The Air Cadet Aerospace Offer:Written statement - HLWS344 - UK Parliament
I'm distinctly underwhelmed by this latest piece of prose !
Analysing the stats, take the Grob Tutor, 17,600 Cadets had powered flying experiences in FY 2016/17. Is that 17,600 Cadets, or is it 17,600 Air Ex Sorties which may mean 8,800 Cadets had two Air Ex sorties, or ???. Thus out of a 2016 total of 32,860 Air Cadets, only 53% got their backsides off the ground in a Tutor, assuming all of the 17,600 were all different cadets, but maybe a lot lower % if some Cadets had two sorties !
If we take 17,600 total AEF Grob Tutor sorties at the normal 30 mins max sortie length, then this equates to 8,800 hrs flown. With about 45 aircraft UK wide, then this equates to 195hrs per airframe, or, per aircraft 3.91 flying hrs per airframe per week based on a 50 week year. Wow - they aren't half thrashing them - NOT ! Is that "sweating your assets "?? Could have a competition "Spot the Tutor in the air " !
Now on to real waste of taxpayer cash and real history of Negligence......... We the taxpayer, originally purchased a brand new fleet of 53 x Vigilant T Mk1 ,( Grob 109B Motor Gliders ) and at some later stage we also purchased a few second hand of the same G 109B from civilian sources - thus let's say a total of 56.
From the latest statement cited above, we now learn that "up to 15" (26.7%) of these airframes MAY be recovered, and thus far ( after a small "pause" of roughly 3 yrs. 9 mths, there have been 6 (10.71%) "recovered" thus far, of which 2 are at RAF Topcliffe, and the others at ACCGS Syerston.
So , my question to the Hon Member , Secretary of State for Defence, Gavin Williamson MP , is.........WTF is happening to the other airframes - possibly somewhere between 51 max and 41 minimum ? Can the Rt Hon member please state unequivocally, and clearly a) where are they currently ( I can help a little - some are
still where they used to be flown !) b) what is their current state of preservation, and c) what will be the nature of their disposal, i.e., where, and who to, and at what sale price, and what will be the total loss to the Taxpayer.
As a supplementary question, please state the processes undertaken thus far to ascertain the technical and administrative reasons why this fleet was grounded ( or should we say "paused") which was allegedly caused by concerns related to airworthiness, and which was the direct responsibility of the RAF and at a much later date their appointed sub contractor(s). Please also state the findings of any investigations into any negligent incompetence, and what measures are to be taken in terms of accountability, i.e., Military negligence and / or contractor legal redress.
Moving on swiftly, as they say, there is also the small matter of the Viking T Mk 1 conventional gliders - I believe originally a total of 90 purchased by us the taxpayer. Of these, we now read that up to now 22 (24.4%) have been recovered, and that up to a total of 60 (66.66%) will ultimately be recovered ( by when ????).
Needless to say,
the same questions with regard to Vigilant Aircraft and the net difference ( i.e., the missing 30)
require an answer in respect of what happens to them, where they go, at what price and the net loss to taxpayers.
These are purely the hardware questions............we are told that since recovery began > than 3000 glider sorties have been undertaken ! - wow , that's about 150 launches per airframe ! . To put that in context it's about < half an average instructor's annual launch total ! and, bear in mind it's only in about 6 locations !!
No wonder the Commandant Air Cadets got the CBE and tells us all that "
whilst aviation is important , it does not define all that we do" !!! ( and of course remembering that we haven't flown any Cadets at VGS' for over 3 years, and we have no VGS resource whatsoever in NI and Wales and about a 60 % reduction of geographic VGS sites UK wide. I admit it wasn't her negligence that it happened, but she sure as hell would make a good
PR spin doctor !
Yes, ok there are about 8 main types of Cadet activity but of course your main strapline is given away in the title "Air Cadets " , not Sports Cadets, Shooting Cadets, or Adventure Training Cadets. Perhaps the last three years and this sad saga accounts for the drop in numbers of approximately 8.1% ( from MoD statistical return MoD Sponsored Cadets Statistics 1/4/2016) . If you can't produce the goods in the adverts, then they leave !
I'm now going to ask to meet my MP and request that he submits some questions based on some of the stats above . Why? because I am a Taxpayer and this is just a ludicrous waste of our resources and a truly shocking saga that requires full investigation and exposure. And of course, its not just the Taxpayer, it's the young people who have lost out, not to mention the loyal and extremely competent staff of the twenty odd VGS units who have been largely decimated and demoralised - not just by this saga, but the mishandling of the new Commissions. ( referred to in the Commandant's Xmas statement as follows :-
"If we had known how difficult this process would be, I am sure we would have approached it differently but, in the absence of precedent, we all did the best we could to navigate complex legal and procurement issues to achieve our goal. It took far longer than we’d hoped and it was far more difficult than anyone envisaged and I know it has knocked the confidence of many in our ability to manage change effectively. I apologise again for the stress and confusion caused by the various delays and mixed messaging "
Good job the same team isn't managing the Trident Missile renewal and the Carrier + F35's ! - or maybe it is ?? Happy Christmas to all our readers and keep safe for 2018.
More Tea and medals later...............
