The man leading the team at Inverness’s new search and rescue base said he was delighted to be back in the Highlands.
John McIntyre moved to the Highland capital when he was three, attending Crown Primary and Culloden Academy.
On leaving secondary school, he joined Bristow as trainee, flying for the oil and gas industry out of Aberdeen.
Since then his career as a pilot has taken him to Shetland, Nigeria, Holland, the Falklands and Stornoway.
Mr McIntyre, who is living on the Black Isle, said: “You see the area in a different way. I fly over my old school and the house where I grew up.
“It’s fantastic to be back.”
The crew will be undergoing regular training and practice flights until the start of contract on April 1.
And then they will be waiting for the bell to sound.
Mr McIntyre also said that the crew would be able to fly in most extreme weather conditions.
The blades of the aircraft have a de-icing system and he said that he could take off in zero visibility thanks to modern navigational technology.
Mr McIntyre said: “More often than not it is the weather that is the cause of a rescue, whether it’s an avalanche or wind.
“But the aircraft is designed to operate in austere cold.”