attitude.....:ugh:

Slow responding Snakepit. Just wondering why everything I said is wrong? Please enlighten me as to why TUPE would not apply in this case?

Don't worry NWS. Sometimes the time lag between question and answer can be lengthy on pprune. I still haven't given up hope of someone answering the question I posed three months ago about the content of the 9 month pilot and six month rearcrew conversion courses. Can anyone put some meat on those bones? If the contract starts at Humberside and Inverness on April 1st 2015, those pilot conversion courses should be starting about now. 189 conversion course at the new training location at Inverness, S-92 course at the Stornoway training school I believe.

TUPE
 

they need a good UK SAR HR Director ;-) to see them through that minefield......

At least the roof is done. Could do with walls though. And maybe a helicopter would be useful. Or there's a sim in Milan.

Why would anyone post the content of BHL pilot and rear crew training programmes on a forum such as PPRUNE? There's no freedom of information legislation dictating that questions asked on PPRUNE must be answered.

If you're on a course (and plenty of people are) then you'll be privy to the content. I imagine it would follow a fairly standard path from type rating through to completion of line training with SAR specific skills included as required. These courses are probably delivered by very well qualified personnel with a great deal of experience garnered in both Civilian and Military roles.

As for the AW189...I think AW are the only ones who could hazard a guess as to the readiness of the SAR variant.

If there's nothing to hide then there should be no issue revealing details of those programmes. I'd say it's in the public interest that a private company are as thorough in their training programmes as the publicly funded system they're replacing. 9 and 6 month conversion courses were what were published by Bristow. So, are they happening and what's the detail?

There should be a 'like' button on a comment on this forum for us to show our approval.

Why don't you email someone at BHL and ask if they can send you the details.

If it's in your interest and you feel you need to audit a company that has operated helicopters globally for more than 60 years then a direct approach would be best rather than expecting an employee of BHL to divulge training plans on an open forum.

There is such a thing as commercial sensitivity and whilst you may feel SAR belongs to the public it is not up to individuals to decide on the appropriateness of a company's training regimen.

Rumour has it they are bit busy making it all come together. You could try the MCA but frankly pprune is usually ahead of that curve.



I am sure that you are right about commercial sensitivity and the appropriateness of the training regimen. However, I think we all feel SAR belongs to the public, not least due to the £1 600 497 465.00 price tag.

After a disgracefully failed first attempt at contract delivery, and a second run in a lower price bracket, the Treasury will undoubtedly be delighted with that price tag. Some of us might be a little nervous when that price tag is £399 502 535.00 less (19.9% less) than the lower end of the Estimated Value in the Contract Notice when delivering significantly more aircraft than originally would have been required.

Commercial Sensitivity sounds like a convenient catch all term that really means obfuscation and obscuration and there should be no place for these when we are talking about the delivery of a service to the public from Treasury funds. What is there to hide when most readers of this thread will have a pretty good idea that the content of a conversion course is likely to involve a groundschool, a general handling phase, a radar and SAR modes phase, an instrument flying phase, a role training phase, a night role training phase and an NVG phase? All I'd like to know is the relative proportions of each and how much time is being allocated to each. If a simple question like that results in a 'Commercial Sensitivity' tag being applied then that tells us more than you realise.

FWIW, the rumour doing the rounds among management types is that the other competitors / consortiums have no idea how BHL could bid with new ac at that low price.

Likelihood we should all expect is that once up and running, BHL will run back to the Treasury saying they need a 9 figure sum to keep the contract going or they'll have to default.

But I suspect most of us had figured that one out already.

I was thinking more of the individual rather than the corporate commercial sensitivity. An employee posting detailed training plans on PPRuNE may well be contravening a company code of ethics and that could result in suspension or termination of a contract.

I have been told by companies I worked for in the UK not to post contractual details on forums.

I think it's unfair you would expect anyone who works for BHL, or hopes to, to post this type of information when you have already outlined the stages of training involved.

I've heard that BHL are looking to recruit another 25 crews. What's all that about?

Did they not get enough bums on seats through the initial trawl or have they decided that they need more than 5 crews per location?

Or that the managed transition doesn't seem to be working that brilliantly as many of those who did PVR are now starting work while those that didn't, sit and hope the jobs will still be there in a year's time.

New AW189 brochures, one SAR and one offshore, are on the AW website at the following address.
AW189 | AgustaWestland


SAR version.

Endurance - 5h 40 min
Range - 600nm
Vne - 169 knots
Cruising speed - 145 to 155 knots
MTOW - 18298 lb (8300kg)
HOGE - 8770 feet (2673m)

Those AW189 brochures have been online for months now.

Slightly crosswind
 

Slightly crosswind, but there is a link for sure....

Bristow UK are still struggling it seems to locate bodies for the SAR UK contract as far a rear crew go, and now with whispers they will need more to cover a 24/7 SAR Oil & Gas commitment in FI starting in January.... Where will all these guys come from?

On the flip side though, the O&G Commitment could provide a great ab initio training platform