Originally Posted by
chevvron
Back in the '90s, the enterprising OC of 2409 (RAF Halton) Sqdn ATC got HQAC to approve a special 'blood chit' to be signed by cadets' parents to allow AEF by approved pilots in civil registered microlights. I was one of the approved pilots (there were I think 4 VRT Officers and and 2 civilians approved) and Rob (the OC) had to send monthly returns to HQAC telling them how many hours we had flown with and without cadets.
This was using Cyclone AX3 microlights. Later we re-equipped with Chevvron 2-32c's as HQAC didn't like Rotax 2 -stroke engines, and the club was then paid to provide Microlight Flying Scholarships. I think about 19 of these were completed when the funding was abruptly 'pulled'; I was never told why this happened.
Had Rob's enterprising 'vision' been continued, maybe cadet flying wouldn't now be in the state that it is now.
A noble effort Chevvron, and initiative etc overflowing, and no doubt some young Cadets did benefit, BUT...............as we all know, there must be standards set, monitoring, and above all adequate insurance cover in place. It only requires one incident or fatality to take down such schemes and that's probably where a risk averse HQAC brought matters to a close. Superficially, it appears killjoy, but in overall terms, and whilst it had no fatals, it was probably a good call for overall flight safety reasons. I'd much prefer to see the return of full scale RAF operated VGS operations with the range of full and adequate training in terms of both numbers and quality and extent of training, rather than the extremely limited "dishing out of a coloured badge for one launch" - a bit like stickers handed out in A & E to kids having a stitch put in or an injection.