771
 

The Final Duty

04/01/2016
After over 40 years of providing Search and Rescue' operations from RNAS Culdrose, the four duty crew of 771 Naval Air Squadron have completed their last 24 hour shift.

Over the years, personnel from 771 Naval Air Squadron have saved countless lives, whilst risking their own, in some of the most hazardous conditions imaginable.

It is estimated that they have carried out over 9000 rescues and saved over 15,000 lives since 1974.

With that in mind, 31st December 2015 their last full day of operation, it was business as usual for the four man crew - Commanding Officer Lt Cdr Richard Calhaem, Lt Cdr Andrew 'Tank' Murray, Lt Jonathan 'Stretch' Hounsome and WO Andy Penrose.
It has been the most rewarding and satisfying job I could ever have hoped to fulfil - I have been privileged to serve at 771
, Lt Cdr Andrew Murray RN
The experienced team have many flying hours between them; indeed three of them have carried out almost 400 rescues each.

With a cabinet full of honours and awards, the four individuals have taken part in some major rescues from the Spanish Trawler Presca Verdes Tres in 2008, Boscastle in 2004, FV Le Sillon in 2014 and the Panamera in 2013.

‘Search and Rescue’ will continue for the Royal Navy - it is essential to flying operations at sea - but from January 1st 2016, the baton of responsibility for the provision of UK civilian search and rescue was handed to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency contractor Bristow Helicopters, based at Newquay airport.

Before handing over to the MCA and Bristow, Commanding Officer of 771 Naval Air Squadron, Lieutenant Commander Dick Calhaem explained that the squadron would not be slowing down: “It will be business as usual for 771, right up until the moment we pass the baton on to the Bristow team at Newquay.

“The weather is not looking great, so let’s see what the next 24 hours bring!”

To ensure a smooth handover, 771 personnel have been liaising with the new Bristow Helicopter team at Newquay, many of whom have been based on 771 Squadron themselves.

Lieutenant Commander Calhaem said: “A lot of the new Bristow team are ex-771 so they are very familiar with the Cornish Coastline and should know the ropes well!”

WO Andy Penrose, the winchman on the final crew and one of the longest serving members of the squadron said: “When you get the call, you don’t really know what you are going to find at the scene.

“I have many memories of a whole host of jobs, some have extremely happy endings and some unfortunately do not.

“Each and every one has been unique in its own right. The ones which stick in your mind are the big jobs like Boscastle, but also those in the dead of night with massive sea states.

“Language has often been a problem too - once we got scrambled to a job where a man had got a fish hook stuck in his eye, but when we got to his fishing vessel, he had lost an arm!”

Andy added: “It has been the most rewarding and satisfying job I could ever have hoped to fulfil - I have been privileged to serve at 771 in every rank from Leading Hand to Warrant Officer.

“I am filled with sadness that my 771 days are all but finished, however, I have treasured memories of a job well done and have had some of the most challenging yet rewarding scenarios I could have ever have hoped to experience.

“I have every faith in my Bristow colleagues at Newquay, most of whom I know as previous 771 Squadron personnel.

“I look forward to my own personal challenge as I move onto my next unit as a Merlin Aircrewman and as a Merlin Sqn Warrant Officer.”

771's team of engineers have also been working hard as usual to ensure that the squadron's Sea King helicopters are ready to fly.

Petty Officer Martin Greenwood has been doing 12 hour watches every day since Christmas Day. He said: “We have been really busy, with engine changes and fixing avionic faults.

“This is the best squadron that I have ever worked on. The atmosphere is brilliant – everyone works together as a team.”

771 Naval Air Squadron has been ‘on call’ 24 hours a day, every day of the year since 1974, saving many lives in some of the most hazardous conditions imaginable, often putting their own lives at risk. Before 1974, the unit was based at RNAS Portland.

At 15 minutes notice by day and 45 minutes by night, the Squadron operated within a 200 nautical mile radius of Culdrose.

They have carried out over 200 rescues every year, ranging from plucking sailors from sinking ships, to airlifting casualties of road traffic accidents to hospital and assisting the police in carrying out aerial searches

29/12/2015
A busy year for RNAS Culdrose

MORE
24/12/2015
One in every 17 sailors and RM on duty over Christmas at hom
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Bristow Humberside

October 2015

https://www.facebook.com/11069218228...14202/?theater

Moment Snowdonia climbers rescued 3,260ft up
 

MCA are on Twitter and Facebook, not to mention BBC news feeds.


Well done the Coastguard!

Coastguard chopper grounded before 100mph storm
 

Coastguard chopper grounded before 100mph storm | Shetland News

Part of RN SAR Prestwick's farewell tour of the Highlands last month.

ARCC Fareham
 

Tribute as Moray-based rescue centre prepares for closure. - Inside Moray - News

"The switch was announced in March last year – now the transfer is under way, with the final closure of the Kinloss centre to be completed by the end of this month." :{


============

https://heavywhalley.wordpress.com/2...n-centre-arcc/

RAF club tribute:
http://i202.photobucket.com/albums/a...oads/image.jpg

Was surprised to see a big yellow budgie (immaculately clean as far as I could see) over Bourton-on-the-Water late this afternoon, heading NW-ish.

Wonder what it was doing - but, whatever, a lovely surprise.

airsound

Attracted a lot of interest in Carterton as it went over, looked vsmart, repaint at BZN prior to display somewhere? RAFM?

PM

Is it one of the machines that will be used at the now or soon to be reserected Sea King OCU?

I hear Prestwick is where they are going to be based. Something to do with a Falkland Islands contingency plan if AAR are not ready on time.

202(R) Sqn?


FISAR contingency is a different issue.

202 (R) is simply the new name for SARTU. Prestwick OCU for potential Falklands faff seems the likely explanation.

Hmm, according to the latest DfT Stats there is a massive Gap on the South Eastern Coast of England.
https://twitter.com/DfTstats/status/707506253015089152
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CdB3XurghVbXEAEyE6W.png
Shouldn't be Lydd have a better home at Southend Airport to cover this Area more effectively?

And interstingly there is a lot of Oil & Gas related work which actually should be covered by the all new "Jigsaw" Helicopter out of Aberdeen/Sumburgh.

If Manston had remained active it would have been there. Thanet council did nothing to stop Manston closing then complained when SAR moved to Lydd.
mmitch.

Farewell flypast by the Junglie SEAKINGs yesteerday.

The Sea King helicopters make their final flight over Bristol

https://www.gov.uk/government/statis...-december-2015

More info than was ever released by the mod....

Yes. I am quite impressed with this aspect of the service. It is a welcome contrast with the approach used during the earlier stages of evolution.

Some old patterns re-established. For instance, Inverness not doing the most jobs but doing the most time on task (and probably mileage) as happened at Lossie.

It will interesting to see what happens once everyone is on the same contract and the same spec. (Not to mention the contracted aircraft!)

An interesting week.

Thursday afternoon and Friday morning:

- Last British SAR Sea King stands down (1564 Flt)

- ARCC Fareham flies solo



Those events do not occur in isolation. A few ripples reach out across the SAR world whose reflections we will be seeing for some time.

The end of an era.

Some minutes ago, the ARCC function officially closed down at Kinloss.

Earlier this afternoon, the last British SAR Sea Kings were replace by the AW189s of AAR/BIH in the Falklands.

I think it's fair to say this thread has seen its share of negativity, so well done to BIH/AAR for setting up the SAR service in the Falklands so efficiently and on on time.

With an AW189 too; perhaps they can help Bristow's out....:D

If the Bristow SAR 189's had the same contract specs and equipment as the AAR 189's then I have no doubt that they would be in service too.

Do you mean the Falkland 189 have NO de-icing? Or is it still other problems with the UK 189's?

SLB

SLB

There is Limited Icing Protection and there is Full Icing Protection. You tell me.

My understanding is that the Falklands aircraft have the LIPS deicing spec whereas the UK SAR aircraft were always intended to have the FIPS deicing spec.

I seem to remember that a Rotorheads contributor has already made a few statements about the power requirements and the difference between the two fits.

The chances of having FIPS ready for the UK contract start was always known to be slim. Dragging a bit now though.



SLB, the delays were never about ice protection. The potential for these systems to get fully developed and certified in winter 2014/15 was always slim and entering service with LIPS or with no ice protection may have been a fallback option for one or more bidders.

Do tell us what is substantially different with regard to say AFCS SAR Modes or Dual-Winch Power Management?

Bristow are not very happy with the SAR AFCS in the 189 as it's been doing some quite erratic things. They've taken the decision not to use it until it has been addressed. FIPS is quite a small issue in comparison.

I would imagine that the AAR machines are encountering the same but they've decided to go live anyway.

LZ

Well I think that they are supposed to work correctly and they certainly aren't in the Bristow aircraft. Perhaps AAR have different AFCS? Or they are happy to start a contract with known faults? Do tell us.

Jim,

Thanks for the explanation. So no FIPS for the Falkland 189's. If that is wise we will see in the near future as they are heading into autumn and winter.

If you say that the FIPS problems are not the reason for the delays for the UK 189's then there must be other differences between UK and Flkl outfitting of the 189's.

Can you inform us?

SLB

Doesn't have Bristow Issues with the Operators Workstation and their stupid position in the A/C as well?
Like Roof mounted Displays where the Sliding Doors are, instead of having them beside the Bubble Windows.


And doesn't Bristow have stopped all 189 Operation and put them in Storage because of the very excellent Product Support from Agusta. :E

Reasons?

- Modern powerful aircraft
- Right size and capability (AW139 already proved too small)
- Glass cockpit and NVG compatability
- Half a chance of being ready in time (unlike competitors)
- Government loved the idea that production of the SAR variant could be British

OK, some issues with the last one. But what else was there?

(BIH aircraft NOT British.)



Let's look at the oil price. What's happening there? Well, it's just over a third of what it was two years ago and not expected to recover any time soon. So what do you expect for new helicopter types introduced recently? Yes, that's right, nobody is desperate to keep them in the air. Looking back to 2004 when the S-92 and EC225 were introduced, the oil price was rising and kept rising and they'd pay for anything that could fly.

It is certainly the case that there are substantial differences in rear cabin layout between these two operators. However, other role equipment is similar.



You're a funny guy as365n4.

Let's look at two companies introducing AW189 SAR.

Company A
Nearly a couple of thousand employees. SAR at ten operational locations using up to 22 aircraft and planning for 11 of this type. SAR management have experience in the training sector or with fixed wing aircraft.

Company B
Nearly a couple of hundred employees. SAR at one operational location using two aircraft. SAR management have a 24-carat rotorcraft background including SAR.


Which company do you think is best placed to respond to a challenging procurement and development programme with a new type of SAR rotorcraft? (Especially if somebody has already shown them how not to do it.)

Is this not all done and dusted? :bored:

No chance. :p

Planned implementation was not due to be complete until July 2017 but with a delayed AW189 deployment we are now looking at a further year before the contracted solution is implemented. That's if everything goes to plan.

So what has happened since the last few posts in April?

Well, sh1t loads of damned good SAR helicopter work for one thing. I put myself forward as one of many witnesses to that for both the Main UK SAR contract and GAP-North. Well done guys. :D

The really good bit is that when somebody needs an aircraft, there are 10 bases out there that each have at least one serviceable aircraft. (Usually 11 during the day.) Happy days are here again. :ok:

There are things that never appeared in the contract spec and that sort of thing can be a bit of a problem. For instance, the word DOG never appeared in the original tech matrix and doesn't appear in the final spec for the Main contract. :ugh: Regardless, everyone involved has got stuck in and barring tiny wrinkles in the training administration, it all works and search dogs are fine. :ok: I do not expect that is the last problem. :hmm: . . . :E:E:E:E

In a recent Bristow Group earnings publication, we learned something of the plan for the AW189. They have set aside $115 million for buying the remaining eight AW189 SAR required. (So the register is correct that only three of those completed and flown so far are actually owned by BHL.) Then they tell us when they expect that money will be required, in a programme starting about now and ending in early 2018.

OK, so you get your techie guys all over the aircraft, then when it's OK you pay for it, then your techies mess with it some more, then your aircrew are all over it like a bad rash, and several months later it enters service? So add 3 to 6 months onto the purchase programme to get the implementation programme?

Meanwhile, all manner of 189 rumours from mid-2015 continue, with head and feet added. Some folks who were sold the idea of a S-92 career are still getting their heads round the new reality. Half the Coasties and MR guys are thinking 'Change? No change there then?' and the other half are just 'WTF?'

..:cool:

So the contract is still not being met???

I thought the 139s were supposed to be a temporary fix but I believe some who were 189 qualified have retrained on 139.

Meanwhile, what of the complaints about lack of performance vs range, FIPS being worse than useless in its reliability and vibration problems because the FIPS replaced a vibration absorber?

Contract between DfT and Bristow? Bumps along the way but during the last 15 months hundreds of people are safe who might not otherwise have been.

Contract between Bristow and AgustaWestland? ... slough of despond.

Regarding performance and range, as I understand it, the dry weight of the long range tank was supposed to be 150kg but ended up over twice that and the drag from the side-by-side double winch and other SAR toys is more than expected.

Anybody know the story about the damper?

.

Why??? Basic maths it seems:ugh:

Apparently, Russ Torbet of Bristow has announced at Farnborough that Lee-on-Solent will start as per the original plan in spring 2017, with the AW189. This will be the first AW189 base.

It will be followed by
- Prestwick (!!!)
- Lydd
- St Athans
- Inverness

So, start at the end and work back to the beginning.

Snippets in MCA tweets also.

HM Coastguard trial Jetstream 41 Turboprop
 

Not rotary but thread related.

HM Coastguard are trialling a Jetsream 41 turboprop to provide support to their SAR helicopters. Not the first fixed wing aircraft to operate in HMCG colours but probably the first to operate with SAR as primary function.

I can't post the hyperlink as forum rules appear not to allow blogsp*t to be included. Any help would be appreciated.

For those interested, further details and a pic are available on HM Coastguard blogsp*t date 9 Sep 2016 - available through any good search engine.

Eastern is a Bristow subsidiary. They
have been engaged in flights
between the major oil and gas
centres around the north sea and
also ferry flights in support of crew-
change helicopter flights. Since the
bottom has fallen out of that market,
this may well be an ideal time to go
looking for an aircraft of a certain
size in eastern England.

A small fleet of Cessna 400 are
operated by Reconnaissance
Ventures Ltd under the HM
Coastguard brand for MCA Aviation
as part of their pollution control
operations. Since 2010, we have been
told that the Cessnas are also one of
the options for SAR top cover. The
Jetstream appears to be an
experiment in expanding the role of
SAR top cover from its current low
base level. This is happening at the
same time as our friends in the Royal
Air Force are engaging with their
friends in the United States Navy to
prepare for the introduction of nine
Boeing P8 Poseidon maritime patrol
aircraft. As I write this, ex-Nimrod
aircrew in all corners of the Empire
are experiencing itchy feet in their
earth-bound roles.

So, it may be that in the north and
west, we may have to wait for old
friends to come and watch over us
from above (!) while in the south and
east the Jetstream will soon be out
there doing some part of that role.


"Constant Endeavour"

Why would the P8 be involved in top cover for a privatised service? Would HMCG pay for the service?