Which planet are you on ?
"appropriate to change to a full time VGS organisation - employing paid staff to delivering GS training on the weekend during school term times and throughout school holidays. "
How unrealistic is this ?
Here we are debating defence cuts, the smallest peace time RAF ever, and a fleet of grounded Gliders and Motor Gliders, and someone comes up with a huge cost escalation plan which has no merits whatsoever.
Paid staff ? - on a contract for weekends during term times and throughout school holidays? Really !!! ( maybe another zero hours contract which seems in vogue!)
Paid staff ? - where from ? - certainly not Civvy clubs, and certainly not RAF GD pilots as we are clean out of them. The ONLY people who hav e the vast experience are those currently "resting" from the VGS's while they await HM's pleasure ( or was it misery?)
And, lest anyone should forget, remember that the Titanic was commanded by a professional and that Noah was an "amateur" - the only fatalities to Air Cadets in accidents over the last 15 years have involved...............well...........let's say, NOT the VGS staff, or their aircraft.
I have no doubt whatsoever that we will be seeing the paralysis/arrest continue for some time yet as nobody in Air Command can find their defibrillator, and if they don't get a wriggle on, there will be no patients to resuscitate - as retention of this vastly experienced and skilled resource is being prejudiced by every minute of vacillation, not to mention the way in which they have been excluded from the loop in every sense.
As for some of the other ideas seen in the last couple of days or so on this thread - god help us if Little Rissington was a major centre - as the Wx profile is not conducive to reliable operations, not to mention the prop wrecking loose runway surface.
Major centres - far from being a cost saving, will be a major non-productive cost - transport of Cadets over large distance at public expense only to find Wx u/s , with a resultant demotivated and disappointed Cadet force, tired out and p***** off.
Also, before disposing of the Grob Vigilant fleet, remember, that it has worked well for twenty years, and is a very efficient training machine where conventional gliders cannot be deployed, and where staffing is necessarily fewer. Also remember, that to operate a fleet of 4/5 Vikings, you do need a sizeable staff to allow for mixed duties, drivers, winch drivers, and rotations including leave and holidays, and time off. Contrary to a recent post, the Viking has been an excellent trainer, not complex or difficult - and with 3000+ launches plus the old wood ships and Vigilant also, I should know !
One thing is for sure, the organisation as we knew it, chaps, is never going to be quite the same again, sad to say. The losers will be the Cadets initially, which eventually will cascade onwards to what remains of the RAF, as the Cadets of the future may not enjoy the pre-service training that used to be enjoyed by so many.