Removed off-topic posts.
I wonder how long before we get similar news about the Viking?
This will probably be just before OC 2FTS does the decent thing and disappears and leaves a note saying āthereās no aircraft leftā. Weāll all be revelling in his departure that the bad news gets buried.
Itās worth remembering OC 2FTS in a previous job bought us Ultilearn another lash up of complete incompetence and the idea of the RACs another waste of public money. Although according to sources, North regionās one was nice and others little more than garden sheds.
Unless there is a radical re-think about the provision of AEF, flying training and aviation in general the ACO may as well close up shop and join the ACF as the difference is minimal, so why have two organisations in these fiscally difficult times.
Cadets arrive at either 0830 or 1230 and are back on the road about 4 hours later. Once flown they get the opportunity to do escorting duties to and from the flightline (at my unit anyway). As a pilot, we will brief at 0830-0900, then signing out and flying 4 cadets back to back. We then need a mandatory lunch rest before same again in the afternoon. Around that we have to fit in admin, flight safety reporting, ground training currencies etcā¦ saying we ādonāt bother to talk to cadetsā is unfair in my opinion.
If staff go around with attitudes like āAEF is a jokeā then it is hardly any wonder cadets will be difficult to motivate 
Luckily the 25 cadets we flew on my day last week all had a great time and went away happy.
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What you describe hasnāt changed in over 40 years and cadets will by and large enjoy it.
However with AEFs moving around. causing a break in service, and like us not getting any AEF bar some scraps itās no wonder, people feel like they do.
Letās not forget the number of times people have had a call or email saying flying is cancelled, which we have to then relate to cadets, whose families may have arranged to do things based around dropping their little one off, then having to change what they intended doing. Sometimes itās the service we get that creates the thinking and cadets are not stupid and neither more over are their parents. If I was a parent of a cadet and they came home saying weāve got flying can I go, remembering the last time I had a phone call or other contact Friday PM or later, or, a phone call an hour or so later after dropping them off, as it had been cancelled, there would be a doubt and thought of well Iād better not plan anything. This isnāt fair on anyone. Even as staff you feel reluctant to commit for the same reasons. So itās no wonder that staff feel like they do and as a parent you would want to plan your weekend, without that doubt.
Your AEF seems like it works, but not are all like that.
Umā¦ Escorting duties hardly compares with all the things that cadets were involved in at a VGS. As for the enormous number of extra items you have to do as well, you are, of course, aware that the VGS instructors had the same things to do as well. As to āunfairā, I speak as I find.
As for my attitude, you clearly didnāt read all my post. I am not staff any more.
My own limited experience with AEF was very positive, however, Iām really excited to hear when the planned replacements are being unveiled. Forward planning and all that!!
You clearly havenāt been in the Corps very longā¦
I sometimes wonder what the Cmdtās fascination is with royalty and minor celebs. You see her with Kate and William; and Carol a fair bit. Maybe sheās got an eye to the future and is gearing herself up for a career as a gameshow host.
āIāll have a consonant please Dawn. A vowel, please. Another consonant please Dawn and another. Another consonant, a vowel and a final consonant please Dawnā.
BALLS UP
Sounds about right.
I agree.
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iām afraid, like many, my attitude to AEF is coloured by my experience.
i would reckon that perhaps only 1 in 5 times the OC tells the kids on final parade that theres an AEF slot it actually ends in a cadet flying. we live 3 hours drive from our AEF, iād say that perhaps 2 in 5 of those times the day ends somewhere between me checking my email at 4am and me arriving at the airfield - at which point i may have wasted a 6 hour return trip.
this may shock you, but this does not engender a feeling of āwell, iāll be sure to volunteer for that againā¦ā.
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Personally, I would love to get back to the days where swarms of cdts spent all day chasing gliders around an airfield. Far more relevant than 20 mins in a Tutor.
My ālocalā VGS has just re-equipped to winch launch but, of course, the cdts have to jump through additional hoops before they get their hands on a cold, greasy, wet winch cable.
Thank you.
The only gliders to chase are very few and far between.
With the early demise of the Vigilant, the Tutor is now the only Air Cadet powered flying option.
Realistically it has been for the last 4/5 years though.
This is sad, but ultimately will the loss of a few aircraft we knew were going anyway be that bad? The situation as a whole is deplorable but losing 9 aircraft isnāt as significant as the initial grounding, or the protracted farce of a clean up operation.
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Itās really a shame, especially with the amazing weather as of recent that cadets canāt see as much flying as theyād expect. Last time I went flying was June 2016, where I was one of the only to get flytime before they closed it off due to weather. Iām grateful as hell that I got the chance but itās way too scarce. We went to a VGS and spent the morning in a flight sim, and surprisingly, that doesnāt come up that often either. I honestly question what it is that sets us apart from the ACF except from the same old aviation powerpoints and the air recognition competitions.
The sad truth is that a large portion of cadets are seriously missing out on an amazing experience, especially those, who like myself, want to become pilots. Having the chance to control the aircraft is amazing and I sincerely wished that itād happen more often.
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That depends on your location. To the wings that are served by 645 sqn and 10 AEF, itās pretty catastrophic.
645 Sqn was the slightest crumb of hope that their cadets might get up in the air this year. Call me a cynic, but I doubt either the runway at Woodvale will be repaired, or the VGS will convert to the viking in time to fly cadets this year.
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The problem is how many cadets does 4 years represent?
How many cadets have joined and left the ATC and never flown in an aircraft on the ATC/RAF inventory, compared to the 12 months prior to that. Restrict it to 12 months as the numbers would be even more embarrassing.
We had cadets go on a mass flying day and shortly after I spoke to the Wg Cdr and they were gushing about it, I was dumfounded and walked out of the office, I reckoned they were going for an award/honour. A handful of cadets from across the Wing in a once off effort and it was seen as something to get excited about.
I find it incredulous to think at CAC and OC 2FTSā boss(es) think they have been doing more than an extremely mediocre job and getting paid much more than many of the staff in the ATC, who will by comparison be working much harder and then giving time up for ATC.
Woodvale is still being used I believe for the UAS as they have a different DDH regieme and helicopters as required. Itās also one of the few places there is an RAF presence on the west coast of the UK.
The hanger doors are, I also believe, being replaced.
None of which is any consolation to those cadets on my squadron who are desperate to fly.
When the gliding āPauseā was announced, we had AEF to fall back on. Then the AEF went offline, but 645 had started to get cadets into the air. Now we have nothing.
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In my personal opinion, comparisons with volume of flying of past years is just wasted effort. Times have changed for many reasons, just look at the reduction in frontline military units and flying. Personally, I think the real challenge for ACO flying is geography. Iāve already personally flown some cadets more than once this year, and only last week I had cadets that had been in a few years on their 6th and 7th trip. The beauty of the combined AEF and VGS system was that it had wide geographical coverage and a wide spread of operating days/hours - that is really hard to regain.
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