Air Rescue UK launches hoist operator scholarship
Air Rescue UK has announced a training scholarship to honor its late colleague and friend, Mike Holman
The scholarship, for helicopter technical crew hoist operators, will be run through a newly launched charitable trust, with the goal of awarding it annually.
The scholarship will offer ground and flight training on Air Rescue UK’s simulator. Initially, just one candidate per year will be selected, with the aim of bringing them up to pre-operator conversion standard as a helicopter technical crewmember for hoist operations.
Air Rescue UK stated that applications for the scholarship will open in the third quarter of this year.
The hoist operations and training provider stated that it is “keen to talk to organizations who may want to support this trust”, and that it can also “accept individual charitable donations”.
Holman, who served as part of Air Rescue UK’s search and rescue (SAR) technical crew, passed away in June 2023.
Decades of experience in search and rescue
“Joining Air Rescue UK in May 2020 … Mike was already known to all our staff as a friend or their previous instructor, but most importantly as a highly respected colleague with a wide range of not just SAR, but aviation experience,” the company stated.
It added: “Mike always had time to help anyone and would go out of his way to achieve the best from others in SAR and to create the opportunity for their growth.”
Prior to his arrival at Air Rescue UK, Holman had served for 24 years with the UK’s Royal Air Force (RAF), where he began his flying career as an air load master for Hercules aircraft. He later trained as a SAR winch operator on Westland Wessex helicopters in 1985.
Air Rescue UK added: “As a SAR instructor, Mike was a consummate professional, and held several positions in the RAF search and rescue training unit, as the SAR standards crewman for UK military SAR, and as the Central Flying School agent for Wessex and Sea King instructor standardization.” After leaving the RAF, he later rejoined the unit as a civilian instructor.
Elsewhere, helicopter training provider Coptersafety recently announced its participation in the Whirly-Girls International scholarship program.