Yorkshire Air Ambulance Exodus
 

It seems that there is something of a mass exodus in train in Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

They have posted vacancies for a new Chief Pilot, Line Pilot and a Relief Plot - all to be applied for by the end of this month.

A coincidence I hope, there is enough negative going on in Yorkshire already.

http://www.yorkshireairambulance.org...fo/work-at-yaa

Or a number of them may be reaching the current single pilot, public transport retirement age.....

Is there still a single-pilot 60 years of age limit in UK? I thought that was about to change?

Still there at the moment.

Suspect not doom
 

I attended a RAeS Sheffield lecture by a YAA fund raiser last month who said they would be recruiting additional pilots soon to cover the extra flying hours they would be operating from their two bases now they have full night flying kit (NVGs etc) and capability in their two new aircraft.
Good news, not signs of problems.

is there any ongoing process or NPA to actually change this from 60 to 65 at the moment or is it just a wish list item?

Or not as the case may be.....don’t hold yer breath!

when my age started with a 4, I was sure the 65 age would be in place before I reached 60, now my age starts with a 5, I am not so sure at all.

I thought that also. But now mine begins with a 6....

It will come too late for me, I guess.

I've been hearing the rumours of the 'imminent change' to 65 for over two years now; however, I do wonder whether the Authority would find themselves in an interesting position, having fought the legal battle to end so many careers early on 'safety grounds'.

TeeS

There MIGHT be a trial starting this year. I hear rumours it’s a small group of NPAS pilots with extra medical checks.
Don’t worry about shrinking careers, it’s hard enough to recruit at the moment

I would like to see the risk analysis that arbitrarily decided 60 was game over in this age of political correctness and anti age discrimination.
for that matter 65 for total game over.
If you can pass a medical and flight checks I would rather fly with an old hack than a young gun.

A few years ago one pilot took the system to court about the requirement to retire at the age of 60 but his bid to get it rescinded failed. The more recent decision to delay payment of the state pension till the age of 66 rather rubbed salt in the wound.

We have had numerous old Gits in their 70's flying helicopters in the Gulf of Mexico over the years. The Age 60 Rule just does not hold water.

That the guys were quite high on the seniority Totem Pole and were generally flying Two Pilot aircraft made that an easier case to make but more than a few were out there in Jetrangers with no problems.

In Shyt's case I have heard many suggesting he has long been past his sell by date!:E

I might be beginning to "wither on the vine" - but at least I'm still on it!

I was involved from the union side at national level with the move from 60 to 65.Whilst I.m told the science supported that move for two crew operations if the same scientific criteria were followed for single crew ops the retirement age would have gone down to 55.Perhaps let sleeping dogs lie or go 2 crew! I retired from multi crew flying just short of 63 with hindsight I believe 60 would have been a better age for me to have retired.All down to individual circumstances but I,m not sure the medics can be trusted to filter out those who need to be.Regards Stampe !

My British ATPL(H) came to a halt when I was 65. I went to Australia, did the course, passed the exams and obtained an Australian ATPL(H). This I used to fly in Australia, Solomon Islands and China. Then the Chinese CAAC legislated that all pilots flying in China had to have a Chinese licence. Did the medical, passed the exams and got a Chinese licence at 67.

The jobs dried up with the recession but I was fully licenced and had a Class One medical when I finished at 69.

The only time that age came up was when they put a knackered old sod in the LHS. There was something about a total age in the cockpit, (130) but we flew anyway.

I notice on their website that at least one of their machines is winch-equipped.

Maybe a silly question, but do they conduct operational winches?

The original plan for the winch fit on the YAA H145s was to undertake something akin to a long-line lift of patients in remote, difficult to access, locations.

The specific need was always going to be low and training would be a low priority.

Lifts and lowering were not part of the plan partly because of the cost.

Things might have changed but there is no evidence they have.

PANews, thanks very much for the info, though now my brain hurts at the thought of such a capable helo/winch asset conducting longline style extractions in preference to hoisting.

I assume that someone (the pilot?) would have to winch out sufficient cable to begin the extraction, followed by winching the cable back in upon completion - i.e. perform a winch cycle. Why add the difficulty and danger of a long line evolution into the mix?

Not having a go at you, PANews, I'm just thinking/ranting out loud.

Possibly to do with needing to keep the casualty at a safe height and give the aircraft a flyaway option - it might just be that even the 145 can't winch at operational weights OEI.

The 145 should be able to operate OEI up to MTOW in that region...

skadi

Many operators can hoist/winch to suit using the H145.

Rant or hurt head or not, the operator decided that they would purchase a hoist with the new airframe because all the fittings were there and you can never predict the future. At that time they saw the financial costs associated with hoist training in an environment where there is little call for hoisting [as we know it] were beyond them. They formulated the "retractable long-line" as a business case for adding the kit to the airframe.

It is unlikely they have used it but that was the business case. It is probably easier and cheaper to include than not to on purchase.

In 1980 the Met Police bought a Bell 222 fleet with winches but they took them off as soon as the delivery ceremony was over and never, ever, used them. Ditto the newer EC145s. They have looked at them since .... they do rappelling but no sign of winching yet. Like the 222s [and YAA 145s] they are on the shelf 'just in case'....

I guess its the balance between intensive training [the only sort you should do] and real need. There are enough operators out there that carry a hoist and only switch it on when the operational need presents itself. :uhoh:

But does that include a 2 minute or 30 second OGE OEI hover or a fly away option?

Yes

skadi

Thanks, that’s quite impressive performance.

Hi, as long as you operate underneath the Blue line:
Blue line: OEI power limit: Shows the maximum power that will be available at the OEI 30 second limit in case of a sudden engine failure.

But chances are high, if you wonˋt lift off with MTOW at the begining, that you will be able to continue with one engine within the 2 Minute rating which then extends to 2:30 (if 30 sec rating wasnˋt used) or even with some wind wonˋt even need to touch emergency Power at all.

With 700kg Fuel you have an endurance of roughly 3hrs, so it´s quite easy to add some extra reserves not topping up fully!