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)*
