Not that they would do much if any flying.
We had our second AEF detail (that resulted in cadets getting airborne) in 9 years, 2 months ago. On that basis the next is probably early 2025.
If I get a youngster who wants to fly I point them to a local flying club. To avoid the expense of Air Cadets and the frustration of not going flying.
For nearly the last 8½ years we’ve been an odd melange of ACF and Scouts. As long as we’ve been able get trained and then do whatever.
Well that’s got be either down to poor performance from AEF or WAvO. Every squadron in our Wing flown this year already 
1 Like
Ditto
1 Like
We’ve got our first gliding in September. Not had any AEF yet and no sign of it any time soon.
But we’ve certainly strayed from the topic now
As a cadet who absolutely loved flying and watching John on his chippy flight video back in the day, I couldn’t encourage many of our cadets enough to do the midweek flying when we did get places. So it was the same sqns that were using up the places 
The information page I’ve made for parents barely mentions flying or gliding, but if we do get an allocation we always chuck it up on the group for parents and cadets to see.
2 Likes
Implying that you have nothing else to offer… Good show.
Even those with a primary interest in flying are able to be served in other ways while benefiting from things they didn’t even know they’d enjoy or learn.
Even in the halcyon days of sepia-toned reminiscences, we were never the right place for someone who only wants to fly, or would only consider practical flying activities.
If we get no more places this year, we’ll have had 9 up in the air for AEF and I think 3 gliding - we probably could have had more (referring more to AEF) if we had the capacity ourselves. Every unit has been offered the opportunity.
Not including any camp flying.
Things may be improving for us policy wise, but number and quality of instruction needs to improve. I think we need a greater focus on and ability to deliver FT. We feed all three services and I suspect to a greater extent than the ACF and SCC do.
Our supposed USP of flying was never as strong as the ACF for FT and shooting, or the SCC and the wet stuff.
Our ability to offer flying has degraded, but is there, we have the ACF stuff but it could be better, and we have the SCC stuff but could be better.
I’ve never been quite that absolute about it, but have spoken about the “opportunity” to everything bah blah does “albeit to a lesser degree” - making it clear that it’s a smaller amount of the same-ish thing. Which I don’t think is false…
(So, considering we do have a bit of everything, and feed all three services…)
…And this is where I think our marketing, and our development strategy, would sit very well - truly lean into “venture adventure” (sorry CCF) and emphasise ourselves as the broad church that we are - but we need CFAV support of that message, CFAV recruitment and upskilling, and coherent local and regional strategies to deliver on it.
And yes, up our flying output as the differentiating halo product.
…
*(Dangerous ambition continues here)*
4 Likes
The sepia toned halcyon days you mention are only, for us, since the cluster of a move of 5AEF only a few years ago so in full technicolour for the majority of staff. Referring to it as sepia toned is the sort of language that lets the Cranwell seat warmers off the hook and fuels the naysayers in our throng.
FT seems to attract a certain type of individual and not a general appeal, or not in our Wing at any rate.
My thing is AT as it is far more relaxed, there is a fairly wide group who come along when we do things, we are trying to get them to get qualified.
But where is the support to make delivery of the other things easier? Even pre-March 2020 staff FT courses where like unicorn horns in rocking horse doo doo and due to the Wing FT team being a group of mates who all left in a short space of time, the higher structure dissipated and so did any real interest . Shooting is no better. Walking and camping seems to be quite strong.
The most popular activity we do on the sqn is archery and have 2 staff who have done the course. The irony here is that this has nothing to do with Air Cadets, which is why people do the course and crack on. The cadets love it.
Could archery become our USP?
1 Like
Which region is this?
I know it’s minor given everything else that’s going on at the moment, but would it have been so difficult for the SM bods on the National Aerospace Camp (I refuse to call it by it’s redundant new name) to have proofread the captions on their video before tweeting and instagramming it all over the internet?
3 Likes
8 Likes
JvT appears to be a very humble man, but at the top of his field, particularly in how he explains things. His manner when questioned by the public during briefings was far different in how he dealt with the baying media pack. He was one of the mainstays of how the UK responded to Covid and how as part of Kate Bingham’s vaccine task force dealt with the virus.
His presentations during the Royal institutions Christmas Lectures 2021 were brilliant as were the other presenters. Not a lot of places in the world where you have leading authorities teaching schoolchildren in such surroundings.
It is just a pity the RAFAC go for ‘celebrities’ rather than someone like JvT.
1 Like
To be fair, JvT is very much a household name.
But he was part of ACF before COVID, and AVF are using that.
But then again, we can’t use some of our previous cadets in a similar light 
2 Likes
That staff recruitment pack still makes me chuckle when you look at the names.
2 Likes
We handed out several about 10ys ago…
Very quickly stopped after I thumbed through and saw a certain name…
If it’s the one I’m thinking off there were “issues” with one of the CFAVs featured as well.
has anyone looked into why the ATC seem to produce more infamous persons?
2 Likes
Don’t remember the specifics of that one.
Just the biggest name there was a former BBC presenter…
This was a good few years after Yewtree as well.
It’s wasn’t just the one name lol
2 Likes
And that’s enough of that thanks.
2 Likes
Apologies if this has already been posted
ACF CFAV recruitment video:
3 Likes