18s and above only.
This may explain why we’re keeping over 18 cadets even though we’re dropping CFAV age to 18.
I hope that any cadet who chooses the CFAV path will still all be eligible for the scholarship.
Pretty confident solo in a RAF tutor will never be permitted but very happy to be proved wrong
He never said solo did he? He said trained to a solo standard? Distinctly different.
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Nice and open ambiguous statement
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Nah, a very specific pre-agreed statement. As you said, flying solo in an RAF aircraft won’t happen.
@MikeJenvey I assume you’re already on it getting us the details? 
Later on he did say that they’d be flying by themselves. But I don’t believe that will happen. Cadets flying the Grob solo has always been roundly dismissed before.
Doesn’t mean there isn’t someone in the aircraft with them…
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Hmmm, how many such award?
Heavy on resources for QFIs & aircraft hrs. Availability of accommodation?
My AEF contacts didn’t know anything about this last week; I’ll sound them out.
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I assume then this means hours will count towards the issue of a PPL in a similar way to time at a UAS can do? 
If they log pilot under supervision - probably?
PiCUS is only used when under test. (At least down Civi street)
Surely SPiC would be more appropriate ( but i thought this was only an category used in integrated flying schools)
Fair point
Is there a particular reason why they can’t fly solo in a Tutor? Assume it isn’t an issue of being RAF owned aircraft as Vikings/Vigilant solos aren’t an issue.
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How is such a scheme going to impact on the UAS’s primary tasking, where are any extra QFIs going to be sourced from, plus accommodation etc?
Then there is the question is how many UAS units are going to be involved, 1 or 2 or all of them? If it only a couple of units, what geographical spread would there be?
Given we previously only had a single location in Dundee, I feel like they should be able to do significantly better than that!
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Randomly looking at UAS data on the RAF website each unit has 5 to 7 staff of which three are pilots plus a ground instructor and a couple of admin, so how does the RAF plan to increase the staffing required, as the instructors will have to be military QFIs??
The UAS course (after completion of certain syllabus points) is accredited for hours toward LAPL(A) under CAP2254 MAAS. ACPS would need another MAAS credit raising for the hours to be valid.
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(personal opinion here)
AEF pilots must be RAFVR not RAFAC as they are then military personnel on duty and thereby exempt from the requirement in the ANO to hold a pilot’s licence to fly a civilian registered aircraft.
I wonder if similarly, UAS QFIs not being (on the whole) qualified civilian instructors, they are therefore not able to supervise a first solo by a cadet (who is a civilian) in a civilian registered aircraft?
UAS students, remember, are attested military personnel.
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i am a staff sergeant who was selected for the course just before the age limit was changed and have been waiting for the course since. The email i received reads, “The new scholarship will be conducted on a University Air Sqn/Air Experience Flight and will follow the current RAF flying syllabus up to and including 1st Solo. The course is residential and is expected to last 3 weeks.” So solo in a tutor is possible for cadets, and i might be the first to do it
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If that is what we’re doing, that’s absolutely awesome.
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