Tuc
I agree on the inherited problem, but I disagree on the 'after action'. There were options to act and get another type of aircraft for the VGS; indeed there still is. A brand new Rotax Falke is ~£70k and an ASK-21 is ~£80k, with the latter already checked out by the BSD folks with APs and FRCs already written (if they insisted on running them as military aircraft - running them as BGA aircraft would be far easier and cheaper!). Before the 'pause' it was known that the 60-odd Vigilants needed new engines and IIRC the cost of the Rotax replacement was circa £60-70k per airframe! So the money was there in the Annual Budget Cycle to do this work commencing in 2015 but was somehow allowed to be frittered away. There are other projects in the RAF where vast sums of money are being wasted - the infrastructure budget and the moving of units around at HUGE expense to provide a shiney new facility (and legacy for the senior officer that proposed it) only to move again in years few, or sometimes not at all after very costly studies (the move of RAFCAM from North Luffenham and the great St Athan/Lyneham/Cosford debacle are 2 that spring to mind). We could have found the £4-5 million to get the Air Cadets new gliders to operate if the leadership and intent was there; and as we know leadership starts from the very top. When the music stopped Pully was holding the parcel and he could have taken a better decision than to try and expand AEFs - which we know is nowhere near as good an activity as gliding for youths as it doesn't have that option send them solo. In years to come will Pully's legacy be that he allowed Air Cadet gliding to slip through our fingers?
Sorry mate, but just like a CEO or Chairman of the Board of a commercial organisation, when poor decisions are made then the heads of sheds must bear responsibility, at least in part. So having a picture of an Air Cadet glidier in his 'reading list' is a poor decision in my opinion.
All inn my humble opinion of course.
iRaven