I second Airsound in his plea for you to stick around please, Engines. We all want the same thing I'm sure, a return of Airworthiness to the UK Military Airfleets, and proper Air Regulation and Air Accident Investigation. How to get there is of course the tricky part. You and tucumseh have the advantage over most, if not all here. You've both been there and done it. Hence you are both respected and listened to avidly when you describe your experiences, analyse what has gone wrong, and suggest where we should go from here. I have to be up front here, I just don't trust the MOD to want to reform Air Safety. I know that is a terrible stance to take, but I look at what they have done and indeed not done to date. Mull is an indictment of the MOD. It pressed a knowingly unairworthy type into RAF service even as BD was still assessing it (and stopped doing so because it was 'positively dangerous'. When the inevitable accident happened it took 29 lives. The reaction was to brief against the pilots, fix the BoI by ensuring the withholding of evidence and witnesses, and find the dead pilots Grossly Negligent, all the time knowing the aircraft to have been Grossly Unairworthy. Finally when the SoS 14 years later put the finding aside it was never acknowledged by the MOD and the Reviewing Officers Finding is still clung to.
Now everywhere that I mention the MOD in the main I must admit I am talking about the actions and attitudes of RAF VSOs who have a stranglehold on the management of much of UK Military Aviation. I admire the way that the RN/FAA managed to avoid the worst aspects of that management simply by not being the RAF! RAF Engineers though had no such leeway. They were/are in the direct CoC that goes all the way to the top of their Service within the MOD. I don't pretend to comprehend how that pans out in real life, but take the Reds Mk10 seats for an example. The servicing bay is removed by the beancounters, an RTI is issued requiring the drogue shackle to be uncoupled to inspect for seat beam cracks every 50 hours. To conform to the RTI is to defy the seat servicing instructions. No RN headcover here, defy the CoC or the servicing instructions. What to do? Obviously don't carry out the RTI. Result? No coffee or tea interviews wearing out ever more illustrious carpets. I'm not trying to defend RAF EngO's here, just indicating the constant pressure on them to defy the Regs and simply get on with it. The result of that? A man dies!
You suggest going direct to the SoS. Numerous SoS's confirmed that disobeying an illegal order was an offence in itself! The MOD is not to be trusted in any way. Nothing that is in its orbit is independent. Even independent judicial reviews are minded to say that at the height of subversion of Air Safety it was a 'Golden Period' for goodness sake! All the goodwill in the world will not change this leopard's spots. Whatever reform of UK Military Air Regulation and Air Accident Investigation is to happen has to be outside and independent of the MOD and of each other. How we get there of course is difficult I have to admit, but get there we must in my view if the avoidable accidents and needless deaths are to cease (to the best of our abilities of course).
We all feel strongly about all this, professionally and as caring individuals. That is only natural. We all have varying ideas as to what should be done. Somehow we must come to a consensus and offer a united front to those who simply want to maintain the cover up and hope for the best. Aviation doesn't work like that as we all know. So jaw jaw, not war war!
Like you I am not a mod, and can only endorse your wise words, Engines. Let's all place nice!