The Linton Quandry
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The Linton Quandry
As a DE student pilot currently nearing the end of his EFT syllabus, I am keen to keep my ear to the ground to keep up with the latest news on the streaming front. Like some other 88% of EFT students I'd like a shot at going FJ, but keep hearing more and more about the backlog of places at Linton and the length of holds that some guys are coming away with. A friend of mine's now been holding over a year to get a refresher cse at Linton before Valley, and rumours are rife that guys are now being re-streamed multi or rotary! Does anyone have any more info on what's happening in the FJ training world?
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Hi Markmudd,
I finished linton in Oct last year and I am currently holding. I have just been told that my valley course has been put back again. I was supposed to start valley in April but now Im informed that it is going to be either August or October before I get to start Valley.
We also now require a 30 hr refresher course I think (correct me if Im wrong) after such a long lay off.
Saying that though, if I think Im in a bad situation, I cant imagine what the guys who are finishing Linton about now must be getting told!!
It isn't an ideal situation and I would much rather be flying than holding but there's nothing we can do about it. We will get there in the end. At least it isnt as bad as it was in the 90's, i have spoken to FJ pilots who took 8 years to get to the front line
I finished linton in Oct last year and I am currently holding. I have just been told that my valley course has been put back again. I was supposed to start valley in April but now Im informed that it is going to be either August or October before I get to start Valley.
We also now require a 30 hr refresher course I think (correct me if Im wrong) after such a long lay off.
Saying that though, if I think Im in a bad situation, I cant imagine what the guys who are finishing Linton about now must be getting told!!
It isn't an ideal situation and I would much rather be flying than holding but there's nothing we can do about it. We will get there in the end. At least it isnt as bad as it was in the 90's, i have spoken to FJ pilots who took 8 years to get to the front line
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I was one of those affected by the holds of the 90's and I requested at the end of BFT I asked to go RW and was sent that way despite the fact that at the time there was no option to go Multis or RW due to long holds. I had a hold of only 4 months before going to Shawbury. After I had been at Shawbury for 6 months 2 courses worth of post BFT FJ holding officers were out of the blue sent to Shawbury. Many had already spent a year waiting for Valley!
Needless to say there were many unhappy bunnies at Shawbury at the time but most got on with it and progressed to the front line within 2 - 3 years of leaving BFT. Since then many have fared well indeed 2 of them have recently been awarded Bars to DFCs. So you can be sure of getting to where the action is in the RW.
The bottom line is consider requesting RW if the holds are a major issue to you. Don't forget as well the quicker you get to the front line, the quicker you start working up the career ladder if thats where you see yourself. Four years to RW frontline vs 8 years to front line FJ = RW 4 years ahead of your FJ contemporaries both flying quals and promotion quals.
Take the opportunity to see what the sharp end of the RW is about by visiting Benson or Odiham.
HTH
GB2
Needless to say there were many unhappy bunnies at Shawbury at the time but most got on with it and progressed to the front line within 2 - 3 years of leaving BFT. Since then many have fared well indeed 2 of them have recently been awarded Bars to DFCs. So you can be sure of getting to where the action is in the RW.
The bottom line is consider requesting RW if the holds are a major issue to you. Don't forget as well the quicker you get to the front line, the quicker you start working up the career ladder if thats where you see yourself. Four years to RW frontline vs 8 years to front line FJ = RW 4 years ahead of your FJ contemporaries both flying quals and promotion quals.
Take the opportunity to see what the sharp end of the RW is about by visiting Benson or Odiham.
HTH
GB2
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Hi mates; Can you explain me why it takes such a long time betwen Linton and Valley ? I was a QFI at Linton two years ago, and the studes used to go straight from Linton to Valley for the next course ! What's wrong? Is the front line that full of pilots ?Cheers
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I can only speak for the Harrier side of things but there's definitely a bottleneck at the OCU...the sqns are still short of pilots. I don't know if this is causing things to back up at Valley and Linton but it wouldn't surprise me.
I can only surmise that things will get worse when the Jag folds (Sunday Times article), whenever that may be.
Keep your chins up folks, get on the ski champs / ski scheme, become a black belt in paragliding and start a few companies. Just don't hold on a fast jet squadron.
****.
I can only surmise that things will get worse when the Jag folds (Sunday Times article), whenever that may be.
Keep your chins up folks, get on the ski champs / ski scheme, become a black belt in paragliding and start a few companies. Just don't hold on a fast jet squadron.
****.
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Flash Gordon
I assume you were on the ill fated V85 course that is no more!
Valley is having serious problems with output. Short of QFIs abd typical Anglesey weather over the winter. My grad has been put back 6 weeks alreasy (lots considering its only a six month course and my linton course only went back two weeks).
As mentioned by ****, there are bottlenecks at the OCUs and we have just recently had the first loads of refreshers from NFTC in Canada start on 208. Dont fancy theirs much!
Spitfire.... Front line full of pilots? You crazy!!!!!
I assume you were on the ill fated V85 course that is no more!
Valley is having serious problems with output. Short of QFIs abd typical Anglesey weather over the winter. My grad has been put back 6 weeks alreasy (lots considering its only a six month course and my linton course only went back two weeks).
As mentioned by ****, there are bottlenecks at the OCUs and we have just recently had the first loads of refreshers from NFTC in Canada start on 208. Dont fancy theirs much!
Spitfire.... Front line full of pilots? You crazy!!!!!
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Pilot2524 I thought you might have had a bit of a better clue being at Valley mate, but obviously studes these days arent quite what they used to be!!......The Front Line IS full of pilots, in fact your oppos on the F3 fleet are calling out for the OCU's to shut down for a year there's that many outputs. You may have heard of 2nd tourists on ground jobs.... You've got all that to look forward to my man....Suggest you put that ear a little closer to the ground.
Adios
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I was indeed assigned to the afformentioned course.
The latest from our poster is that valley are trying to clear the backlog of studes as efficiently as they can so for the moment, the old arrangement of 10 studes a month is no more. The new arrangement for the time being is between 1 and 3 studes every 2 months! As I am number 4 on the list, my best chance of starting valley will be in August, worst case, October! My last tincan trip was at the end of September.
If I think im bad, the guys finishing Linton at the moment are being told 18months at least!
Im sure the system will sort itself out. Im told it goes in cycles. Chatting to some F3 mates not too long ago would lead me to believe that barotraumatizer is bang on with his statement. Loads of Fg Off/ Jr Flt Lt guys on the sqn. "massive dilution" was a phrase used by one of them.
Things could be far worse, I could be a civvy with a 9-5 desk job! I wouldn't change this for the world.
The latest from our poster is that valley are trying to clear the backlog of studes as efficiently as they can so for the moment, the old arrangement of 10 studes a month is no more. The new arrangement for the time being is between 1 and 3 studes every 2 months! As I am number 4 on the list, my best chance of starting valley will be in August, worst case, October! My last tincan trip was at the end of September.
If I think im bad, the guys finishing Linton at the moment are being told 18months at least!
Im sure the system will sort itself out. Im told it goes in cycles. Chatting to some F3 mates not too long ago would lead me to believe that barotraumatizer is bang on with his statement. Loads of Fg Off/ Jr Flt Lt guys on the sqn. "massive dilution" was a phrase used by one of them.
Things could be far worse, I could be a civvy with a 9-5 desk job! I wouldn't change this for the world.
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The problems post IPS 60 are indeed huge, recurrent and sine wave. It would seem to me that a large part of the difficulties are undoubtedly due to the impossibility of projected need in a couple of years with everything so up in the air ( literally!).
Another significant aspect is the lack of overall team-work inbetween the FJ training stations. The sausage factory is not squeezing together. Linton do not seem to be bothered so long as their targets are met , and once guys are no longer statistics on their books that's the end of it. It's the same story at Y Fali, and onto the various OCUs. Everyone is floatingly happy so long as their small part is done, and the buck can be passed.
Where did this combative battle originate and why is it being allowed to affect the career path of so many guys so dramatically, particularly the slightly older ones who will only get a tour or two by the time they squelch out the other end?
Where is the guy who should be co-ordinating the overall numbers so that there is not such a huge financial waste of resource?
Another significant aspect is the lack of overall team-work inbetween the FJ training stations. The sausage factory is not squeezing together. Linton do not seem to be bothered so long as their targets are met , and once guys are no longer statistics on their books that's the end of it. It's the same story at Y Fali, and onto the various OCUs. Everyone is floatingly happy so long as their small part is done, and the buck can be passed.
Where did this combative battle originate and why is it being allowed to affect the career path of so many guys so dramatically, particularly the slightly older ones who will only get a tour or two by the time they squelch out the other end?
Where is the guy who should be co-ordinating the overall numbers so that there is not such a huge financial waste of resource?
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barotraumatizer
Thanks for the tip! We had CAS here a few weeks back and the general gist was that the OCUs couldnt take the output from Valley (not that that is very big at the moment).
FFP
Absolutely true. The wait between NFTC and the OCUs is that long now. They do a slightly different course to the 19 refreshers but not that different.
Anton
CAS also let the cat out of the bag when asked the question about IPS 60. Think more like IPS 45 in the future! It seems to us at Valley that its simply a case of ignore that fact that the system isnt working and just move the line for each course until the strike rate is reasonable.
Thanks for the tip! We had CAS here a few weeks back and the general gist was that the OCUs couldnt take the output from Valley (not that that is very big at the moment).
FFP
Absolutely true. The wait between NFTC and the OCUs is that long now. They do a slightly different course to the 19 refreshers but not that different.
Anton
CAS also let the cat out of the bag when asked the question about IPS 60. Think more like IPS 45 in the future! It seems to us at Valley that its simply a case of ignore that fact that the system isnt working and just move the line for each course until the strike rate is reasonable.
Oh.....and also the ones with
puppies!!!!!!!C u there dave?
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Negative, you could say the other side MAED. Frantically viewing this site cos no-one in the 'management' seems to have a scooby do or are simply not letting us know. Nice one chaps.
Anton seems to have things right; it seems Linton are currently sprinting courses towards a grad date with a fair dose of tick chasing despite guys having nothing but a year or so sitting on their hands to look forward to.
How is this happening? I think V85's sprung back to life now, and is due to arrive shortly; and there were still 10-odd people on V84. V85's got what, 7?
By some sums based on mates at Linton that can't leave more than about 40 guys waiting to go to Valley. Even if that was 10 month's worth, why are they guys about to pop out of Linton being told 18 months?
How is this happening? I think V85's sprung back to life now, and is due to arrive shortly; and there were still 10-odd people on V84. V85's got what, 7?
By some sums based on mates at Linton that can't leave more than about 40 guys waiting to go to Valley. Even if that was 10 month's worth, why are they guys about to pop out of Linton being told 18 months?
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I was informed reliably by DD @ LOO that, instead of the normal 10 studes every 6 weeks or so, the new idea would be between 1 and 4 studes every 2 months. Hence the 18 month hold.
Of course it will be completely different, just a series of knee-jerk reactions. Guess it is just sit tight and see what happens when things settle down a bit!
Of course it will be completely different, just a series of knee-jerk reactions. Guess it is just sit tight and see what happens when things settle down a bit!
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I don't believe DD's prediction in the slightest. The situation at Valley is starting to pick up and there are two courses due to graduate in the next month or so. I have heard DD say some spurious things in the past, but this is beyond pessimistic.
In my humble opinion things will soon settle down to approx 8 people per course every 6 weeks. I think that would be sustainable.
In my humble opinion things will soon settle down to approx 8 people per course every 6 weeks. I think that would be sustainable.
Will all of you at Valley hurry up a bit?
Next time you land, chalk off a few ticks on the progress board rather than one. I'm sure no-one'll notice, and you'll all have a pre-OCU refresher to learn anything you skip anyway.
Sound like a plan? There's a bit of a line forming, you see
Next time you land, chalk off a few ticks on the progress board rather than one. I'm sure no-one'll notice, and you'll all have a pre-OCU refresher to learn anything you skip anyway.
Sound like a plan? There's a bit of a line forming, you see