VGS ITU & Recovery ward
POBJOY - yes there was lots of involvement with Viking ops, as was the case on the old days with the Mk III, and Sedbergh with the old Balloon winches. The new MVG winches that came in around 1989 were a quantum leap in terms of efficiency, and particularly in terms of comfort for a day's winch driving,( What - a heater ???) although it could make lovely steel winch cable cable knitwear !!
I don't altogether accept that there was little involvement in Vigilant ops though. It all depends on DI leadership and the team in order that the whole troop is kept occupied, and not bored ----less.
BuckleyBoy - yes agreed that there will be a huge loss of up to 800 GS from Vigilant VGS ops if they are decimated, and I do agree that convex from Vigilant to Viking will be an enormously troublesome area - Do they want to ? Are they able to ? -.e., any relevant experience of conventional ops. Are they able to join in terms of geographic location? and are the sites entirely suitable for winch ops.
As for just concentrating on GS, I think that would be an altogether poor strategy as many young Cadets have a wonderful opportunity to see whether they like having their backsides off the ground by doing IGT, whilst some can overcome their fear of flying at the same time. I well remember one such Cadet who was so frightened ( not by me !!!) that he had to be removed from my aeroplane for a while until the DI had re-assured him and I had explained just exactly how I would deal with his fear. The result was a hugely successful sortie with a smile as long as the runway and a fear of flying totally conquered. How can anyone say that this work was not rewarding ?
I also remember getting a new CGI to solo standard after his "white knuckles" were made to relax sufficiently - that and many more.
Not only that, as we stand now, we have a new Winch to contend with, and all existing staff totally outside any category/currency limits. Indeed, some of the best expertise has gone, and continues to bleed away as time goes by.
Not many raw recruits wish to spend anything up to 18 hours a day , three days a month, plus at least one 7 day continuous period, away from home, on a bleak windswept airfield, with precious little work breaks, or refreshment and on top of that work their way up from the very bottom, i.e., retrieve driving, cable pulling, winch driving, signalling, pushing, pulling and heaving quite heavy GRP ships all day and then cleaning all the said machines at the end of the long day, and learning to rig and de-rig Vikings.
I suspect those in the Ivory Towers and above have failed to appreciate the very highly skilled, and generous public spirited workforce that they had, but will soon find out what they haven't got by the time they get some aircraft on some airfields in an attempt to enact their master plan for 2020. They can't even rely on any FSC's as they have all gone too , and no new ones have been trained for nearly two years.
They may even have to look the assistance of some of the old "Home Guard contingent" like self who could perhaps do some ground training of new recruits. I personally spent 30 years from Mk III to Sedbergh, Venture, Viking and Vigilant, and held executive posts on more than one unit and served on at least two operational front line stations, and one other. I retired gracefully on the last day that I was able to fly HM's aeroplanes, and I can truly say that I have seen some outstanding Cadets develop , some of whom are now Senior RAF Officers, some of whom have held prestigious appointments in the RAF. Would I do it again? Certainly.
Is it/ Was it a safe and professional operation ? Yes, absolutely. Yes, I will admit that we have seen the odd comedian/ Walter Mitty / Spanner, but by and large they were very soon rumbled and eliminated before they had any chance to cause a major problem. Amateurs in terms of pay, but totally professional in every operational aspect, borne out by some of the RAF PTC Flight Safety Awards made. I represented my VGS on the Station Flight Safety Committee, and in that time, not ONE complaint was levelled against the VGS. We also flew during normal weekday ops and operated under full Air Traffic Rules as indeed all the other FT RAF pilots and instructors did. We operated a station approved Health & Safety policy for the VGS and liaison was at all times courteous and correct.
Quite simply the best thing that OC 2 FTS could do is to come to terms with the fact that those who have in some cases a lifetime of experience, may be able to help exhume the VGS organisation from its current graveyard scenario. I think we can all agree here that Daddy does not know best !!!
I still think that when all the infighting has ceased and we have got > than a couple of dozen Cadets aviating again, that there is an overwhelming case for this whole taxpayer waste to be scrutinised and some people brought to account. It should NOT be left to blow away like petals from flowers at the graveside.
I think that many of us perhaps enjoyed the premium years, it's just such a terrible shame that incompetence has brought such a marvellous organisation to a complete standstill with a very slim chance of successful resuscitation. Perhaps a defibrillator applied to certain body parts in certain places may galvanise some greater pace ??