There already is a set of specific limits on the pilots. Number of hours/launches, age etc.
I know - I have already actioned several powered flying / gliding opportunities via ACTO35.
What I am saying is that if the facility is approved (CAA / GSA), that should be sufficient.
EDIT - oh, hopefully I was instrumental in getting them to add gliding as well as to accept ācompositeā lists rather than one for Cadet A + Aircraft A + Pilot A; ah, if Aircraft A has a technical issue on the day of flight, then requirement to have paperwork for Cadet A + Aircraft B + Pilot A - ah, but if Pilot A is ill on the day, then need to haveā¦ It would have been one form, per cadet per possible aircraft combinations, per possible instructor combinations. Three cadets with 3 aircraft & 3 pilots would have been 3 x 3 x 3 forms - 27!!! That hadnāt really been thought through very well! 
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Via FOI request elsewhere, doesnāt make for good reading in places:
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I tired putting this document through google translate but it came back with language not recognised???
Yes I donāt really understand any of it, other than it looks like the MAA getting a bit cross at 2FTS for being slow?
It showed that in some areas there was a marked lack of response to earlier MAA inputs. Not very impressive.
What is needed is the comparable report (if there is one) to show current status of the various action items.
I wonder if the US Navy have been taking lessons off OC 2FTS. Letās hope notā¦ they might be needed more urgently than our glider fleet!!!
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Soā¦ the US Navy fired the head of the fleet after their pauseā¦ #awkward
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Somewhat different - āmultipleā collisions & associated fatalities.
Gliding āpauseā = no gliding - ergo, no nothing!
Yep, for the past three years the ACO has run the safest gliding organisation in the World.
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ā¦& will continue to be so for the unknown future.
Apparently, this week, at High Wycombe, a high level briefing / meeting was chaired by AOC 22 Gp & attended by Cmdt RAFAC, Cmdt 2FTS / all RAFAC Reg Cmdts, to decide the direction of ALL cadet aviation- not just flights in non-Service aircraft (powered or gliders).
The blind leading the blind then.
It will be interesting to know the outcome of that chat. Letās hope and pray they donāt decide to give an RC the job of leading a working party ā¦ a definite taxiway to nowhere.
Fingers crossed it wouldnāt be a working party - but delegating the responsibility to RCs wouldnāt be a bad outcome.
RCās could lead on non-service aircraft flying within their regions. 2FTS are already crying that there are ātoo many BGA clubs for them to āinspectā and āensure complianceāā. Why do they need to inspect them? Are they not already regulated - why does he want to meddle with their processes? Why do 2FTS need oversight of non-RAF flying anyway? Shrink OC2FTSās empire - let him focus on his pet (risk-adverse) simulators and getting the gliders back in the air.
Instead, set aside BGA clubs and other non-service aircraft, treat them as external providers like we do any other activity (White Water Rafting, Climbing walls, CSPA shooting, rides in fire engines, Go Carting, Going to the cinema). Squadron staff are responsible for collating evidence for external providers they propose to use, collecting moneys and providing āstaff coverā; Wing/Region then authorize the event having checked compliance against a check list. Why does 2FTS actually have to get involved? It could be Wg/Rg Flying/Gliding Liaison Officers role - Duty Holder could sit with RCs - as it does with AT, despite the fact that few RCs are AT qualified.
Iād like to think that AOC 22Gp saw sense this weekā¦ But a recent post about him I saw on LinkedIn did make me question whether āseeing senseā was one of his skills on his personal profile.
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C&E were already well down the path with that - I attended a meeting for this purpose at Cambridge Gliding Club back in late Spring. Other locations were more or less āapprovedā I think.
Sorry to be picky, but there is no such thing as a RAFAC Regional Comdt. They are ATC Regional Comdt and nothing to do with the CCF.
For nowā¦
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Historically delegating things to RCs ends up with one outcome ā¦ lots of meetings for their little group etc and no result.
It seems from speaking to people who have been involved in things at Cranwell, meetings happen and it things are a bit difficult they file it or it gets discussed at ACMB and other meetings and left as pending to the point where people have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing or have moved on to other things and no longer of interest.
As for the compliance why canāt this be done at Region or Corps level and someone tasked like the H&S or TSA with getting all of the paperwork, keeping it up to date. This could be extended to providing us with a list of approved suppliers (local and national) who we select with none of the aggro of getting their insurance, AALA, instructor qualifications and putting it onto a PIPE. So if you planned a weekend somewhere and wanted other activities how much easier it would make it.
Historically maybe. With the new generation of RCs in post? Iām not so sure. Some of them are actually in open and honest dialogue with the coal face.
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i am with Batfink here - why would this be any more difficult that using my local climbing club and instructors which as an AT event is signed off and certainly viewed by RCs.
All we want to do is use approved gliding centres (which by that definition are using safe a/c with qualified instructors) which anyone else can do on civi street!
what is the insentive to join up otherwise?
ācome to your local ATC unit and join in, come queue in line for opportunities you can already get but with the added chance to get delayed and messed around by the MODā - is this what is meant by the aim āprovide training which will be useful in the servicesā¦ā
Has anyone heard anything about the meeting held on the 30th to decide the future of aviation in the ACO?