Well, I guess that the sorry saga of the ATC’s grounded gliders has just about run out of steam – and what a tragedy it is. For what its worth, this is my recent column for Pilot magazine.
Last year I wrote about the scandal of the Air Training Corps glider fleet being grounded, and wondered why such simple sailplanes had been grounded for almost a year and a half. Well, by the time you read this only a few gliders have been made airworthy, but even more shockingly the number of Volunteer Gliding Squadrons has been more than halved, from 25 to 11 despite 2016 being – rather ironically - the 75th anniversary of the ATC. Furthermore, the geographic disposition of the few airfields that will be home to the greatly depleted number of VGS’s means that – for many cadets – although gliding isn’t completely out of reach well, it might as well be. Critics of the plan (of which there are many) point out that although there are nebulous plans to utilise some of the Grob Tutor fleet to at least try and get some cadets airborne through ‘Air Experience Flights’, this is a very poor substitute for actually going solo. Let’s face it; - being flown in an aeroplane really isn’t that big a deal. Babes-in-arms and great grandmothers are flown in aeroplanes every day. To paraphrase (I think Lilienthal) "to be flown in an aeroplane is nothing - to fly an aeroplane, everything!" Everyone remembers their first solo, and as a confidence-building exercise for a teenager well, it takes some beating.
Furthermore, when the cadets fly (or to be more accurate, are flown) at an AEF, that’s all they do. Hang around in the crewroom until it’s their turn, have a brief ‘experience’ flight, then more hanging around. Whereas another of the great things about old-school ATC gliding (quite apart from the fact that a lot more cadets actually get to fly, and solo) is that by its very nature everyone's involved. A full day’s gliding was not only a very tactile experience and also quite tiring, but everyone worked together to achieve a common aim. Consequently, although a cadet could take pride in a wonderful solo achievement, it was an achievement that was simply not possible without teamwork.
I spoke to Scott Pendry at the Air League about this, and he takes a very dim view of this debacle. He told me “let’s be clear about this, the new plans are effectively a ‘bums on seats’ approach, meaning many Cadets (especially those from Wales And Scotland where all units (bar one in Scotland) have been disbanded) will have to travel huge distances for a mere 20 minutes flying experience, rather than learning to fly to solo standard. For so many young people, Air Cadet gliding opens the door of opportunity to young people wanting to fly. That the door is now closing is a real tragedy. The RAF is set to lose a ready supply of Aircrew and Officers and, additionally, the whole GA flying community will suffer due to the decreasing levels of involvement from young people.” Scott is completely correct – there simply isn’t room here to list all the Air Chief Marshals and Air Vice Marshals who started out in the ATC, let alone all the BBMF and Red Arrows pilots, or the tens of thousands of airmen and women, or even people like me – or you – who are engaged in aviation in one way or another and who first flew as a cadet. And have you noticed that there seems to be quite a lot of adverts regarding joining the RAF on TV recently, while the numbers of new recruits to the ATC continue to drop? Funny, that.
Another disturbing facet of this sorry saga is the way the VGS staff has been treated. I can’t remember who said “one volunteer is worth three pressed men” but it’s undoubtedly true, and the VGS had a solid core of approximately 4000 knowledgeable, dedicated volunteer staff – and these people have been treated appallingly! In fact, having served the ATC faithfully and diligently for many years, some only found out via social media that their posts had been dissolved, as the Ministerial Statement found its way online before the Air Cadet organisation’s did, which was very shoddy. The volunteers are – understandably - extremely upset about this, and a petition to reverse the cuts is gathering momentum.
But as much as I feel sorry for the VGS volunteers, it’s the cadets I’m really sad about. I was helping out as a Basic Instructor at Buckminster GC recently, and met a girl who had been a cadet for over two years, and had never been in a glider. I was determined to give her a good flight (so we’ll gloss over the first one!) but on the second – and more by luck than judgement - I scraped away from a rather indifferent winch launch, clawed the K-21 up to 2,000ft while she followed through, and then let her fly for the next 50 minutes while I just coached. By the time we reached cloudbase at 4,500ft she was enthralled, entranced, engaged and extremely enthusiastic! It was a great flight and I enjoyed flying with her as much as I hope she enjoyed flying with me. I also hope that she's still telling her friends about it - and I just wish that all the people who have - for whatever reason - done their best to destroy ATC gliding, could've seen her face after we landed, and then reflect on what they have done.