i can tell.
they say the first step to beating an addiction is admitting it, so i think you’ve taken a big step, admittedly in a very long road…
As you can’t take past performance into account when awarding MOD contracts. It would be all rather pointless if either of the contractors tried to “rubbish” the other.
Ok, so we take the previous contractor, whatever the project, who failed to make the grade…?
For the gliding circumstances, it’s not as if there are dozens to choose from.
Depends if they put up the best proposal. Just can’t mark them on thier past performance not being ideal as an indicator of future performance.
That’s EU procurement law for ya 
Check the EU law…
There ARE dispensations for “war material” defence items, if gliders count as aircraft for “military use,” then maybe this is relevant.
Gliders = war material, is a bit of a stretch
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I very much doubt that the Tutor and Glider fleets would be classified as ‘war like’ stores/equipment as they are designed for use in the civil aviation environment and could not be used in a ‘war like’ manner (unless you chose to use them as a suicide attack vehicle)…
Not really - please read the second link, Item 10:
Aircraft & their equipment for military use.
Gliders (= aircraft) owned by the RAF for cadet flying (civilian youth cannot fly in them = military use).
I notice no-one has stated the obvious. It doesn’t have to be one big contractor. If you use a number of contractors each doing some of your aeroplanes you don’t get a total shutdown. You can also use smaller organisations.
Like they do in the real world.
I’ll ask the MOD procurement Officer sat next to me…Ummm no, not war equipment.
Nearly everyone flying them is a “civilian” and not service personnel.
[quote=“XN150, post:599, topic:1152, full:true”]
I notice no-one has stated the obvious. It doesn’t have to be one big contractor. If you use a number of contractors each doing some of your aeroplanes you don’t get a total shutdown. You can also use smaller organisations.
Like they do in the real world.[/quote]
But the problem is they don’t have any experience of the real world, only the MoD.
Our company has contracts with people, but if something needs doing on the quick that the contractor can’t do then they sub-contract or employ more people and that would be expected of them. We even had a delivery via a different stationery firm, as our main supplier wasn’t able to fill the order, so they got someone else to do it. If you take the building world, you might employ a builder as the main contractor, but they might not have all the trades on their books, so use sub-contractors for chippy, plaster, sparks, plumbing, lifting (if needed) etc. Look at all the major building projects and while you will have a main contractor to oversee the project, they will have aspects contracted out.
I think the biggest problem with this is that the man at the top likes to think he’s in charge, but if he has to go through several hoops to get things signed off, then he’s not really in charge. But then if he was really, really, really bothered he (and CAC) would have been kicking up a stink 18 months ago with whoever he reports to saying this isn’t good enough as we are letting the thousands of cadets out there down and not doing much for the morale of the people freely giving up their spare time and more besides. But as said this would require them to give a monkey’s. Instead they invent more hoops for us to go through.
Mike, the key point when assessing whether the war stores/war like classification applies is whether an item will be used in a war like manner; under the regulations currently in force, the war equipment clauses do not apply. These are ostensibly civil aircraft used by a military sponsored organisation, but to fly civilians (who happen to wear a uniform) for pleasure.
I am really posting this just to keep the topic up there and in people’s minds.
Gliding was always said to be at the heart of the Air Cadets. Can we still say this?
21 months and counting.
We have to assue gliding as we knew it is dead and who knows what the future will look like.
Whatever we get (eventually) will be to the detriment of the Corps as a whole. My cadet OC used to wax lyrically about his experiences as a cadet, but they resonated with us as cadets as it was still relevant. If I speak to cadets about my experiences as a cadet, it is entirely different to what they are experiencing. I still personally feel that unless we start to get delivery at our ascribed VGS’ by the end of this year, we could be looking at the beginning of the demise of the Air Training Corps as a viable organisation.
Do we try and recruit new cadets with any mention of the word gliding in it and given I come under 5 AEF I’m loathed to mention flying.
Yes we can do fieldcraft, but will need staff to go through the new hoops, which will potentially mean the loss of parade night delivery, shooting is a nightmare at all but a handful of squadrons. Both of these seem to be delivered much more efficiently by the ACF, but then these IMO are central to what the ACF is about, as ‘flying’ is to us.
As the AIR TRAINING Corps or Royal Air Force Cadets, we need to have practical flying as the beating heart of what we do and offer. Can we survive without it?
Yes there are people in the RAF that don’t fly, but they join the RAF to do a job that doesn’t involve flying as a part of their day job that they get paid to do. Yet we advertise flying (in the broad sense) and flying training to teenagers as a tempter to join. I wouldn’t have joined the ATC if there wasn’t that opportunity. If we don’t have that tempter,so what do we have, that we can deliver without excessive requirements placed on CFAV to acquire qualifications.
I have a Mock the Week style “Things you’re least likely to hear from OC 2FTS”
“Hoorah, we have got all the gliders fixed and glidng will start properly again in May 2016” (edited for more comedic value)
“I’m sorry I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing and resign so that someone who does can take over”
“I’ve had my fingers crossed everytime I’ve written a letter about the return of gliding and claim fay nights”
I bet there are a few more
fixed that for you 
Lets wait for the brief, rumours are everywhere and the truth is you don’t know, no bodies knows (yet)
Maybe, but I don’t imagine anyone is expecting anything in the slightest that will be positive.
It might be positive for management and loaded with rhetoric and hyperbole, but nothing for cadets, who are the single most important group of people in the organisation.
What some of these people running the Corps need to remember is no cadets = no gravy train for former RAF bods, looking to put off being shopping trolley collectors, which based on what we see of them, might be too much for them. Plus for those uniformed CFAV in love with themselves, who would need to find someone else to try and impress.
Gliding recovered, slowly but recovered + positive in my eyes