Originally Posted by
DaveUnwin
Really good to see the Eye is still tracking this scandal (think it covered it a few years back), which PPRuNe flagged up many years ago and I wrote about for Pilot magazine in 2015. I have to agree with the previous posts re ingress and egress too. I flew a G109A recently, and that wasn't the easiest machine to get in and out of, and its still a lot better than a B. I can think of lots of aircraft that would've been better than a 109 for Aerobility - for example the Tecnam specially adapted with hand controls that I tested at the factory several years ago........
There in no doubt that the Vig fleet going to this charity was not about getting a second life from the airframes and using most of them, but all about 'clearing the desk' of the machine for NON onward 'youth use' so as to avoid awkward questions. Anyone with a grain of a brain knows this to be the case, and remember no actual cogent 'use case' was made by the charity organisation as opposed to others who had a clear plan for all of the fleet to be flying again. This only highlights what happens when an organisation such as the Cadets gets 'infiltrated' by non aviation types at the top, and is further influenced by former regular RAF staff who have their own agenda re use of civilian volunteers. The Cadet organisation did not get broken by those running squadrons and local VGS flying ops, it got pulled apart from pension toppers who did not understand how the operation worked or where the centre of excellence was. It most certainly was not at HQAC or 2FTS.