The RAF Corporate Message ( caution, may contain Morale)

[NutLoose]

Don't forget the other Rigga The CAA ( Campaign Against Aviation )

[Wensleydale]

Has anyone had... Per Auditor Ad Astra"... yet?

Or "Per Ardua Ad Vauxhall Astra".

(Russ Abbott had the spoof sketch "Reach for the Bucket" a good few years ago).

Or even the film of the modern RAF: "6.33 Squadrons".

[Rigga]

AlQuidoodee said:
"Person for person, an air force second to none

Christ on a bike, maximo, I thought you had to be making it up - but no, Google confirms it as official RAF BS.

One has to wonder what kind of utter idiot could come up with a quote like that without the puke-making drivel caption illuminating in what passes for his (or her) mind."

The AOC for PR probably speaks very highly of you!

[Easy Street]

That 'person for person' quote used to read 'pound for pound and person for person, an air force second to none' but the catchphrase-writers deleted the 'pound for pound' bit about 10 years ago. A rare bit of honesty from the "good news, sir!" merchants high up on the greasy pole!

[FODPlod]

I wondered what people's weight had to do with anything.

[diginagain]

Time to spare? Fly CrabAir.

If you can't take the RAF, you shouldn't have joined a joke.

[D-IFF_ident]

"Second to none" could be misinterpreted as "second to last".

How about "The RAF, doing more with less since 1918"?

[NutLoose]

RAF defending the pies..

[MrBernoulli]

How about "The RAF, doing more with less since 1918"?

"The RAF, doing less with less since 1918" seems more appropriate ......

[CoffmanStarter]

How about ...

"Size doesn't matter ... it's what you do with it that counts" ... or am I thinking of something else ?

But seriously ... (with no disrespect to HM or to current serving personnel) ... sadly the Betty Windsor Flying Club "banter" of yesteryear seems very apt now in terms of force size and strength ... along with the Betty Windsor Sailing Club of a Navy and the Camouflaged Outdoor Pursuits and Orienteering Club of an Army Note to PM ... This fine Country deserves better ...

Honestly Lord Trenchard must have done a few flick rolls in his coffin over the last few years !

[kiwibrit]

I've just been reading Royal Air Force Germany Since 1945 by Bill Taylor.

When I see the pathetic state of today's RAF, I'm reminded of how things were when I was a shiny-eyed schoolboy with a burning aspiration to be an RAF pilot back in the 1950s.

From Bill Taylor's book, here's the Air Order of Battle for just 2TAF on 1 Jul 1956:

2 Sqn Swift FR5 Geilenkirchen
3 Sqn Hunter F4 Geilenkirchen
4 Sqn Hunter F4 Jever
5 Sqn Venom FB4 Fassberg
11 Sqn Venom FB4 Fassberg
14 Sqn Hunter F4 Oldenburg
16 Sqn Venom FB1 Celle
17 Sqn Canberra PR7 Wahn
20 Sqn Hunter F4 Oldenburg
26 Sqn Hunter F4 Oldenburg
31 Sqn Canberra PR7 Laarbruch
67 Sqn Hunter F4 Brüggen
68 Sqn Meteor NF11 Wahn
69 Sqn Canberra PR3 Laarbruch
71 Sqn Hunter F4 Brüggen
79 Sqn Swift FR5 Wunstorf
80 Sqn Canberra PR7 Laarbruch
87 Sqn Meteor NF11 Wahn
88 Sqn Canberra B(I)8 Wildenrath
93 Sqn Hunter F4 Jever
94 Sqn Venom FB1 Celle
96 Sqn Meteor NF11 Ahlhorn
98 Sqn Hunter F4 Jever
102 Sqn Canberra B2 Gütersloh
103 Sqn Canberra B2 Gütersloh
104 Sqn Canberra B2 Gütersloh
112 Sqn Hunter F4 Brüggen
118 Sqn Hunter F4 Jever
130 Sqn Hunter F4 Brüggen
145 Sqn Venom FB1 Celle
149 Sqn Canberra B2 Gütersloh
213 Sqn Meteor NF11 Ahlhorn
234 Sqn Hunter F4 Geilenkirchen
256 Sqn Canberra B(I)6 Ahlhorn
266 Sqn Venom FB4 Fassberg
541 Sqn Meteor PR10 Wunstorf
652 Sqn Auster AOP6/9 Detmold

No less than 37 Sqns in Germany alone. Whereas today......

We do have a greatly reduced number of aircraft. OTOH, in those days, unless nuclear weapons were used, we had a pretty poor chance of hitting targets with an individual aircraft, so we needed a lot of planes. Effectively, improved reconnaissance, weapons accuracy and target detection have been force multipliers.

[BEagle]

Quantity has a quality of its own!

Not just aeroplanes, but supporting aircrew, groundcrew, administrators, cooks, stores, etc. etc.

And barely a non-uniformed person in sight.

Nowadays the RAF cannot even afford to own and operate a few training aeroplanes.....

[CoffmanStarter]

Maybe it's time to resurrect a few Zap Stickers to help morale ?

Some playful chap "zapped" the inside of my SD cap with the following a long time ago ... "UFO's are real the RAF is a Hallucination" ...

Regards ...

Coff.

PS. I was never able to remove it from the waxy lining material !

[Dunky]

The RAF - FUBAR, with a vengeance. This time it's personnel, (plus bases and aircraft).

Producer: D Cameron
Director: G Osborne

[NutLoose]

RAF a 21st Century Airforce with a 20th Century fleet.

[Fox3WheresMyBanana]

The RAF - Doing so much with so little for so long we can now do everything with nothing

Government "Let's see..."

[oldmansquipper]

At Command & in command?

Only 37 Squadrons on 2nd TAF ...probably headed up by a 2 star and a couple of Group Captains (I`m sure someone will put the actual command structure up)

I wonder how they coped?

[Two's in]

"Never was so much owed by so many to so few" seems even more appropriate today...

[Rakshasa]

Per Ardua ad Tumbler (and scotch).


Long summed it up I think.

[Lima Juliet]

Join the RAF Regt - always on hand to take on Johnnie Foreigner in a "Battle Bowler" with Shirt and Tie...

...priceless...