"contract it out to civilian organisations better equipped to do it"
Engines, well said in terms of how the job should have been done, and sure enough there are many RAF Officers totally responsible for what has happened.
However, I tend to disagree with the above quote; having observed a civilian Gliding Club, I witnessed what could have been a fatal accident where the cause was by lack of independent inspection following re-rig. And the guilty person was no less than a BGA Examiner!
Tuition of Air Cadets IS and WAS a part of the RAF brief, as it is the preliminary training of many who go on to great success in RAF/Army and Navy aviation pilot careers. It was on VGS units that many of today's outstanding RAF pilots learnt their trade under the discipline and guidance of absolutely dedicated Instructors. AEF flying and other Air Ex merely are the icing on the cake, but NOT the important basics ( which HQAC seem to think replaces TRAINING on VGS units). The vital blend of expertise, professionalism and discipline was endemic. Clubs would, IMHO, be a less beneficial atmosphere than flying training on a front line station where all aspects of service can be realistically experienced, The latter is what gives these young people the realistic view of service life, flying and the observance of strict discipline and rules - something they need to understand for a service and flying career.
In my time, I frequently arranged service attachments on co-located Squadrons for Cadets as a part of their training and forward planning for a service career. I can point to many who benefited from this unofficial but beneficial "parenting spin off" being based on an RAF station.
The real answer is to ensure that professionalism returns to the RAF full time Engineering staff, to match the total professionalism and dedication of the VGS staff, who had absolutely NO responsibility for this monumental cock up. Additionally we must find out and remove those who were the guilty parties as this was monumental waste of Taxpayer funding. Sadly the organisation is all but destroyed in terms of productivity in flying training, with the emphasis now being on Air Experience, not flying
training and the so called Part task Trainers.
If something is broken, fix it, don't buy an alternative that doesn't quite fit !
