Don’t think it is.
Joe Bloggs, (who is often a frustrated Air Cadet) could quite easily go solo after the same amount of launches given at a VGS. It’s just that the BGA don’t think its safe to do so until the whole syllabus is taught. I suppose they worry about a first solo catching unexpected lift, being carried away from the airfield, stalling or having to make an ‘out landing’.
Then again, what do the BGA know?
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It is literally written on their website the syllabus is exactly the same bar spinning, which as said is extremely difficult to initiate in a Viking without whiskers.
Ex 5 Lookout Technique & collision avoidance
Ex 7 Effects of Controls Effects of elevator, rudder, aileron & flaps (if required) Adverse Yaw Speed monitoring & Control Co-ordination
Ex 8 Use of Trim
Ex 9 The Straight Glide Drift, Track & Heading
Ex 10 Turning Entry, Exit and Maintenance Slip & Skid Regaining a Heading Steep Turns
Ex 11 Airbrakes (and/or Spoilers) Effects
Ex 12 Approach Control Normal Undershoot Overshoot
Ex 13 Landing Final Approach Round Out Hold Off Landing Use of Wheelbrake, Cross Wind Landing
Ex 14 Circuit Planning Reference Point Normal Circuit Modified Circuit Effect of Wind Height Judgement Launching
(Ex 16 or 17-based on available launch method) Equipment Launch Speeds Launch Techniques Launch Failures Launch Abandonment
Ex 18 Stalling Symptoms 1G Stalling Accelerated Stalling Lack of Effective Elevator at Stall Reduced G not reliable Symptom of Stalling
Ex 19 Spinning & Spiral Dives Spinning – Recognition & Recovery, Spiral Dive – Recognition & Recovery Further Spinning , including realistic scenarios
Ex 20 First Solo Normal Take - off, Circuit and Landing
Sounds like someone is more keen on keeping their dusty office in a porta cabin than trying to get the maximum number of cadets airborne they can.
Even if that means 2FTS and VGSs accepting reality and facing the music.
Those of us who are ‘at the coal face’ week in week out only hear that cadets want flying and gliding opportunities.
Bluntly 2FTS and the VGSs have failed utterly to provide this to a meaningful level and the time has come to sack it off.
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You think they have the record keeping skills for that?
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As this clearly has the potential to get a little heated I would remind users to stick within the AUP and keep their posts civil and appropriate, else I’ll just delete them.
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The Corps needs a solution which is fitting to the times we are in.
With a reducing RAF footprint, reduced CFAV numbers.
Almost zero throughout of staff cadets in last 5 years to sustain VGSs.
A glider fleet needing expensive replacement.
AND
Most importantly a total lack of sustainable gliding sorties.
The time has truly come to move on and get a better solution for our gliding needs.
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Dont have a dusty office to keep
Once again the self calculated numbers from MJ above dont give more launches than RAFAC get from VGS by a considerable margin. VGS volunteers are at the coal face doing 50, 60, 70 + days of activities and know full well what cadets want.
Replace the VGS with BGA you’d get less launches nationwide, run BGA air ex flights alongside VGS you get more
So maybe the answer isn’t binning VGS but actually pulling our finger out and opening more of them…
Has there been any meaningful update on Swanton Morley?
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Can you get less than zero?
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Are you sure?
VGS = 8 units
BGA gliding clubs = 82
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One of our cadets who is a very experienced glider pilot with lots of civvy quals asked the CFI at a VGS about 2 years ago, if he could join as a flight staff cadet. He was invited up for a day to demonstrate his capability. Suitably impressed, the CFI sent him for a chat with the CO. The CO told him there was no chance of joining as he struggled to keep his staff current as it was, and FSC’s would only increase his burden!
So, instead of helping out at a VGS over the weekend, he goes competition gliding, which ironically, was something else the ATC did before binning the competition fleet in 2000!
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The VGS units clearly aren’t providing zero launches to cadets.
Sure if all BGA clubs turned they’re output from at least one of their aircraft over to cadets flying you’d get more launches, but they clear can’t do that.
This is also my experience…
I wouldn’t mind taking cadets in my own aircraft, but that’s also not allowed!
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(All the staff have had a go though!)
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Yet one VGS is well on it’s way to 20 staff cadets through in the last 3 years
@tingger it seems that you have a very positive experience with your local VGS, which is great. But it needs to be replicated across the country.
Whilst blowing the gliding budget on 8 VGS might serve those local to it well, there are huge swathes of the country getting nothing at all.
So, something needs to give. Either more VGS need to open, or the operation should be farmed out…
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I recon there only about 8 cadets in the whole of my wing that have ever been gliding with a VGS since the ‘pause’ those years ago. My point of view is the same as yours I think.
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I don’t think that will necessarily change, looking for a gliding club for me and my child there was not one within less than 90 minutes realistic travel. Add in that BGA club ≠ VGS, they have their members and have built up alliances with sixth form colleges alongside the usual university gliding clubs. Will there be an appetite to potentially turn away £100 a time voucher flyers to tie up an aircraft for RAFAC.
When I was looking for clubs and following some operations over the summer on glide and seek there appears to be an abundance of clubs concentrated around Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire but beyond that things start to thin out quite quickly.
You also need to consider less than half support junior gliding according to the BGA website.
Mike may have found a local club to him that luckily appeared interested and maybe as a region they are also lucky to have a lot of choice. Those within less than 2 hours of me are limiting new members and not offering the experience flights. The nearest to me wasn’t interested in me skipping the trial and paying the membership in the summer to be able to start going and like several have ceased operations due to covid.
I loved flying as a cadet in the 90s and thanks to great staff flew at AEF 3-4 times a year and got to the VGS maybe 4-5 and so disappointed that one of my kids, who was one of the first able to join at 12 will likely age out next year with 1 AEF flight and 0 glider flights.
I think it would be great if the experience flights could be done more locally and then for those who have the desire they could apply to a VGS for whatever the equivalent of Gliding Scholarship is these days.
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This is an interesting perspective; so maybe a hybrid approach is more realistic…
Keep the VGS’s that are operating well.
Where there is no VGS try and team up with the BGA.
Look to open more VGS’s countrywide.
We need permanent staff and volunteers that will remove roadblocks and make changes required.
At the moment we have fantastic policies that limit us rather than positive policies that get bums on seats and airborne.
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