Helicopter firm jobs being lost in Aberdeen

mitchaa

PasturesNew wrote: »

When you sit at school, staring out of the window, how on earth do you even ever know that people maintain helicopters and that it's a job that you could do ... never mind how do you work out you'd like to?

My school overlooked strawberry fields and I passed a jam factory to get there. Not much inspiration there.

I always wanted to be a fast jet fighter pilot, but seeing as i did not get the opportunity to do that, engineering was the next best thing.

Helicopters are very complex and far more demanding than fixed wing aircraft, a lot of mechanical moving parts on a helicopter, not so on a fixed wing holiday jet. The more moving mechanical parts, the more potential for things to go wrong. The aircraft engineering license is the same fixed wing as it is rotary (heli) so it is possible for an engineer to transfer between the 2. Many do so to rotary, not so many to fixed wing. If you get something wrong, you are playing with human lifes and it is possible for engineers to be held responsible and be put up for manslaughter charges should 1 drop out of the sky and you are to blame.

It's a job i enjoy, the pay is not too bad, and the majority of the time i'm happy with my choice of career.

Keeps me busy and fingers crossed no more helicopter jobs being shed in Aberdeen otherwise i think i'll go MSE AWOL:rotfl:

lostinrates

PasturesNew wrote: »

When you sit at school, staring out of the window, how on earth do you even ever know that people maintain helicopters and that it's a job that you could do ... never mind how do you work out you'd like to?

My school overlooked strawberry fields and I passed a jam factory to get there. Not much inspiration there.

Nuns. Nuns were outside my school window.

I'm not a nun.

b0rker

PasturesNew wrote: »

My school overlooked strawberry fields and I passed a jam factory to get there. Not much inspiration there.

I suspect that John Lennon would disagree with that statement.

dopester

dealsearcher wrote: »

I used to fly for Bristows. How are they getting on now?

They seem to be doing ok. I just happened upon this February 2009 article when googling to get a better idea how far out the rigs are from shore.

Unless you can also travel in and out by boat or hovercraft (unlikely), I don't think I could do the job - being slightly afraid of helicopters - although I did go for a 15 minute trip in the Barratt helicopter one time.

Bristow Helicopters to Transport Central North Sea Workers
Monday, February 09, 2009


Bristow Helicopters has secured a new North Sea contract. The Company will provide helicopter support for CNR International (UK) Ltd, flying workers to and from the Tiffany platform, situated in the Central North Sea, 150 miles north east of Aberdeen, commencing tomorrow (February 10, 2009).

The contract will run for three years, with two further one-year options, using Bristow's fleet of new, high technology EC225 helicopters.

This work is returning to Bristow which previously held the contract until 2004.

John Cloggie, Bristow's Director of European Operations in Aberdeen, said, "We are pleased to be servicing this important North Sea contract again and look forward to working with CNR to provide this vital link.

"The award of this contract enhances Bristow's reputation in the oil and gas sector and will provide additional long term stability for the company in Aberdeen. It also demonstrates the benefits of investing in new technology for both the customer and Bristow. The advantage of the EC225 is that the extra payload offers clients a more cost effective means of transporting staff."

The contract is the latest in a raft of positive developments for Bristow. Last year the company invested more than £70 million in a fleet of new Sikorsky S-92 helicopters based in Scatsta, Shetland, and also announced the establishment of a Bristow training academy at the company's new European Headquarters which is currently under construction less than a mile away from the present base in Forties Road, Dyce, Aberdeen. This project is due to be completed this summer.

http://www.rigzone.com/NEWS/article.asp?a_id=72686

dealsearcher

It's a lot more comfortable and quicker on a helicopter.

You know what they say: 'happiness is a big chopper'. :j

BP Forties are at 104nm (nautical miles) = just under an hour by chopper.
Beryl Alpha (Mobil) is at 180nm = around an hour and a half by chopper.
Although I flew the Sikorsky S61N which only did 110kts. The Bristow Tiger (Super Puma) is a bit quicker at about 135kts.

IveSeenTheLight

mewbie wrote: »

I wonder how long it took some marketing genius to come up with the name "Hele1".

I once new a company that was taken over and they spent £250k coming up with the new name.
It was crazy as it was like a company called "1" being taken over by "Hele" and they spent the £250k to come up with the name Hele1

Note it was a different company

IveSeenTheLight

dealsearcher wrote: »

It's a lot more comfortable and quicker on a helicopter.

You know what they say: 'happiness is a big chopper'. :j

BP Forties are at 104nm (nautical miles) = just under an hour by chopper.
Beryl Alpha (Mobil) is at 180nm = around an hour and a half by chopper.
Although I flew the Sikorsky S61N which only did 110kts. The Bristow Tiger (Super Puma) is a bit quicker at about 135kts.

I regularly had to make trips to BP Schiehallion, 175km west of Shetland.
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/STAGING/global_assets/downloads/U/uk_asset_schiehallion.pdf
We had to land and re-fuel either in Shetland or at the North of Scotland to complete the trip.
If I recall correctly, the trip took 2 1/2 hours, but then I got into a routine of getting on the chopper and falling asleep.

Sometimes, we would get a chopper to Shetland and then jump on a fixed wing back to Aberdeen.
those were the days and I don't miss them

dopester

Breaking news

Helicopter ditches in North Sea

A helicopter, understood to have up to 20 people on board, has ditched on approach to an installation in the North Sea.

The Super Puma was believed to have ditched on approach to an installation 120 miles east of Aberdeen. The alarm was raised just before 1900 GMT.

Three helicopters - including two in-field aircraft and a Sea King from RAF Lossiemouth - are heading to the scene.
A Nimrod from RAF Kinloss has also been scrambled.

There is currently no information on those on board the ditched aircraft.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/north_east/7898093.stm?lss

ess0two

Fingers crossed to all involved.

mitchaa

And just as i was saying should 1 drop out of the sky, a day later:eek:

Hopefully the crew and passengers are okay, fingers crossed they hovered into position and ditched and that the flotation devices are keeping them afloat until rescue. It's cold out there so fingers crossed the rescue helicopters get to them quick.