Not the usual propeller issue it would appear but possibly connected to broken wing ribs……

Did the Air Cadets ever get a gliding program for cadets to actually fly a glider up and running ?

Well I flew solo in a Vigilant back in errr 97 I think?

Do you mean post the grounding? Cadets are flying in both powered and unpowered gliders now. The throughput is another matter, but it is happening.

I don't think so; all the Vigilants have been given away by MOD.

615 VGS at Kenley are certainly back in business and also sending Cadets solo. I think 626 down west suffer from staffing and operate with help from CGS.
All youth based organisations are suffering from a lack of adult staff, and also needing a level of training/experience to give flying instruction makes it a difficult system to maintain. The Vikings have a finite life so a replacement program will be required soon.

This seems all too true. Partly down to the more stringent and intrusive checks now needed. About a year ago our neighbour responded to a request for volunteers to help out at our youth club. He'd recently retired, had worked with the ATC years earlier and thought he might be of some use at the club.

After filling in forms and waiting for several months for clearance he gave up. He now has a part time job in a garden centre instead. I wonder how many others just give up after waiting months for the safeguarding checks? Perhaps if the system was quicker and simpler there might be more people willing to help out.

Thanks, I stand corrected on that point.

Hardly surprising since it's stuck away at Predannack in Cornwall with very little 'catchment' but still doing a sterling job; I'm sure there used to be another site at Perranporth . I'm surprised 621 and 637 at Little Rissington have enough resources to go round too.
Yet there's a large 'hole' in VGS placement which could be adequately filled by Halton and Henlow (better not mention Wethersfield) but which the RAF choose not to use; there were always plenty of staff volunteers at both these airfields.
Halton is still well used by the RAFGSA and the powered and miclolight clubs but Henlow is emply of traffic although I see from satellite photos that the grass is kept well mown.
So how many VGS are operating or working towards it?
611 RAF Honington (Working up)
614 MDP Wethersfield (Not operating at the moment)
615 RAF Kenley
621 MOD Little Rissington
622 Army Upavon
626 RNAS Predannack
631 RAF Woodvale (Possibly not operating)
632 RAF Ternhill (Possibly not operating)
637 MOD Little Rissington
644 RAF Syerston (co located with CGS)
645 RAF Topcliffe
661 RAF Kirknewton
NB: Please feel free to update this list if you have better knowledge.
This all shows vast 'holes' in the catchment areas for several parts of the UK especially Wales and Northern Ireland.

622 Upavon operating!

Thank you; list amended.
So apart from Kenley, there is no Air Cadet gliding in the most densely populated part of the country, the south east; Odiham, Abingdon, Halton, Henlow, Tangmere, Manston and probably Wethersfield and from Little Rissington to Honington there is a huge gap.
As Wing Gliding Liaison Officer (WGLO) I used to 'feed' cadets from my 29 Squadrons to courses at 612 Abingdon, 613 Halfon and 616 Henlow so I wonder where the cadets from my wing alone (Herts and Bucks Wing) go for air experience gliding nowadays let alone for weekend courses.

....just to correct your correction...
Its no longer 'RAF' Upavon as the RAF left in 1993 and the Army then moved in and renamed it Trenchard lines ..... but still commmonly referred to as '622 - Upavon'
I guess 622 Trenchard lines would be correct, but then most people would immediately ask ...where? :E

Correction noted but I'm surprised the airfield is operated on behalf of the Army now; often when they move onto an ex RAF airfield they find some way of destroying its capabilites; just look what they did to Catterick which of course used to have a VGS. South Cerney also used to have a VGS (625?) and once hosted the gliding world championships but having a tall fence all round the airfield probably wasn't too helpful.

Shhhh ...don't go giving them ideas! :E

614VGS is to be stood down, replaced by the guys from 611VGS that were already stood down.
I guess he got his wish in the end...

OB

Interesting to see 615VGS at Kenley are flying midweek, they have been busy both yesterday and today (definitely Vikings and not Surrey Hills GC's gliders...) Presume some kind of half term camp? I recall they used to fly Wednesday evenings in the summer...

Maybe they've managed to get enough support for an early summer course; in some parts of Surrey and SE London it's half term holiday.
Years ago ('60s) at Halton and Bovingdon we would fly evenings tue/wed/thu during the light summer evenings.
I can remember launching from Halton in a Sedbergh (solo) as it was starting to get dark about 9.30 pm. I got about 1500ft off the launch then floated around in still air for about 10 minutes until the time came for me to return however as I descended and turned final, I found it had got so dark (out in the countryside and no surrounding street lights etc) I couldn't see the surface in order to judge my height properly so I shut the spoilers and simply 'felt' for the ground until the wheel touched down.
Then came the problem of the retrieve crew finding me somewhere in the middle of an unlit grass airfield at night!!

I did my gliding course at Kenly during an Easter school holiday.

611 VGS used to run continuous courses at Easter, Whitsun and over the August Bank Holiday. I assume other VGS did the same...

Differed across the schools; I remember one or perhaps two courses at Easter and two, sometimes three, during school summer hols but never Whitsun (wot you youngsters call 'Spring Bank Holiday' nowadays) 'cos it was too adjacent to the summer exams period.
Also depended on how many staff you could muster; don't forget they were all volunteer part timers who had weekday jobs too.
(Best unpaid part time job you could ever have) :D

Easter and summer courses at 621...I can still almost remember the nights out:}