Originally Posted by
The B Word
I agree with some of your post but I don't believe there is any love lost between the movers and shakers in the BGA and the VGSs. To help with the instructor problem the BGA could come up with a bridging scheme between a A1/A2 Cat VGS instructor to become a 1/2 or Ass Cat BGA instructor, that should be relatively easy and just involve effectively 'differences training' and an assessment. I agree that for Full Cat BGA then the whole training process as for any BGA Ass Cat should be followed.
If there was a will there would be a way. For the BGA this would be an incredible injection of youth into the organisation (that tends to be a bunch of blokes at most BGA clubs I've been to) and for the Air Cadet gliding it would dig them out of a huge hole and free them from the ridiculous over-engineering and regulatory shackles of MAA land.
If moving air cadet gliding over to BGA jurisdiction could be done then I think it would benefit all sides. As you say, BGA club memberships generally average not too far below retirement age, and almost entirely male (the percentage of female members at my club is something like 4%, and a few of them are wives of members who don't fly themselves). An injection of a younger and more "diverse" crowd would finally bring gliding into the 21st century.
It would also potentially open up several air cadet gliding sites to civil gliding (and vice versa).
Having said that, I think it'd probably take a minor diplomatic miracle to negotiate any sort of deal, as much as I'd like to see it.