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Old 27th Mar 2016, 20:32
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BossEyed
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: UK
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Letter in the Telegraph today:

Air cadets will still get a seat in the cockpit
SIR – Ben Farmer’s coverage of the future of air cadet gliding in Britain captures the dismay of many gliding instructors, for whom years of dedicated service will come to an end.

However, it is wrong to imply that the current grounding of the glider fleet was motivated by cost savings.This change has come about with the stiffening of flight safety regulations following the Nimrod accident review by Charles Haddon-Cave QC, and the subsequent discovery of significant shortcomings in engineering governance in the glider fleet.

After months of deliberations, final decisions were taken by the senior executive of the RAF, taking into account affordability, the needs of the cadets and volunteers, and a vision of the future. There has been criticism of how the decisions were announced. However, government rules prohibit any advanced notice of sensitive decisions until ministers have made formal announcements. There have been extensive consultations between senior officers and the volunteer gliding community.

While there will be fewer gliding locations, this will be largely offset by increasing powered flying opportunities, and by deploying more fully refurbished Viking conventional gliders at additional sites. New high-speed winches are being procured to increase launch rates; the training packages will be better, and the remaining gliding centres will boast vastly improved infrastructure, including bespoke accommodation.

Sir Christopher Coville
Air Marshal (Retired)
Hon President, No 2 (Gliding) Flying Training School
Sherborne, Dorset
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