The question has to be asked why certain alleged volunteers are still in the corps with attitudes such as M_V_L and others. Are we not here to encourage our cadets into aviation. When an opportunity arises should we not jump at the chance and make the most of it. Comments that have been made in this thread by a very very small minority of disgruntled alleged volunteers are disappointing and i hope that their cadets are not suffering from their constant negativity.
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Agreed. Disgraceful attitudes shownâŚ
So⌠on average, a weekend a month and most years for the past 23, 1 if not 2 week long camps is not enough for you? You talk as if we are not allowed a life away from the organisation.
WRT gliding, I cannot recall the last allocation of gliding to my Sqn - those that are interested go to one of 2 BGA clubs within 10 miles, one of which is on the same airfield which we are based on.
Not an issue really, just means the more places you turn down in the future the more places that will be available for other squadrons. Ying - Yang.
Iâm not disgruntled per se. I get hacked off when people evangelise about the importance or the AEF and VGS, and about exposure to the âmilitary flying experienceâ when a large proportion of the ATC are not able to access the same opportunities as others.
As a squadron in a wing that has received 3 AEF slots since 2015, and no gliding slots since 2013, weâve had to work bloody hard to retain the interest of our cadets. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didnât. Weâve run extra fieldcraft camps, AT, shooting days, leadership camps, ran extra courses at the squadron, visits to local aviation companies etc.
I personally have got, I think, about 3 days VA left out of 28. And I do think its very patronising when the likes 109115 then harp up that âIf we donât immediately sign up to taking our cadets on a weekend trip to the VGS, then Weâre not in it for the cadetsâ, or whatever else it was they were trying to infer. I do plenty for my cadets already, and sacrifice enough time away from my family, thank you very much.
I appreciate that it isnât the fault of the AEF or the VGS, but if something is broken, letâs not all dance around telling each other how everything is rosy.
And just to clarify, if I was given a â1 or the other choiceâ to take 14 cadets on a DofE exped, or 4 on a VGS weekend, I would always opt for the exped. More cadets would benefit, and there is less chance of being affected by inclement weather. Not to mention the lead time in sorting exped outâŚ
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I didnât say that they would turn places down if allocated⌠They go to local clubs, just so that they can go gliding.
Many of us have spent the last few years plugging the gap caused by the total lack of flying and gliding and whatâs the recovery plan? Travel long distances and give up whole weekends for a couple of launches and some time on a PTT, well whoop de do! The attitude seems to be âwell we can do more with lessâ, the reality is that our cadets will get less with Squadron staff giving up more!
The attitude of âoh well you will all have to drop everything because flying/gliding takes priorityâ is a load of rubbish, we are hardly going to drop whole weekend camps for 3 or 4 flying/gliding slots. Now Iâm sure that all of us would try to make it work for the cadets, but until we see an actual plan rather than BS they fed Parliament to make the questions in the house go away we donât know how realistic it will be (or even how real, wonât be shocked if it runs at it always has just with staff expected to drive long distances and without thinking about drivers hours).
Itâs good to see the same old âwell we are the Silver Winged Master Raceâ attitude which so hacks off Squadron staff is alive and kicking though.
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Mine arent.
We avoid discussing flying and gliding at all costs - simply offering the very best the Corps can offer - despite the ineptitude, the incompetence and the inability of the Corps to offer either flying or gliding in a meaningful way.
If, one day, we get a flying/ gliding slot that actual happens then Iâll advertise it and promote it.
The saddest thing, however, is that Iâve got a generation of cadets who know no difference. They have no experience of gliding. And when we worked hard for 6 months to get it happening through the BGA, somebody moved the goal posts again as they couldnât stomach the apparent risks which civi gliding presents.
I would love to see the stats from Bader of cadet flying and gliding over the last 5 years. I also wonder if it correlates with our falling numbers.
Flying and gliding are the elephant in the room for most staff at squadrons.
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Itâs alright though, the Commandant got her Bronze Wings, bet thatâs included in the stats!
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Not fair to pick on Gliding I suppose, but why donât you put a FOI request in wrt AEF flights? You might be surprised at how many thousands of cadets are flown each year?
Conversely, we know that a significant group numbering thousands have been failed over several years by the 5AEF debacle. This makes for an awkward pause when asked about flying/gliding by prospective cadets or their parents.
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I can only speak from my own experiences but I am frustrated by the hurdles set by the powers that be that stop us providing flying to cadets.
If its not one rule its another.
I have also found that some visiting staff have no knowledge of ACP31 and those that do choose not to follow it.
The amount of pregnant male cadets who have just had a major operation, are under the age of 13.3 is surprising and donât have consent to fly is quite surprising.
Believe it or not but we have a massive shortfall in cadets allocated to cadets that actually turn up.
@M_L_V, if you have only had 3 AEF slots since 2015, you should be having a word with your WGLO or pick the phone up and give us a ring if he doesnât want to play.
Each summer I offer mid week flying slots to ATC Wings and very few take them.
Maybe the word just doesnât get filtered down.
As nice as it is being offered mid-week slots (it is appreciated) staff have jobs and therefore canât just drop everything because flying is on offer. On the flip side Iâve had annual camps where we donât get any flying at all, which back in the day used to be part and parcel. I would happily plan a whole camp programme around getting cadets AEF.
I always take a reserve when I actually get a flying detail who are briefed that they will only fly if someone doesnât show, pays off more often than not.
The message in our wing is that 10 AEF are still not flying cadets? To be fair, I got so fed up of the lack of AEF, I started emailing all and any multiengine squadrons in the hope we could get some passenger flying inâŚ
As for midweek, if I wasnât busy working, Iâd happily be chasing slots. Unfortunately, I donât have the annual leave to use on such things. Nor do my Sqn staff.
We sometimes see offers of summertime-weekday AEF slots with 5 and 7. However itâs often only at 2 or 3 days notice making it very difficult to confirm that we could get staffing, cadets and transport arranged in 1 day to confirm that we could take them up. These can often be slots not taken up by those on camp in the area!! On the flip side, I donât think that we waste many of these places which come to my attention.
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There was a directive put out some time ago that AEFs were to prioritise affiliated Sqns rather than camps which is why we stopped facilitating Valley camps.
Some AEFs that are on stations which host camps may provide AEF slots if they are available.
We arenât as our runway is falling apart however, some pilots are detached to Cosford and St Athan
I can only speak for a single AEF but allocations for all of 2018 are on our website.
There are some short notice allocations due to cancellations, but the Wings and schools know their allocations up to a year in advance?
Iâm not sure of the point that youâre trying to make in your response here.
for those who are complaining about midweek flights ⌠1AEF at St Athan only offer mid week flights and to be honest the sqns, cadets and staff, are more than happy to take up the slots. It was not popular at first but as usual the bemoaners have found something else to moan about and AEF flying happens ⌠not a surprise really. It would be nice to have weekend flying but thats the way it is, cadets love it staff have adapted and overcome ⌠we move on
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