Are the RAeS lap dogs of the MOD
Just like MoD, there are those in the RAeS who seek to do the right thing, but are shouted down and bullied by those who refuse.
In the RAeS, the latter are well represented by the usual suspects - the cadre of retired senior RAF officers who launched into print blaming the pilots every time the Mull of Kintyre campaign looked like making progress.
One only has to compare the media utterings of, for example, Graydon and Alcock, with the official briefings to Ministers (and Liam Fox's statements) to see that, in this sense, MoD and RAeS are one and the same.
Why do you think the MAA have chosen to congregate at the RAeS? Because they are, essentially, on home turf. But perhaps someone will ask why a past President, at the behest of a senior retired RAF officer, ordered three Fellows to "burn" their revealing report on Mull of Kintyre in 2000.
There are many RAeS members who abhor the actions of the few. Now is your chance to ask the awkward questions. Like, why has the MAA never acknowledged that not one single conclusion or recommendation in any of the ART reports came as a surprise, as they had all been notified previously - and ignored. (Noting that, as they adhere to the Haddon-Cave lie that the problems started in 1998, the ARTs came as a complete surprise to the MAA when advised of them in January 2011). The answer is that, to acknowledge the ARTs and the fact nothing was done, would be to admit the above retired senior RAF officers abrogated their responsibilities, leading directly to avoidable deaths.
No MoD department will admit that, and the RAeS will not mention it. But an independent one would confirm it. After all, it is a simple matter of record.