I was looking at the VGS too, but with 3 years as a QFI flying the T67, Bulldog, BE76 and every single thrown at me, 3000TT and 2200 in the airlines wasn't enough for them. I needed to spend 3 months on the ground helping out and a gradual 6 months learning to fly a hair-dryer.
Yer right!!!
Sounds like a good decision by the VGS concerned actually.
Perhaps things have changed in recent years? but one of the priceless things about the system when I was on a VGS was that
everyone, right up to the guy running the line, knew
exactly how things r
eally worked in
every part of the system. Precisely because they had
been there and done that and knew just what it was like to be stuck down at the winch all day, they'd done umpteen retrieves without so much as a break, had put aircraft to bed in the pouring rain and compared notes with other staff about which combination of cold weather gear was most effective in keeping the sleet and snow at bay etc etc etc.
And they were far, far better man managers than those who did not have that experience. They could keep a school running efficiently and effectively when the prima donnas had long since given up and slunk off home
I won't even start on the resentment felt towards those kind of people by VGS staff who have put in many, many, many weekends of hard work, only to see their precious flights given to 'fast track'
CS