A&C's post is very understandable, but it might help to offer a couple of points:
It's only two years since, with much fanfare and a notable absence of RAF officers taking any responsibility, a politician was jobbed to stand up and announce the 'recovery plan' for ATC gliders. That followed three years of fumbling, denial and outright lies while 22Gp, 2FTS and the MoD struggled to work out how to recover the airworthiness of a fleet of the simplest, easiest to maintain aircraft that (taxpayers) money could buy. As part of that, the RAF would effectively hand over its 65 Vigilants to Grob, who would recover 15 aircraft to a give an OSD of 2019. Grob would keep the other 50 for resale.
At the time, I wondered who on earth had approved this idea, just how bad things had got that the MoD thought that effectively giving 50 aircraft away for nothing to the firm we bought them from in the first place was a good idea. I also wondered how they justified this huge loss of taxpayer assets for an OSD just three years away when they made the announcement (March 2016).
So now, after two years of not much information, 2FTS suddenly announces that this is 'no longer an option'. Why? One thing for absolute certain - the last two years of non-progress will have cost the ATC, and the taxpayers, even more for absolutely no result. Sadly, any hope that this latest 'screw up' will release any more funds for Viking recovery is very probably unfounded. Getting things badly wrong for two years doesn't come cheap.
22Gp and 2FTS (and the MoD) spent over two years trying and failing to get a semblance of control over this scandal, and only started getting some sort of grip when given direct instructions by CAS and the MAA. The announcement in March 16 that effectively dismembered the ATC's operations was deliberately framed to obscure the central scandal. Now, another two years have passed and a central part of the 'new plan' has fallen apart. Which means that 22Gp, 2FTS and the MoD still don't have a grip. After five years. Five years.
The cadets who have been deprived of the central activity that they were promised, the ATC staff who have worked so hard to try to manage through this debate, and the taxpayers who have ponied up for this absolute crock, all deserve an explanation. The MoD and the RAF need to properly investigate what the hell happened, and take swift action to plug the gaps that clearly exist.
I'd hope that someone pushes for a formal Commons Committee inquiry. It's justified.
Best regards as ever to all those having to tell the cadets the bad news,
Engines