Caecillius est in horto, grumio est in culina #iykyk
Semper in excreta solum volant veriat
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Plebs reference?
And that’s enough of that thanks
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It’s a CCF thing…& Cambridge thing. At least he didn’t reference “Clemens”
It’s a pity we don’t have as much Latin in the RAFAC any more
Otherwise people will clock that ASTRA is Latin for “big ball of exploding hot gas that blinds people who look at it too long, consumes everything that comes near & is difficult to get away from if you get too close/involved”
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You could at least have given us something to pivot the conversation back on track with. Y’know? Exemplo ducemos…
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Res Ipsa loquitur.
Another big issue I always experienced as a cadet in Devon was the sheer lack of available air force to visit. It was 3 hours to three nearest bases each way. And that’s only getting worse
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Not lost on me. I hope the massive investment in places like Little Ris highlights our attempts to offer some sort of palliative recognising the distances you have to travel for activities such as gliding. Sending Tutors to Culdrose this week for AEF activity is another ‘stop gap’ following the loss of access to St Mawgan. Trust me…I do wish Chiv was still open!!
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Slightly tangential, but on that theme - would it be possible to explore whether the RAF could, on an ad hoc basis, offer ‘tag along’ spaces on exercises?
Perhaps modelled on the opportunity flights of old - Ex CoS decides that they can have a dozen cadets and 4 MoS along for X period at (for example) Lossie, West Freugh or Carlisle airport for a Joint Warrior ex in a couple of weeks, pings that over to HQAC, it goes out looking for staff who would be available/interested, and then cascades out for cadets?
Obviously there’s always going to be an issue with fairness/accessibility - kids being able to take time off school, parents willing/able to drive them from Tiverton to Spadeadam or wherever, but in a world where the cupboard isn’t always as full as we’d like…
I got an opportunity flight on a C-130 in about 1990 - it was taking stuff and some RM up to a NATO Ex in Norway - the AC went US on landing and (tragically…) our little gang of cadets had to stay for 3 days till it got fixed. Just being on that base, helping to load AIM-9’s on RNoAF F-16’s, doing a bit of marshalling, just watching everything and being there, was the highlight of my cadet career, far more than any of the regular camps I did.
Appreciate it’s not always going to be possible, that that there’ll be periods where there’s nothing to do but wait for the next bit of excitement, but that’s ok…
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This is where AEF can be enhanced.
C17/A400s are routinley doing circuit bashing at Bournemouth i cant see any reason why 30ish cadets cant be in the back for that type of sortie…wouldnt the cost be non existant as it was a planned training sortie anyways?
I got something similar when i was a cadet in a dominie and a free lunch in brize officers mess before the journey back. I do think my 2 hour jolly in a GR4 (insert active fast jet) would probably be too much to ask for these days.
Just need better engagement across relevant flying Sqns
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We regularly got onto training sorties with Dominies and Jetstreams when I was a cadet. Zero / negligible cost to the RAF and the duration of the sorties really logged the hours up in my 3822!
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There is some of that going on at the moment. It does rely of having those connections though, as you say.
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When was the last time a cadet had a jolly in a hawk?
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Good question. I sent my best cadet on the Valley camp I mentioned earlier on one in ?2007 or 2008, although in the end it wasn’t my best cadet because he was too small - I had to send the best cadet who also met the size limitations!
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Placing non-operational Pax does restrict what the aircraft can do.
Had a trip at Odiham where the chinook we were going up in was out doing some training that we couldnt be onboard for (low Level, i think), then returned, rotors turning, to fly us round the airfield for 20 minutes.
Also, i believe, there is operational limits on the aircrew on who they can fly at certain parts in their training.
However, loading up group of cadets to go off on a routine circuit bash, would be great, or a tanking sortie. (Still annoyed that Mrs Tornado got a VC10 tanking trip)
Quick win on this is restore the opportunity for cadets to go in the air craft that are part of the flypast for trooping the colour.
Great opportunity that has sadly struggled to be re-established since Covid.
Good PR, great opportunity & unique experience for cadets that is outside the standard flying as well as making good use of resources as well as reaffirming the RAF link direct with cadets due to the number of personnel at all levels involved.
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The actual Trooping the colour and the practice… x2 opportunities.
And who wouldnt want to be onboard a Voyager, flanked by two typhoons
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Just thinking - the last time this was happened was pre-Covid.
Covid took out two opportunities & then the first one was scaled back, then rained off & only getting back into the swing of things circa this year.
RAF postings are normally three years so what’s the betting that the corporate knowledge to involve cadets has been lost.
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Pretty sure @AlexCorbin and his encyclopaedic memory will help correct this - but pretty sure the DWW CWO(?) was awarded a back seat ride, with the camp commander at Boscombe Down, announced at Wing Activities Day in 2018 (poss 2019) - the year the Camp Commander’s wife stalled her car right in front of the entire final parade - but to their credit, not a single cadet (or CFAV) let the side down with a “waheeyyyy!”
I mean, I struggle with ‘didn’t let the side down…’.
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