LJ (and others),
I sincerely apologise if my posts have come across as 'witch hunting', and as an ex-Air Cadet who flew in T21s and Sedberghs at Manston many years ago I fully appreciate your frustration at the current situation.
You ask why were the aircraft ever put on the military aircraft register? The short answer would be because they were bought using money that was allocated by the Government for military aircraft. They were bought by the MoD to be operated by an arm of the RAF. If the RAF operates aircraft, they have to be on the military register.
My view, and happy for anyone to disagree - The RAF should stop using scarce taxpayer's money to try to run the world's largest fleet of publicly owned gliders. The original justifications (recruiting, promoting 'air-mindedness') can't possibly stand scrutiny in the current financial climate. Again, my view. I think your suggestion for a way forward goes half way, and Pobjoy's is probably the only realistic way forward. The RAF should stop trying to own and operate these aircraft, and hand them off to a civilian organisation that is funded through charitable donations. No need for 2FTS, or the MoD posts that have tried (and failed) to operate and support these aircraft to a satisfactory standard. There's only one thing I'd disagree on - the suggestion that the RAF should 'buy some aircraft on the civvy register and put some roundels on them'. That money's gone. Been spent. Been wasted. Been flushed. If the RAF really wants to go that route, it would (in my view) have to find the funds from within its current budgets.
Just to explain why I think there should be an enquiry. The issue, to me, is not so much that the ATC gliding setup has been screwed up, although that's bad enough. It's that the RAF, which has worked so hard to build an enviable reputation for its standards and professionalism, has put that reputation at risk by failing in nearly all aspects of supporting and maintaining a fleet of simple aircraft. Even worse, it's put children (and it's own people) at risk in the process. As others have pointed out, this is not an isolated occurrence. So, here's the question I'd put to CAS - 'How do you know this isn't happening somewhere else in the RAF?'. To use the current jargon, 'is there a systemic problem'? There needs to be an answer to that one, and that's why I think an enquiry is required.
Best regards as ever to all the aircrew and support staff working damn hard to keep the RAF operational and effective,
Engines