I have been reading with interest and maybe I am been stupid here, but we are the most western island facing the Atlantic and we have considerable air traffic over our island, we should be able to deploy jets to any incident in that region. If we do not see the need for them, why did we buy the PC 9's what warranted the expense of these expensive trainers and what are there roles, training for what? On the transport aircraft I can see requirement as long as they could double up the casa's for dual roles, but what exactly can a C 239 carry and how good is it to transport equipment, it does not look like it can carry an awful lot, more helicopters yes but why buy brand new, second hand or nearly new would do just fine. Did'nt the RAF take over 5 Merlins from the Danish airforce, could we not do something similar with Pumas or something similar. Cessna's should have been replaced a long time ago with some medium range twin engined aircraft. But before you think about new aircraft, the AC needs its house in order, and uses what it actually has. I think I read somewhere a comment from Dermot Earley, that he was not sure what the AC do to assist the state unlike the army or Naval service who do there bit etc. My impression as a Jo Soap, is the AC is a 9-5, 5 day a week flying social club. I may be miles off but I do not think I am. Buy second hand, yes some risks, but not a lot and you get more for your buck, but before you even thinking about buying a new Tyre, sort the staff levels out , make shifts, off site training, foreign training and be a 24 hour 7 day a week force like other air corps around the world.
