hi can anyone give me guidance on the height or age requirements to fly the grob tutor or any of the gliders my son is in the air cadets and is keen to fly ? as i am getting conflicting advice from his squadron thanks
Age isn’t an issue as long as they have completed first class (or certain sections of the junior cadet training)
What’s his height and weight?
Weight minimum is 35kg with clothes and shoes IIRC. Height I’m not sure.
hi he is 5 feet 3 inches tall and weighs 55 kilos can he fly the tutor ? or the gliders ?
He’s fine for both from what I recall. What’s the squadron saying?
last week they said cadets where to put their name down to fly the tutor or gliders next week ! than tonight at final parade the they abruptly said flying is cancelled due to safty restrictions and cadets must be 5 feet 7 inches to fly little fella was gutted ,they do not seem to run it with military precision ! dont know how long he has to wait if he needs to grow another 4 inches !
There hasn’t been any edict on a height requirement suddenly being passed down for the glider fleet.
Viking limits:
Rear seat 35kg - 103kg
Front seat 55kg -103kg
no minimum or maximum height (so long as the lid shuts)
Vigilant
same weight limits as viking front
there is a maximum height but you need to be 6ft plus for this to normally affect
thanks for your input and information guys , but just to clarify is there a actual minimum height for flights/flying grobs or the 2 glider types ? is there a factual website quoting these facts i feel my son is getting fobbed off ? and is getting missleading information ! he is keen to be involved in the atc and i do not want him to lose intrest due to false promises and carrots being dangled than snatched away !
The following limitations were issued to us some months ago regarding flying at no4 and no12AEF.
They are neither entirely clear nor entirely helpful but have led to similar concerns.
[quote=“an email”]Please be advised that the below size criteria will allow a cadet to fly at the present time. If they are slightly smaller the may fly, it is vague, but it really depends on the individual cadet. OC 12 AEF/4AEF will be making sure that the cadets are the correct size, so it must be made clear to cadets that there is chance they will be deemed too small and may not fly.
Cadets able to fly will meet the following size criteria as a minimum:
- Shoulder to Shoulder (on the outside) 24 inches
- Groin to top of shoulder 29 inches
- Chest 33 inches
[/quote]
Surely the cancellation must come from the AEF/VGS/Wing Flying Officer and not the squadron?
If there were “safety issues” regarding height etc, then every Squadron would have received word?
Just recently, my two smallest cadets have flown at AEF even though we were a bit undecided whether they would get to, due to their size.
Remember, we cannot guarantee that that has been reported is a 100% accurate representation of what has been said.
Becuase of restrictions I have faced the dilemma recently where I need to make a judgement call on those available to go flying as to whether they meet the criteria. The AEF seem happy for us to bring cadets along so that can make a judgement but that is not a reasonable expectation - not only do I not have the space to bring a bunch of spares to AEF on the off-chance they’ll fit in the parachute, I am also not going to take someone who may be expecting to fly only to be told that they can’t - I would sooner not pick them in the first place and take cadets who I can guarantee will be able to fly.
[quote=“Plt Off Prune” post=17250]Age isn’t an issue as long as they have completed first class (or certain sections of the junior cadet training)
What’s his height and weight?
Weight minimum is 35kg with clothes and shoes IIRC. Height I’m not sure.[/quote]
as i understand it “second class” Cadet is acceptable.
providing they have a uniform and F3822 that is all that is required…
We do tend to filter as much as possible regarding suitability, but in this case we had no option but to send these cadets. It was a slot that had been bumped twice previously due to the prop issue, and the AEF moving, and it was agreed, that, rather than lose the slot and have no Squadron AEF activity for around a year, we would send the available cadets that had expressed an interest. We also try to prioritize those with little or no experience, so that everyone can actually experience these types of activities early in their cadet life.
to offer the regs:
Flying: ACTO 031 refers:
[quote]CADET ELIGIBILITY
-
Age. Not less than 13 years 3 months.
-
Qualification. Be enrolled and in uniform.
-
Record of Service (RAF F3822). This record must be completed by the Sqn
or Sect Cdr to show that the person with parental responsibility has given consent for
the cadet to fly in the air experience category
.
.
.
.
.
Cadet Weight Requirements. The passenger weight limitations are based
on parachute considerations. For the Tutor EB85 parachute, the cadet fully clothed
but without parachute must weigh between 35 and 114 kg.[/quote]
and for gliding: ACTO 032 refers
[quote]ELIGIBILITY
- To be eligible for GIC a cadet must:
32-1
a. Be enrolled and aged 13¼ or older.
Revision 1.05 Uncontrolled copy not subject to amendment
b. Have the Parent’s/Guardian’s Consent to Fly Certificate in RAF Form
3822 signed.
c. Meet the medical standard laid down in Annex A
.
.
.
.
For all flying in both Vikings and Vigilants, a maximum weight
fully clothed, less parachute, of 103 kg.
(2) For GS and AGT in the Viking, (flying in the front seat), the
minimum weight fully clothed, less parachute, of 48kg. The minimum
nude mass (including no parachute) for flying in the rear seat of the
Viking is 35kg. This is also applicable for GIC flying.
(3) For all flying in the Vigilant the minimum nude mass (including
no parachute) is 35kg.
(4) For all Vigilant flying, a maximum height from base of spine to
top of head is 992 mm[/quote]
[quote=“incubus” post=17256]The following limitations were issued to us some months ago regarding flying at no4 and no12AEF.
They are neither entirely clear nor entirely helpful but have led to similar concerns.
[quote=“an email”]Please be advised that the below size criteria will allow a cadet to fly at the present time. If they are slightly smaller the may fly, it is vague, but it really depends on the individual cadet. OC 12 AEF/4AEF will be making sure that the cadets are the correct size, so it must be made clear to cadets that there is chance they will be deemed too small and may not fly.
Cadets able to fly will meet the following size criteria as a minimum:
- Shoulder to Shoulder (on the outside) 24 inches
- Groin to top of shoulder 29 inches
- Chest 33 inches
[/quote][/quote]
Interesting. Not seen those figures published before but essentially that seems like the safe dimensions to wear the smallest parachute (the weight limitations also being based on the parachute functioning safely, although at 114kg, unless you can find a light pilot, you’d be pushing it). Other than that there should need to be a minimum physical size as the cadet isn’t required to operate any of the controls during flight.
They are not so much concerned with functional reach for the pax as they are with them falling out of the parachute or not being heavy enough for it to deploy reliably should it come down to it.
The “shoulder-to-shoulder” measurement caused some concern as 24" is actually very wide. I queried it but nobody was able to clarify, though thinking about it now if that 24" was a measurement round the whole cadet at shoulder height it would be attainable (though that makes me question the chest measurement)
There’s no minimum height for the gliders. There is a minimum weight for the parachutes, which is 35kg. However, AEFs at coastal locations where LSJs are worn have identified a problem with smaller/ slightly built cadets in that the helmet can restrict the safe deployment of the LSJ in an emergency. While they try and figure out a fix, we’ve taken the decision to try and point the Mini-Mes towards the VGS and the bigger lumps to the AEFs (Where the upper height and weight restrictions are less stingent.