Hi Coff
Please accept my apologies. Having reread my post I can see how it will have read - when I mentioned singling out an indivdiual, that was not pointed at you, but the wider gang of Pruners who seem intent in mentioning one of the lead individuals by name (at Leeming in the late 90s early noughties the mere mention of
that name would invoke a round of drinks in the bar amongst the Air Defenders!).
I do think that plenty of senior officers have put their own agendas into the mix with this outrageous decision and that it does not boil down to one man. Don't forget that the original plan was supposedly kicked back by the RAF senior leaders in November as it allegedly did not fit with their own plans. This is the plan that the senior leaders chose second time around and, as I understand it, was far more Grob Tutor rich than the first that had more gliders. So, I think this is also bad timing in that Grob Tutors become available off of the back of MFTS in 2017 and that little fact has been gripped by a Tutor fan (or fans) over the purchase of some more gliders. Maybe they know far more than they're letting on, but replacing cheap to operate gliders for expensive Tutors (with the ridiculous amount of Air Traffic Control and Fire Cover they insist they need) just doesn't make financial sense. That's my theory, anyway!
B Word