Air Cadets grounded?
Indeed Coff, excellent work! Yours is an example for all by showing the concern and insistence that will not accept bland assurance as explanation. I would though remind everyone that annoying and frustrating as the ACO grounding (sorry, pause ;-) is, mercifully this is not an airworthiness related fatal accident thread. We can all have our own ideas as to why this fleet rather than any other has been grounded, but nonetheless it was the right action taken by AOC 22 Group. Make no mistake, the permanent paper trail is vital to ensure the integrity of airworthiness. Put any of it through the shredder and you've basically done the same to the aircraft itself.
Oh, one more thing. Remember that two stars and above are inviolate, one star and below are disposable. Note that when the "apportionment" is eventually handed out! Always amusing when Haddon-Cave is mentioned as the mark of quality assurance. The words "built" and "sand" come to mind...
PS Just noted your post above, Avtur. Thank you!
Oh, one more thing. Remember that two stars and above are inviolate, one star and below are disposable. Note that when the "apportionment" is eventually handed out! Always amusing when Haddon-Cave is mentioned as the mark of quality assurance. The words "built" and "sand" come to mind...
PS Just noted your post above, Avtur. Thank you!
Well, I guess that the sorry saga of the ATC’s grounded gliders has just about run out of steam – and what a tragedy it is. For what its worth, this is my recent column for Pilot magazine.
Last year I wrote about the scandal of the Air Training Corps glider fleet being grounded, and wondered why such simple sailplanes had been grounded for almost a year and a half. Well, by the time you read this only a few gliders have been made airworthy, but even more shockingly the number of Volunteer Gliding Squadrons has been more than halved, from 25 to 11 despite 2016 being – rather ironically - the 75th anniversary of the ATC. Furthermore, the geographic disposition of the few airfields that will be home to the greatly depleted number of VGS’s means that – for many cadets – although gliding isn’t completely out of reach well, it might as well be. Critics of the plan (of which there are many) point out that although there are nebulous plans to utilise some of the Grob Tutor fleet to at least try and get some cadets airborne through ‘Air Experience Flights’, this is a very poor substitute for actually going solo. Let’s face it; - being flown in an aeroplane really isn’t that big a deal. Babes-in-arms and great grandmothers are flown in aeroplanes every day. To paraphrase (I think Lilienthal) "to be flown in an aeroplane is nothing - to fly an aeroplane, everything!" Everyone remembers their first solo, and as a confidence-building exercise for a teenager well, it takes some beating.
Furthermore, when the cadets fly (or to be more accurate, are flown) at an AEF, that’s all they do. Hang around in the crewroom until it’s their turn, have a brief ‘experience’ flight, then more hanging around. Whereas another of the great things about old-school ATC gliding (quite apart from the fact that a lot more cadets actually get to fly, and solo) is that by its very nature everyone's involved. A full day’s gliding was not only a very tactile experience and also quite tiring, but everyone worked together to achieve a common aim. Consequently, although a cadet could take pride in a wonderful solo achievement, it was an achievement that was simply not possible without teamwork.
I spoke to Scott Pendry at the Air League about this, and he takes a very dim view of this debacle. He told me “let’s be clear about this, the new plans are effectively a ‘bums on seats’ approach, meaning many Cadets (especially those from Wales And Scotland where all units (bar one in Scotland) have been disbanded) will have to travel huge distances for a mere 20 minutes flying experience, rather than learning to fly to solo standard. For so many young people, Air Cadet gliding opens the door of opportunity to young people wanting to fly. That the door is now closing is a real tragedy. The RAF is set to lose a ready supply of Aircrew and Officers and, additionally, the whole GA flying community will suffer due to the decreasing levels of involvement from young people.” Scott is completely correct – there simply isn’t room here to list all the Air Chief Marshals and Air Vice Marshals who started out in the ATC, let alone all the BBMF and Red Arrows pilots, or the tens of thousands of airmen and women, or even people like me – or you – who are engaged in aviation in one way or another and who first flew as a cadet. And have you noticed that there seems to be quite a lot of adverts regarding joining the RAF on TV recently, while the numbers of new recruits to the ATC continue to drop? Funny, that.
Another disturbing facet of this sorry saga is the way the VGS staff has been treated. I can’t remember who said “one volunteer is worth three pressed men” but it’s undoubtedly true, and the VGS had a solid core of approximately 4000 knowledgeable, dedicated volunteer staff – and these people have been treated appallingly! In fact, having served the ATC faithfully and diligently for many years, some only found out via social media that their posts had been dissolved, as the Ministerial Statement found its way online before the Air Cadet organisation’s did, which was very shoddy. The volunteers are – understandably - extremely upset about this, and a petition to reverse the cuts is gathering momentum.
But as much as I feel sorry for the VGS volunteers, it’s the cadets I’m really sad about. I was helping out as a Basic Instructor at Buckminster GC recently, and met a girl who had been a cadet for over two years, and had never been in a glider. I was determined to give her a good flight (so we’ll gloss over the first one!) but on the second – and more by luck than judgement - I scraped away from a rather indifferent winch launch, clawed the K-21 up to 2,000ft while she followed through, and then let her fly for the next 50 minutes while I just coached. By the time we reached cloudbase at 4,500ft she was enthralled, entranced, engaged and extremely enthusiastic! It was a great flight and I enjoyed flying with her as much as I hope she enjoyed flying with me. I also hope that she's still telling her friends about it - and I just wish that all the people who have - for whatever reason - done their best to destroy ATC gliding, could've seen her face after we landed, and then reflect on what they have done.
Last year I wrote about the scandal of the Air Training Corps glider fleet being grounded, and wondered why such simple sailplanes had been grounded for almost a year and a half. Well, by the time you read this only a few gliders have been made airworthy, but even more shockingly the number of Volunteer Gliding Squadrons has been more than halved, from 25 to 11 despite 2016 being – rather ironically - the 75th anniversary of the ATC. Furthermore, the geographic disposition of the few airfields that will be home to the greatly depleted number of VGS’s means that – for many cadets – although gliding isn’t completely out of reach well, it might as well be. Critics of the plan (of which there are many) point out that although there are nebulous plans to utilise some of the Grob Tutor fleet to at least try and get some cadets airborne through ‘Air Experience Flights’, this is a very poor substitute for actually going solo. Let’s face it; - being flown in an aeroplane really isn’t that big a deal. Babes-in-arms and great grandmothers are flown in aeroplanes every day. To paraphrase (I think Lilienthal) "to be flown in an aeroplane is nothing - to fly an aeroplane, everything!" Everyone remembers their first solo, and as a confidence-building exercise for a teenager well, it takes some beating.
Furthermore, when the cadets fly (or to be more accurate, are flown) at an AEF, that’s all they do. Hang around in the crewroom until it’s their turn, have a brief ‘experience’ flight, then more hanging around. Whereas another of the great things about old-school ATC gliding (quite apart from the fact that a lot more cadets actually get to fly, and solo) is that by its very nature everyone's involved. A full day’s gliding was not only a very tactile experience and also quite tiring, but everyone worked together to achieve a common aim. Consequently, although a cadet could take pride in a wonderful solo achievement, it was an achievement that was simply not possible without teamwork.
I spoke to Scott Pendry at the Air League about this, and he takes a very dim view of this debacle. He told me “let’s be clear about this, the new plans are effectively a ‘bums on seats’ approach, meaning many Cadets (especially those from Wales And Scotland where all units (bar one in Scotland) have been disbanded) will have to travel huge distances for a mere 20 minutes flying experience, rather than learning to fly to solo standard. For so many young people, Air Cadet gliding opens the door of opportunity to young people wanting to fly. That the door is now closing is a real tragedy. The RAF is set to lose a ready supply of Aircrew and Officers and, additionally, the whole GA flying community will suffer due to the decreasing levels of involvement from young people.” Scott is completely correct – there simply isn’t room here to list all the Air Chief Marshals and Air Vice Marshals who started out in the ATC, let alone all the BBMF and Red Arrows pilots, or the tens of thousands of airmen and women, or even people like me – or you – who are engaged in aviation in one way or another and who first flew as a cadet. And have you noticed that there seems to be quite a lot of adverts regarding joining the RAF on TV recently, while the numbers of new recruits to the ATC continue to drop? Funny, that.
Another disturbing facet of this sorry saga is the way the VGS staff has been treated. I can’t remember who said “one volunteer is worth three pressed men” but it’s undoubtedly true, and the VGS had a solid core of approximately 4000 knowledgeable, dedicated volunteer staff – and these people have been treated appallingly! In fact, having served the ATC faithfully and diligently for many years, some only found out via social media that their posts had been dissolved, as the Ministerial Statement found its way online before the Air Cadet organisation’s did, which was very shoddy. The volunteers are – understandably - extremely upset about this, and a petition to reverse the cuts is gathering momentum.
But as much as I feel sorry for the VGS volunteers, it’s the cadets I’m really sad about. I was helping out as a Basic Instructor at Buckminster GC recently, and met a girl who had been a cadet for over two years, and had never been in a glider. I was determined to give her a good flight (so we’ll gloss over the first one!) but on the second – and more by luck than judgement - I scraped away from a rather indifferent winch launch, clawed the K-21 up to 2,000ft while she followed through, and then let her fly for the next 50 minutes while I just coached. By the time we reached cloudbase at 4,500ft she was enthralled, entranced, engaged and extremely enthusiastic! It was a great flight and I enjoyed flying with her as much as I hope she enjoyed flying with me. I also hope that she's still telling her friends about it - and I just wish that all the people who have - for whatever reason - done their best to destroy ATC gliding, could've seen her face after we landed, and then reflect on what they have done.
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Daveunwin,, well said! Two days ago I was flying my toy at a local airfield when two cadet volunteer's came to pick up the L19 and 233 which had been based there for a month or so flying local Cadets, now going to another small town to provide the same service, { via Aero Tow by the way} and yesterday the local Cadets were marshalling at the local "Fly In Breakfast" they were in sharp contrast to the kids I encountered hanging around the local mall, for the UK to have messed up such an organisation will have far reaching effect on tomorrow's society and leaders, shame on those guilty of destroying such an organisation!
Last edited by clunckdriver; 6th Jun 2016 at 12:30.
Different model???
Based on the Canadian example shown above perhaps there is an operation that has been overlooked??
Instead of taking the cadets to the (decreasing number of) Gliding Squadrons, why not take the gliders to the cadets??
When I was living in France there was an operation that had a prime mover winch with a glider trailer with K4 on the back. They towed it to all the centres of population and based it on the local airfield for a few days. With appropriate publicity they kept the glider flying for the duration of the visit with lots of locals being able to benefit from a flight in a glider.
The ACO have lots of unused winches, lots of towing vehicles and lots of trailers from what I have seen of Syerston.
What they don't have (now) is willing volunteers (and gliders)!!
What a really embarrassing and sad (for the cadets) c****** f*** that will go down in the history of the Air Cadet Organisation.
Instead of taking the cadets to the (decreasing number of) Gliding Squadrons, why not take the gliders to the cadets??
When I was living in France there was an operation that had a prime mover winch with a glider trailer with K4 on the back. They towed it to all the centres of population and based it on the local airfield for a few days. With appropriate publicity they kept the glider flying for the duration of the visit with lots of locals being able to benefit from a flight in a glider.
The ACO have lots of unused winches, lots of towing vehicles and lots of trailers from what I have seen of Syerston.
What they don't have (now) is willing volunteers (and gliders)!!
What a really embarrassing and sad (for the cadets) c****** f*** that will go down in the history of the Air Cadet Organisation.
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FREDA
That was the benefit of the motor gliders - they used to be ferried to locations which were not as busy as main bases or to avoid exercises or to be nearer to far flung ATC squadrons.
618VGS certainly operated the Vigilant at Manston and Lyneham even though their home base was Odiham................... and 612 operated the Vigilant at several other sites.
They took advantage of local fire cover and the only requirement was a briefing facility (basic) for students).
Another example of the lack of forward thinking and flexibility being destroyed by people not really familiar with the 'Organisation' and operational possibilities.
Obviously not such a practical option for the Viking.
Arc
That was the benefit of the motor gliders - they used to be ferried to locations which were not as busy as main bases or to avoid exercises or to be nearer to far flung ATC squadrons.
618VGS certainly operated the Vigilant at Manston and Lyneham even though their home base was Odiham................... and 612 operated the Vigilant at several other sites.
They took advantage of local fire cover and the only requirement was a briefing facility (basic) for students).
Another example of the lack of forward thinking and flexibility being destroyed by people not really familiar with the 'Organisation' and operational possibilities.
Obviously not such a practical option for the Viking.
Arc
DaveUnwin; Good article but
You forgot Northern Ireland.
many Cadets (especially those from Wales And Scotland where all units (bar one in Scotland) have been disbanded) will have to travel huge distances for a mere 20 minutes flying experience
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No it's gone ,apparently NI is supposed to use Kirknewton, staff have been offered places there, going to be "interesting" and costly getting over 400 cadets there annually for gliding....................That's going to happen !!
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Dave, many thanks for expressing in a wider forum what we have been banging on about in this thread.
I'm bracing myself for the next phase in this sorry, shoddy, saga, which is likely to be official decorations and promotions where possible. Royally undeserved, but generally how MoD puts distance between poor-quality leaders and the messes they create.
Our local VGS is getting its 'Part Task Trainer' and the PR smokescreen around these devices suggests that the ACO is trying to build up pretend flying as a substitute for the real thing. There are benefits, for instructors who have lost their medical and who want to stay in the game (a bit like a battered partner in an abusive relationship) but that's about it.
Not playing Air Cadet volunteer any more, gone flying instead.
I'm bracing myself for the next phase in this sorry, shoddy, saga, which is likely to be official decorations and promotions where possible. Royally undeserved, but generally how MoD puts distance between poor-quality leaders and the messes they create.
Our local VGS is getting its 'Part Task Trainer' and the PR smokescreen around these devices suggests that the ACO is trying to build up pretend flying as a substitute for the real thing. There are benefits, for instructors who have lost their medical and who want to stay in the game (a bit like a battered partner in an abusive relationship) but that's about it.
Not playing Air Cadet volunteer any more, gone flying instead.
Thanks Daveunwin; perhaps a few words in the next issue? Although all regions have been hit massively, NI has been completely overlooked (will refrain from using the word that describes it more accurately), and I cannot see how it is feasible for any Cadet or volunteer to travel across the water for a spot of gliding given their likely work or school commitments.
Well said DaveUnwin. The whole saga has the smell of subterfuge to me, aimed to cut the budget. Sorry for the youth who will never know and, for those who put so much into making it all happen in the past. Gone!
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OAP
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Something a little different
Firstly, I am shocked and appalled by the closure of the VGS's. I spent 25 happy years instructing at 613VGS. Very mis-guided decision with long term, far reaching effects in my opinion.
A couple of off-topic points though...
I am creating a montage of the VGS's that have closed and would like to get a jpeg of their crests. Any idea of how to get them.
Also, I left a few years ago, but would like to get a copy of my flying tests etc. I heard that they have been shipped back to Cranwell. Any ideas on how to get them? There is a lot of nostalgia there, and I would like to be able to show my daughter as well as keep them for posterity. Everything from my G1 ride in 1988 with Malcolm Marshall to my A2 with CFS.
Milton
A couple of off-topic points though...
I am creating a montage of the VGS's that have closed and would like to get a jpeg of their crests. Any idea of how to get them.
Also, I left a few years ago, but would like to get a copy of my flying tests etc. I heard that they have been shipped back to Cranwell. Any ideas on how to get them? There is a lot of nostalgia there, and I would like to be able to show my daughter as well as keep them for posterity. Everything from my G1 ride in 1988 with Malcolm Marshall to my A2 with CFS.
Milton
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For unit badges, try the Air Historical Branch [email protected] - they are the official repository for badges of disbanded units. If the schools haven't been disbanded yet you'd probably need to contact them direct.
You should be able to make a request for personal data to MOD https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military...ur-own-records.
For unit badges, try the Air Historical Branch [email protected] - they are the official repository for badges of disbanded units. If the schools haven't been disbanded yet you'd probably need to contact them direct.
You should be able to make a request for personal data to MOD https://www.gov.uk/get-copy-military...ur-own-records.
Well done that man 
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Here is an idea. Forget the MOD/RAF/ACO. Go commercial and get sponsorship from business (big business) to fund an alternate organisation for the youth of the country to get airborne gliding again. There are lots of you out there (former VGS now by the look of it). Many of you will have good contacts in the commercial world. There is nothing quite like competition to embarrass the people responsible for the current debacle. The commercial world might just leap at the opportunity to invest in the youth of the country? So there is the challenge - sadly not for me anymore - but someone out there might just see a vision?
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KlingonBC, the example your post puts me in mind of is the Fleet Air Arm Officers' Association, which for years has quietly and efficiently run a gliding scholarship scheme based on Royal Navy gliding & soaring clubs - as I understand it, FAAOA members sponsor a place on an ab-initio task week for a suitable young person. Often, FAAOA members arrive in their own aircraft during the course to give a powered flying experience to the course.
Cuts the flying well, well away from service politics during a time of shrinking budgets and increasing risk-aversity. Fails to keep a huge career pyramid erect, but that is no bad thing at all.
Cuts the flying well, well away from service politics during a time of shrinking budgets and increasing risk-aversity. Fails to keep a huge career pyramid erect, but that is no bad thing at all.