Originally Posted by BEagle
If the Hawk ACT sorties are flown in segregated airspace, then why not put TCAS to Standby when entering and back to TA after leaving?
I stand ready to be brought up to date by BV, but last time I flew in the Valley training areas (a couple of years ago) they weren’t segregated airspace. Deconflicted between military aircraft choosing to observe them, yes; formally barred to non-participating aircraft, no.
Alfred,
I’m sorry to inform you that ‘chopping’ doesn’t stop at OCUs. I know of 3 pilots and a WSO who were removed from fast-jet duties during their first tours for failing to develop at the expected rate, and another WSO in his 40s who scraped through a refresher OCU after serving in staff for a few years but never got properly back on the horse and soon shuffled permanently to staff by mutual agreement. You can view it as a waste if you like, but the fact is that the instructional and supervisory capacity needed to keep such individuals operating safely is a finite resource that needs to be invested in those with capacity to repay it in future. With so few front-line squadrons, sustainability of the whole edifice is finely balanced and regrettably that means tough decisions being taken from time to time. Increasing the size of the supervisory cadre doesn’t help: they all need to fly, which means larger squadrons (needing more future supervisors) or less flying for junior pilots (hindering their development).