Questions for Sir Christopher
Sir Christopher,
Having had sight of the FOGIES note I think that I and some others would greatly appreciate your thoughts on the following extracts/points - through one route or another - if you are able to offer them:
'The motor glider sorties are largely being replaced by more capable, interesting and varied Tutor sorties'; will it be possible for the AEFs to provide cadets with any formal flying training akin to elements of the Vigilant syllabus and, if so, which elements? Is the intention for CFS to pursue a bespoke qualification to enable non QFIs to be able to teach certain upper air exercises in a more formal sense?
'Conventional Viking gliding opportunities will increase threefold'; does this mean that the number of Viking launches will increase by a factor of 3 (from circa 48,000 to circa 144,000, once we have moved from 8 Viking VGS to 10 enlarged Viking VGS), or does it mean that 3 times the number of cadets will fly Vikings annually but each do on average only a third of the launches they would have done previously, or does it mean something else?
'fleet size enhancement'? Does this mean more Vikings (beyond the current planned fleet size of 73+) or the introduction of a new aircraft type?
Looking into the future, will any consideration be given to the introduction of a sufficiently sized fleet of new motor gliders - to enable operations across the UK where there are now the biggest gaps in gliding availability (and where there are no suitable airfields from which winch-launched gliders could be operated), noting their enhanced flexibility/'deployability'?
Will the ACO continue to send the highest number of 1st solos of any gliding organisation in the world each year? In 2014 I understand the annual requirement was for in excess of 2000 Gliding Scholarships; how will this number have changed once 'steady state' has been reached? A major incentive to becoming an Air Cadet is obviously the opportunity to fly (in anything). AEF becomes more personal and adds to the attraction. Gliding offers the 'gold standard' prospect of being able to fly one's 1st solo or beyond, even for the least-well-off cadets, with the springboard and confidence this provides for the future - whether in Service or civilian life. A lot of us (perhaps most of us) commenting on this site would not be where we are today let alone able to give back all that we do had we not been given this opportunity - at zero personal financial cost. The overall cost in Defence spending terms is extremely small given the return on the investment, and we still need to generate our future staff and QGIs. But you know all this.
I think most people are unlikely to declare their identities to you until they feel they can trust their command chain. At that point there will be no need for this thread.