Another 25 cadets flown yesterday, 24 in today and tomo.
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yet VGSs both Viking and Vigilant operate(d) without one, simply using their own Staff to man the caravan and thus A/G radio
I remain unimpressed being someone under 5 AEF, I donât particularly care what others are doing regardless of how much it is.
We are served by 9AEF and itâs great.
You have a right to complain if youâre not being well-served, but it seems like itâs a problem local to you.
Most of his problems are local to him. Extremely local 
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Itâs not just 5 AEF though. 10 AEF are offline completely at the moment, and have been for months. Itâs not looking like they will be flying anytime soon.
Iâve got no idea if anyone is looking at alternatives, but the net result is that cadets in the northwest are not flying at all - except on flight Sims.
Also 3 AEF.
Weâre also âservedâ by 5 AEF and we remain utterly unimpressed since the move to Wittering. The only thing that seems to come up is ad hoc last minute stuff during school holidays, which given the need for forms and other nonsense now, isnât quite so easily filled as it once was. Plus you need staff to take them, not as easy when you get little or no notice. Iâm at home for 2 days next week during ½ term and the ATC isnât getting either of those.
Well given what happened with 5 AEFâs long term and effectively still downtime no one came up with any alternatives. But that requires people in different depts. to speak to each other with a common purpose, ie to give cadets the flying experience. As Iâve grown to suspect with the MoD unless the person speaking to the other person is of a higher or same rank/grade, the higher one ignores what is said, because they being of a higher rank couldnât possibly take any notice of anyone lower down the food chain.
As for flight sims itâs the way air experience flying is going in the ATC; cheap, doesnât require airfields, aircraft, pilots etc and cadets can do it in their bedrooms.
Itâs âlocalâ to all sqns that 5 AEF services.
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Those are probably âspareâ CCF slots which theyâve not filled; so they may not know until near the time that they arenât going to be filled.
And a problem which has been persisting for what 2 1/2 years now? Itâs only this year when we saw slots at 7 AEF made available to make up for the slots not delivered under this cluster, sorry, move by 5AEF.
Unfortunately, whilst all aspects of the 5AEF move were in the master plan, the establishment (RAF) did not consider / action the manning requirements for the weekend aviation tasking = FTRS position had to be staffed / recruited in the inglorious aftermath.
In Nov 2015, Cmdt 6FTS wrote back to me to explain the problem (I think I mentioned it here at the time), which included some âgappingâ based on funding measures.
As far as I can see, Wittering (RAF establishment) has not caught up = 5AEF are still lumbered with the weekend time limitations for ATC cover. Whilst it is very good that 7AEF slots have become available, it is still not the answer to the problem - & also of course reduces those slots that 7AEF would normally offer to other sqns.
Whatâs the problem at 3AEF?
Colerne is going to be a housing estate. The airfield is going to be sold off in 2018
Ah, I knew that but are they already not flying?
I know there was discussion of alternative sites.
Theyâve not been flying for some time. An issue with the hangar first, and now I think the runway. UAS operations decamped elsewhere but no AEF.
You can discuss all you like but without actually resolving the problem, the act of meeting to discuss is pointless.
I imagine that for the time being Linton is on the safe list of estates, meanwhile others are not as lucky as you wrt powered flying and you should respect that unfortunate state of affairs. I suppose it is all too easy to feel as you do, but it only needs a few meetings in the panelled offices in Whitehall and you may not be feeling as upbeat. None of us expected to be in this situation when they announced 5 AEFs move, but all it takes is a bit of incompetence and eyes off the bigger picture and anyone could be finding themselves in the same boat as seems to have happened at Woodvale and Colerne for differing reasons.
If we get another defence review with more spending cuts who knows where the axe will fall. If the RAF / MoD decided to rationalise the UAS system we would be well and truly stuffed wrt AEF. It would be interesting to see a costing in terms of UAS realising RAF âflyersâ and how much that saves in terms of training.
St Athan and 1 AEF is only 60 miles awayâŚ
They wonât unless there are huge cuts in a new SDSR, which would seem unlikely. Itâs relatively cheap and now, with the changes in the past two years or so, has a greater relevance to recruitment (which it had drifted a little away from in the past decade). In fact, the UAS system is expanding.