Originally Posted by
Chris Scott
Thanks bean, I stand corrected. Evidently, more BUA cadets were seconded to BUA(CI) at Jersey on the Dart Herald than I had remembered. Those of us who were sent to fly more pedestrian types like the Bristol 170 ("Frightner") at Lydd or, in my case, Herons and Dakotas at Gatwick were envious of their good fortune. But Alan Bristow's closure of BUA(CI) after the strike in 1968 resulted in their being ejected from the BUA group. That was very unfair, considering they had only been sent there on secondment. They were not the only ex-cadets to strike against Bristow's attempt to exclude BALPA from negotiations of pay and conditions, and must have been under much pressure from their seniors, who had much more to lose from Bristow's reorganisation of the unprofitable BUA group.
So it seems that Course 30 represented a mixture of British airline cadets, in addition to J P Singh. Looking again at that course photo and realising the gaps in my memory, I'm starting to think that Tony Hanson was also a BUA cadet (as I was, on Course 32). We BUA cadets were scattered far and wide after leaving Scone, and rarely came into contact.
Apologies for being so late (three years to the day since your last message on this thread!), but just to confirm that Tony Hanson was a Cambrian student. Ex Merchant Navy (like several others in those days as the fleet contracted), and ended up as a BA 747 skipper. I have the occasional beer with him. He reminds me he not only won the Principal's Award for 30 Course, but also the gong as Ace-of-the-Base for the whole year!! (Don't know what happened to all that talent in the years since . . )
I also have to pass on the sad news that another student on this, the first Cambrian course, Roger Whitlam, passed away a few days ago after a short battle with a particularly aggressive cancer.