IBN 045 - SOVs and RAFAC Policy

That’s a tempting idea. Sell (or even sub-lease) the vehicle to a community transport charity, then rent it back from them for a nominal charge. Anyone like to form the charity Air Cadet Transport?

I think there is merit in that. This only applies to Squadron Owned Vehicles. Simply transfer ownership away from the squadron and ta-da! Problem solved.

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This vaguely reminds me of a certain rugby club . . .

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my point exactly.

123 (Mytown) ATC Vehicle Hire operate as a charity and as part of their operational mantra and inline with their charity aims, they only hire their fleet to those in the community who meet their requirements…which are

  • to promote and encourage among young men and women a practical interest in aviation and the Royal Air Force.
  • To provide training which will be useful both in the Services and civil life.
  • To foster the spirit of adventure.
  • To develop qualities of leadership and good citizenship.

providing those conditions are met, and say within a 5 mile radius of the vehicle fleet location anyone can use the vehicles providing they are available

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This could work really well tbh. The OC could then also be a trustee of said charity. Might also help with funding towards your minibus as it’s then a separate charity :grin:

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What would the legislation be for things like that?

Remember regardless of what anyone says, the RAFAC are entitled to claim for white fleet vehies and have them delivered and collected to/from an address :smirk:

That is standard practice in my wing for White Fleet vehicles.

No extra permission or process needed. it is the standard for all White Fleet vehicle bookings. Delivery and pickup location that suits the CFAV ie home address on delivery the keys are stuck through letter box and keys returned by leaving them in a pre arranged location on pickup day. That info is provided when booking is requested. No need for CFAV’s to be in attendance for pick up or drop off

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Those of you suggesting that this will just result in more use of CFAV/cadet/parent cars greatly underestimate HQAC. They will cotton on to this and implement the same requirements for vehicle checks in private cars, advance registration of insurance certificates, commercial driving qualifications etc.

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no idea I was thinking out loud…what do Hertz or Enterprise have in place that is different?

I don’t know, how they are governed. How would Permit 19 work under these circumstances? Or would you need a PCV licence?

Not looking for problems just thinking out loud.

White fleet works if a) it’s an activity you are allowed white fleet for, and b) the hire company have vehicles. We have recently had a lot of cancellations at the last minute, due to a shortage of vehicles. My last one was a phone call at 15.30 to say the vehicle I was expecting by 16.00 hadn’t been returned by the previous user, so wasn’t available. Kind of scuppers your whole weekend activity. Also sport, clay shooting and a whole host of other activities aren’t eligible for using white fleet.

you don’t need a PCV licence to hire a vehicle from Hertz or Enterprise.

just the proof that D1 is held.

I was thinking more for the Charity Operating the vehicle and renting it to others as opposed to the person hiring.

although I haven’t experienced this - it is not unheard of and does happen enough to worry people.

this is also a concern. there are even those events which are eligible but the hire period is too short to make it worthwhile/adds a cost to the event.

for example We have run climbing on parade nights with a neighbouring Squadron. we have filled up the SOV and driven to the next town to the climbing wall.

the local hire company closes before Squadron opens so requires the driver that evening to get to the hirer before they close, and then return first thing in the morning, having been charged a full day charge for what was only used in anger for a 3 hour window

I wasn’t thinking of it as a loophole :laughing: however the various community charities which do this will have their own maintenance and other procedures in place and should on paper at least offer favourable rates.

Whether they could take over SOVs, I’ve no idea, but the idea of renting from a not for profit appeals, I do wonder how many units actually got/get value for money from their buses.

A lot of the community transport use is weekday daytimes when ours are sitting idle.

Well, at least this has come out in time. Our SOV is off the road, and was just about to have some money spent on it. We won’t bother now - better to sell it and use the money for local activities - no way we could afford checks every six weeks.

This kind of change really harms geographically spread out Wings too. Even Wing provided transport has less and less pickups now, forcing parents and volunteers to drive 40+ miles sometimes to even reach the “local” pickup on things like the rare trips to AEF. With no full D1 (just the “not for reward” one) and no FMT600 on squadron, the SOV could have helped, but not now.

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