Where can we find this report Mike?
Somebody popped in an FoI & got an awful lot of information back. The report I quoted is just one of âseveralâ interesting reads within the response. For example, there are planned changes to the âflyingâ syllabus & associated badges.
thats a very interesting document!
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Itâs a very interesting document and deserves a thread of its own.
Iâm going to give this the attention it deserves, but maybe tomorrow.
Friday nights are for wine, and testing the mods patience!
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Not if weâve had wine too 
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Iâve now had time to read through the 2 FTS report on RAF Gliding in the report linked in Mikeâs post above. Unsurprisingly, there is a lot of bumf in there about how things are improving, implementation of this, changing that, arenât we doing well etc. etc.
Observations are as follows;
- 30 gliders in the âForward Available Fleetâ, (serviceable) and they hope to make it 52. (The organisation had a total of 160 gliders/motor gliders in 2010).
- 'Youth Aviation Programme (YAP) is progressing, what ever this is?
- Project Venture, (replacement glider) is progressing!
- Putting the âairâ into RAF Air Cadets must remain a key feature!
- There is an âAerospace Strategy Working Groupâ
Enclosure 2 is where it gets interesting. It gives figures for the number of cadets who have participated in the different levels of gliding ATPâs in 2018 & 2019.
Initially, the numbers look good as they have recorded bums on seats. But if you convert the numbers to a percentage of the total cadet population, you build a very, very different picture of the key goal, âTo Focus on the Delivery of RAF Air Cadet Glidingâ
FAM Course, (the very basic entry level course) - 17% of cadets
Blue wings - 5.7 %
Bronze wings - 0.9%
Silver gliding scholarship - 0.3%
Gold wings, Parts 1 & 2 - 0.003%
Flight staff cadets, G2 & G1 - 0.04%
Only 1 cadet in the whole corps has reached the gliding pinnacle of Gold part 2 in the last 3 years!
The report only lists 11 staff cadets in G2 and 5 in G1 training.
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So the argument of offering flying beyond AEF is vital for engagement of those older cadets doesnât hold up against that.
As ultimately weâre currently just offering AEF.
Bit disappointing really but I think we all knew this anyway.
**edit to add - not even offering gliding AEF to most cadets.
Yes I wondered this too.
Me thinks a vgs bod, is over cooking their achievements some what.
Or HQAC/2FTS have not got accurate records? I know one VGS didnât record CCF Blue and Bronze A wings (after our PTS visits) on their system or award the wings because the badges were only there to be awarded to ATC and we had to buy our own. So there is a chance that things are not being recorded correctly.
I think youâve just used ATC cadet numbers here? Including the CCF(RAF) cadets makes the figures even worse.
Using the 1 April 2020 cadet statistics (41720 RAFAC Cadets), for 18/19:
FAM: 14.1%
Blue: 4.6%
Bronze: 0.73%
Silver: 0.23%
Gold Part 1: 0.029%
Gold Part 1&2: 0.0024%
Staff Cdt G2: 0.026%
Staff Cdt G1: 0.011%
Compare this with IACE, QAIC, JL, ACPS etc and it is an eye opener.
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Flights have to be recorded accurately for air frame hours.
So there should be some basic form of cross check available.
Wasnât the fact that this wasnât being done properly the reason for the whole pause in the first place?
But itâs not just flights, there is the PTT aspect. Then just because a flight is completed doesnât mean the criteria for a set of wings have been met so even if the data is there it wouldnât be that simple
When I last went to Syerston they had 6 PTT, but only 2 were working!
Its time to ditch the unnecessary PTT and ground school that has become a massive obstacle to cadets being awarded powered wings.
Let them learn the PTT element - âpush forward to go down, pull back to go upâ, and thatâs all it is! - in house on squadron owned flight sims.
The ground school PowerPoints could also be taught in squadron by cadet or staff SMEâs, or even visiting QAIâs. After all, whatâs the point in the very detailed and intense QAI course if they donât get the opportunity to give back the knowledge learnt on the course?
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Itâs time to ditch the unnecessary blue and bronze wingsâŚ
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Given that aviation is what we are all about, and getting cadets in the air is quoted in numerous Aims, Key Goals, Mission Statements etc, I canât think of anything else we do that is statistically harder for a cadet to achieve than Gold Gliding Wings?
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My understanding was it was more about unreconcilled tech records when components were robbed from one air frame and put in another.
But ask our resident vgs chief pumbar they might know.
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Agreed.
What a total waste of money
I donât think Cadets are thick enough that even need a flight sim to grasp that, they just need to be told itâs like a game with the Y Axis - Inverted and they will get it straight away!
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