Hawks Grounded (merged with Hawk Display Cancelled)

[green granite]

His post was a bit ambiguous and I thought he was suggesting we should not be curios, hence my comment.

I agree about the MOD's handling of it could have been much more sympathetically done. If, as been suggested on another forum, that he goes to the TWU next week then "operational requirements" could have been used

[BEagle]

Very well said, stick ninja!

[green granite]

Very well said, stick ninja!

Agreed, just about sums it all up.

[thing]

'I remember when we used to look after our mates and when your boss would value his men over his own career but that is clearly no longer the case these days.'

Er....nope. I joined the mob in '74 and twas ever the case that 'the boss' would protect his derriere. Or maybe I was just unlucky.

Good luck to Tom by the way, I agree it's an appalling press release.

[Mountain Wings]

Hawk display cancelled

I have just spent 4 years at Valley and was fortunate to see a great deal of Toms display practices at the various heights down to display height.


I thought it was probably the best display I've seen in a long time and I grew up at Valley so saw many displays over the years.

Best wishes to him for the future regardless of what happened.

(just looked at the RAF Hawk display news page and the following article has been posted. As you can see, it's not in English so not sure what it's about...)

RAF Hawk Display Team - Latest News

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[MostlyHarmless]

Good old RAF Website CMS

Lorem ipsum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Lyneham Lad]

Well, there actually is a news article there, which states:-

It is with considerable regret that Flt Lt Tom Saunders has been withdrawn from his role as the Hawk solo Display Pilot for the remainder of the Summer display season. This follows an incident which took place recently involving the Hawk Display aircraft.

The RAF is aware of how popular the Hawk solo display is and apologises for any disappointment caused. Unfortunately, it is not possible to find a replacement display pilot in time for the remainder of the current season but we are looking at whether it is possible to offer alternatives to the solo Hawk display at the scheduled events instead.

So what gaffe (if any) did he make?

[High_Expect]

It is of course satisfying to know 'the top' occasional read Pprune. *I hope they realise that for once they have managed to unite all branches of the Airforce including SAR pilots :-p into proving something that we've all long thought..... It turns out they actually don't give a damn about any of us. *This is just another clear example! *Of course they won't be reading this right now as there all to busy networking to ensure their industry 6 figure salaries when the Air Force is disbanded post SDSR. Instead of doing what they should be doing and publicly articulating what the Air Force brings to the table. I have yet to hear a single star rank speaking up to this twaddle in the press. *Today's Radio 2 debate was another classic example. If the Navy Cdr is still serving, he is a disgrace to his uniform. If he's retired he should have kept his outdated, blinkered, bias opinions to himself.

Tom, we're all behind you mate!

2* stars and above... Congratulations, you've achieved something the Nazis failed to achieve. You've broken moral and we've all lost faith in the powers that be. * Enjoy your future lives and private pensions whilst those of us that do the work will probably end up out of a job.

And one last thing.... Why did I have to sign up for 20 years and yet the Air Force only have to give me 3 months notice! *European Courts anyone? Or is the queue already huge?

**Rant mode off**

[Pontius Navigator]

LL, at least that news article should stop many potential rumours.

[PhantomAviator]

The reasons can be anything.
Normally with display aircraft it is the CAA who pull the plug on the pilot.
This can be for the slightest misdemeanor to an accumilation of minor incidents.
These incidents can rang from flying to low, to fast, encrouching on the spectator area to any other number they deem in the rule book.

But for them to have pulled Tom (an experienced display pilot), they must have had their reasons.

Unless the RAF pulled him for a different reason.

But no matter i wish Tom all the best in his future.

[Op_Twenty]

I want to post about this but I am as angry as 'Stick Ninja' about how this guy has been, seemingly, 'hung-out' by his command chain.

It's been a lesson for everybody involved - this demonstrates how people will look after their careers over everything else; looking after the men and women - doesn't matter as long as YOU are ok.

Badly handled.

[JFZ90]

The details are bound to come out - the press must be sniffing a story by now.

One assumes the "diaplay" supervisor knows?

No matter what the incident, seems a shame that the show couldn't have been made the overriding priority.

[glad rag]

Not being funny, but perhaps it is the pilots OWN decision not to carry on POST incident?

[Pete268]

Originally Posted by glad rag

Not being funny, but perhaps it is the pilots OWN decision not to carry on POST incident?

I am pretty sure that in that case the wording should have been (or similar to) 'has stood down from his role' rather than ' has been withdrawn from his role'.

Peter

[Uncle Ginsters]

Whatever the nature of the incident, the tone of that press release is appalling.

The report into the Tucano display practice ejection is now in general circulation and the supervisory chain is squarely in the cross-hairs.

I just hope that Tom hasn't become a victim of someone else's narrow-minded career protectionism.

Good luck fella.

[c130jbloke]

Perhaps the moron who drafted the original statement could be removed from their duties for writing such cr@p ! What a typically inept peice of ass covering.

If you read this Tom, best of British and I hope whatever this is about is all over for you soon

[korrol]

Flt.Lt.Saunders

On July 10th this year I saw a solo Hawk fly an extraordinary seven-minute display over the South Wales coast which was absolutely spellbinding.

Like most people here I've seen a fair number of flying displays over the years but nothing before like this. ...and it's not just me saying it, the large crowd watching was also totally enthralled. I wouldn't normally bother to find out who was flying any particular display, but this was different....and unforgettable. It turned out that the pilot was Flt Lt Tom Saunders.

I'm sure all Hawk pilots are top-notch, but Flt Lt Saunders seemed to be possessed of truly outstanding talent. I hope he continues to fly.

[Thoughtful_Flyer]

Hmm, This is an internal matter and should be handled as such, not in the public's eye, as has been said above.

In many other cases I would agree with you.

However in this instance we are talking about a high profile public display, widely admired and extensively promoted.

Most "internal matters" do not relate to an activity with its own website, Facebook page and Twitter account! Nor are servicemen normally encouraged to write in detail on public forums about their day to day activity or the training and planning behind it.

It is becoming all too common for people and organisations in the public eye to feel that they have an absolute right to free publicity when it suits and complete privacy when it doesn't.

If you choose to strut your stuff in public then you cannot complain if the public also take an interest in unfortunate aspects you would rather keep private. This is even more true when the activity is funded entirely by the public purse.

[airshow-sweetheart]

The Hawk Display is NOT "funded entirely by the public purse" actually.

[BOAC]

Originally Posted by TF

If you choose to strut your stuff in public then you cannot complain if the public also take an interest in unfortunate aspects you would rather keep private.

- this thread is not about 'public interest' which is a fully and understandably entitled reaction - it is about the crass way the issue was handled by MOD.