If they spread them out all over the country they won't provide much service to anyone. If there are 16 to begin with any less than 8 per location would be ineffective. Unless there was one Sqn. with maybe 11 and it also served as the OTU and maintenance facility and the Sqn. with 5 was strictly operational without the training and maintenance burden. If anyone thinks that locating them with an already established light helicopter sqn. would be beneficial they can't be aware of the vast difference between providing support for the little sports models and the 18 wheelers. There is no commonality between the Griffon's and Chinooks and technical folks would never learn the Chinook and Griffon well enough to to be employed on both at the same time without causing more problems than they fix because of inexperience.
Also even in a newly established Sqn. with nothing but Chinooks the learning process is going to be long and slow so the availability rate of aircraft will be very low for a considerable time. It will take years to create the experience level necessary for operators and maintainers to make the operation viable.
Also even in a newly established Sqn. with nothing but Chinooks the learning process is going to be long and slow so the availability rate of aircraft will be very low for a considerable time. It will take years to create the experience level necessary for operators and maintainers to make the operation viable.