Search and rescue.

[Rowana]

Give me an S61 ANYDAY !!! Mind you, that is only my view as a passenger and not a casualty, so not really relevant. The old bird was as spacious as a bus and built like a tank. Though a bit slower, I always felt completely safe in them

Agree with you there, Ron. I used to be sound asleep before we'd reached Balmedie on the old S61's, then didn't wake up until the rotor noise changed as we were coming in to land on Forties. Same on the way back. The Super Puma's are far too cramped to get a decent sleep, and I was not fond of flying in them.

Mind you, they were still using S58's when I started offshore. Feckin' cold things they were!

 

[puddock]

S58 s ! Wessex look alike?

 

[William_H]

Ah Bristow Helicopters. I first met up with them about 40 years ago here in West Oz. I was doing radio servicing on a/c. Bristows were heavy into oil search support and later off shore rig supply. Yes they are still I believe heavily into support work in West Australia's north.
Interesting that here in West Oz the RAAF base handed over military SAR to a private company somne years back. They use Bell 212/412 apparently successfully.
As a principle however I believe military should be moving more towards civil defence and emergency and as such should continue with SAR to keep up their activity and usefulness. olewill

 

[Heckler]

From speaking to a friend who is a SAR pilot I believe this to be the case, or at least that is his hope and intention.

We had an ex RAF S&R pilot stand for AM here. He told us that when he left the RAF he couldnt fly choppers because he didnt have a licence, that the RAF trianed you to fly but you didnt have a licence per se. I found it hard to believe.
Stu

 

[prv]

We had an ex RAF S&R pilot stand for AM here. He told us that when he left the RAF he couldnt fly choppers because he didnt have a licence, that the RAF trianed you to fly but you didnt have a licence per se. I found it hard to believe.

That's my understanding. The CAA and military systems for both flying and engineering are completely separate. When my dad retired from the airforce he kept busy for a while by working as a part-time light aircraft mechanic at a little "farm strip" airfield. Despite the fact that he had literally written the manual for some of the RAF's maintenance procedures, and at one time been responsible for engineering decisions across the whole UK military helicopter fleet, the smallest bit of work he did on a civilian aircraft had to be supervised and signed off by someone with a CAA ticket.

Pete

 

[AntarcticPilot]

That's my understanding. The CAA and military systems for both flying and engineering are completely separate. When my dad retired from the airforce he kept busy for a while by working as a part-time light aircraft mechanic at a little "farm strip" airfield. Despite the fact that he had literally written the manual for some of the RAF's maintenance procedures, and at one time been responsible for engineering decisions across the whole UK military helicopter fleet, the smallest bit of work he did on a civilian aircraft had to be supervised and signed off by someone with a CAA ticket.

Pete

That's interesting. BAS operates civil registered aircraft, and of course, these require servicing in Antarctica. BAS usually uses military personnel on secondment to do this - at least, it certainly did in 2005, and I haven't heard of anything changing since then. BAS aircraft are registered in the Falklands (Reg. letters are VP), and the Falklands aviation is operated by the UK aviation authority, so I imagine that the regime is the same as elsewhere. Antarctica has no special regulations in this case; the law in the UK Antarctic bases is the same as the law in the UK unless otherwise specified.

Of course, the air-mechs have to be checked out on the types BAS uses (Twin Otters and Dash-7), which are a bit of a change from the usual military hardware! We did have a pilot who was a Tornado pilot when he was in the RAF; Twin Otters were a bit of a change I remember on military air-mech referring to them as being a bit agricultural

 

[Rowana]

S58 s ! Wessex look alike?

That's the one!

We had one bounce off the helideck on Forties Charlie and crash on to the deck of the crane barge alongside. One of the main rotor blades went through the glass of the crane cab on the way down. Crane driver came out without a scratch! That must have been around 1975 or 76 I think.

 

[Rowana]

That's my understanding. The CAA and military systems for both flying and engineering are completely separate. When my dad retired from the airforce he kept busy for a while by working as a part-time light aircraft mechanic at a little "farm strip" airfield. Despite the fact that he had literally written the manual for some of the RAF's maintenance procedures, and at one time been responsible for engineering decisions across the whole UK military helicopter fleet, the smallest bit of work he did on a civilian aircraft had to be supervised and signed off by someone with a CAA ticket.

Pete

Not sure if that's correct today. I know a couple of chaps who worked with Bristows in Aberdeen on the engineering side. One is ex-RAF and the other is ex-RN. Perhaps they got some conversion course when they left the services. I'll ask the next time I bump into one of them. I also know one pilot with Bristows who is ex-RAF. I'm sur he said to me that he had to do a conversion to fly the different type of helicopter, and then had to do so many hours as co-pilot first before becoming a captain.

 

[William_H]

Piloting and Engineering on aircraft requires a lot more than just the ability to handle the aircraft in the air or fix the machine on the ground. A pilot must be trained in navigating the civilian airways systems he must also deal in a more practical and variable environment of loading and operating areas. I think generally the military will do the background leg work for an operation compared to a civilian small operation where the pilot must arrange everything.
Likewise in engineering a military engineer may have the back up of many people in servicing many identical aircraft. The civilian engineer may have to research himself all of the modifications ADs and service bulletins for a one off aircraft. Miltary engineers tend to be more specialised in one trade where a civilian will need to be skilled in all. (especially alone out in the bush) Hence for both pilots and engineers there is a lot to learn to transition to the civilian system. (I was a beaurocrat involved in the engineering licensing system in Oz) Even a UK civil engineer had to be trained and do exams to do Oz civil aircraft.
The licensing for pilots but especially engineers is dictated by the country of registration of the aircaft.
For Antarctic pilot. An engineer with a civilian engineers licence would need to do specific exams and be rated for the Dash 8 airframe electrics instruments and engines. While for the Twin Otter dash 6 a generic engineers licence for airframe electrics and instruments is OK but must have a licence for the engines. Each licence requiring experience on the job for that aircraft system. Military experience can be acceptable to a degree. But for any civilian engineering licence there are exams for air legislation.
Likewise for a pilot there are exams for civil air legislation. Of course for Antarctica exemptions are quite possible.
Oz of course though having a peculiar licencing system complies with Chicago Convention on air safety. So all countries are similar.
olewill

 

[puddock]

We have a lot of ex RAF lads who come into our company because of their background (mechanical & hydraulic experience). Speaking to these guys, it would appear that they have to convert to and be licensed by the CAA to work on civilian aircraft. Apparently the same applies to aircrew. I don't know how much assistance they receive from the services with this, prior to them leaving.

 

[prv]

I don't know how much assistance they receive from the services with this, prior to them leaving.

You get a resettlement grant, which can be spent on more or less any kind of training (needn't be an accredited course) that will prepare you for a new job. Scandal in the Daily Wail some years ago when a female naval officer used hers for pole-dancing lessons. I don't know how much the grant is.

Pete