Before slagging the VGS off, look at the weather in Yorkshire this weekend! With only 2 aircraft to go with and several course cadets to fly, to get one solo by Monday is good going! I have done Easter courses where no one has flown at all because of crap weather, so rather than decrying the hard work of those VGS staff that are left you should be congratulating them, on managing a solo under very difficult circumstances
All due respects, and I apologise if people read this as "having a go" at VGS staff, but dedicated column readers and many ex VGS staff like myself surely realise that the target is those who have decimated the VGS fleet and staff alike, with some extremely negligent husbandry of the fleet, the direction and future direction and policy for VGS operations and the lack of acknowledgment of the massive contribution made by VGS staff over many decades. The only efficient thing at this time, seems to be ACO spin doctoring to try and convince everyone that in a short while it will be as before.
I salute those who have stayed on and who are travelling massive distances to try to implement a very poor policy overall, with very limited resource. I rather fear that their labours will not be very adequately rewarded.