Air-sea rescue also retains experienced pilots

Whirlwinds served the Queen's Flight and became a familiar sight in bright yellow during air-sea rescue work. Britain split maritime rescue between the charitable RNLI's lifeboats and flying units from the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. The military squadrons gave experienced helicopter pilots a steadier posting when they needed more predictable family life while allowing them to keep flying. Some could specialize in rescue, while others rotated back to operational units. Moving the mission outside the armed forces may look cheaper on a narrow accounting line, but it can remove a useful retention route and create training bottlenecks elsewhere.