Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839115
I’ve got a very grainy pic of me somewhere in the school Grasshopper 15 ft off the ground being bungeed across the school playing field - sans spoilers as I’d just soloed at Henlow on an Easter gliding course in 1962.(BGA. A & B certs).

Rumour has it that it ended up at Old Warden but I have never been able to confirm this. :wink:
#1839121
I loved my 4 years in the ATC. First flew in 79 out of Woodvale. Followed that with my glider course at Sealand and ATC camps at Manston, Brize, Lossiemouth and Akrotiri. Both my sons joined our local Sqn, sadly it’s a shadow of the organisation I was in.
rogerb liked this
#1839142
oakworth wrote:I loved my 4 years in the ATC.

Only 4?
I did 36 including 7 years as a Squadron Commander and then another 7 as Wing Gliding Liaison Officer before I was booted out.
My Wing Commander was jealous of me for several reasons, one being I was invited by the Lord Chamberlain to attend Her Majesty at a Royal Garden Party at 'the Palace' and he wasn't.(I think the selection was done by the Regional Commandant ie over his head)
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By PeteSpencer
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839176
chevvron wrote:and then another 7 as Wing Gliding Liaison Officer before I was booted out.


Must have been the screaming up and down in that souped up Zephyr Six (or was it a Zodiac?) that nobbed off the powers that be.................. :roll:
By Rjk983
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839190
The short answer would be yes, Chipmunk, 11AEF at Teesside in 1987. But that wouldn’t do justice to how important the ATC was to a young lad living on a council estate in the 80s.

I joined 346 Tynemouh Sqn in the mid 80s when I was 13. At 13yr9months and 3 days I had my first chippie flight. You had to be 13/9months to fly for some odd reason.

It was with 11AEF out of Teesside Airport due to Leeming being closed for resurfacing. Went there a couple of more times then settled into a routine of getting to go flying every 4 months or so at Leeming. Our Sqn had a couple of cops as officers/Civ Instructors so they always applied for mid week flying slots when they had days off. My school was very relaxed about letting the 15 or so of us who were in the ATC (spread across the year groups) missing days of school to go flying.

I just can’t imagine that being the case anymore.

As soon as I had a driving licence I applied to become a staff cadet at 11AEF and spent just about every Saturday driving 90mins each way for 2 years strapping eager cadets into parachutes and aircraft. Then getting a flight at the end of the day if the weather and aircraft slots were favourable.

I moved to 7AEF when I went to Uni as my first year course wasn’t suitable for joining the UAS. did another 18 months at Newton, flying almost exclusively in the front seat with Bill Purchase of round the world fame. I finished up with 44hours dual (plus another 15hrs or so AEF as pax) in the Chipmunk before I got into EMUAS and moved on to the Bulldog.

In my time I also blagged a JP5 trip at Linton, a Tucano trip at Linton. Numerous Sea King trips at Boulmer, chinook and puma rides across Germany. Nimrod patrols across the North Sea, Hercules touring the UK at low level, sitting behind the pilots at low level through Wales then going down the back and dangling my legs over the ramp as we flew down Windermere waving at the tourists below. Another interesting flight with Gurkhas being thrown out of the back over the Solent (the first one was literally thrown out by his Sgt Maj when he refused in the door). The day the Lynx from HMS Argonaut (called Jason naturally) came to our school to do a presentation to anyone interested in the Navy, then took all of the Air Cadets for 10 min flights to go and hover over each of our houses.

On top of the flying I did 9 summer camps in 6 years including Gutersloh and Gatow (Berlin) just after the wall came down but the four powers were still dividing the city and crossing to the east still had a bit of procedure to it. I also went on the international exchange to America, via a Herc ride to Ramstein. I got range qualified at 16 and was teaching and supervising 13 year olds on the rifle range at the back of our cadet hut. Plus many other adventure training weekends, duke of Edinburgh’s, sport, socials. It was a great time.

All in all a wonderful adolescence, and whilst the organisation today can’t offer these experiences as the world has changed, it does still offer the most it can to today’s youth. It will be all they have ever known of the organisation they will no doubt look back on it as fondly as I do when they are decrepit late forty year olds...
JAFO, Steve C64, Ben K and 2 others liked this
#1839233
Rjk983 wrote:.. My school was very relaxed about letting the 15 or so of us who were in the ATC (spread across the year groups) missing days of school to go flying.

I just can’t imagine that being the case anymore.

....


These days a LEA school (in England) would be marked down by Ofsted Inspectors (who, like the Head and teachers would be allowed no discretion in the matter) for allowing these absences :evil:
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By foxmoth
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839235
when I was 13. At 13yr9months and 3 days I had my first chippie flight. You had to be 13/9months to fly for some odd reason.


Iirc you had to be 13yr9months to officially join, I suspect this somehow had something to do with the school year as that starts in September - the 9th month.
By Rjk983
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1839245
foxmoth wrote:
when I was 13. At 13yr9months and 3 days I had my first chippie flight. You had to be 13/9months to fly for some odd reason.


Iirc you had to be 13yr9months to officially join, I suspect this somehow had something to do with the school year as that starts in September - the 9th month.


It most likely changed over the years, but when I joined it was definitely 13 to join. It looks like it took 3 months or so for my uniform etc and my “probation” to finish then I was officially enrolled exactly 3 months after my 13th birthday. I know the age rule for flying was 13/9 as the Sqn took me along to an AEF visit when I was 2 weeks shy of that age and the flight commander at the time (I think Tony Cowan also of round the world fame...) checked my age and said no.

I also had the grim duty of checking the ages during the briefing video for the Flight Commander when I became a staff cadet. Thankfully I didn’t have to be the one to break any bad news as happened quite a few times.

I hasten to add that the hazy rose tinted memories in my earlier post were all direct from memory, but it led to an urge to look out the 3822. The dates in this post are firmly from that book as even I am not sad enough to have remembered the finer details :oops:
#1839265
ISTR, in ATC, it was 13y9m formally to 'enrol'. However, many Sqns allowed you to 'join' (attend Parades and lessons therein; be issued Uniform) at 13. If you could pass your '1st Class Cadet' tests on the Sqn (RAF History, Security, Chipmunk safety brief, basic drill, basic firearms safety, Principles of Flight, ..) by 13-9, you could then go flying (AEF, AEG), visit RAF Stations including for Camp (and maybe fly in something else while there), shoot .22, ...

In CCF/RAF Units, typical pattern seemed to be 'join' not before 'Year 9', then had to have passed 'Part 1' and be at least 13-9 before doing any of the activities above; although some schools with their own smallbore ranges seemed to allow local shooting sooner. Some schools also required an Air Navigation (whizzwheel!) pass at 'Part 2' (equivalent of ATC 'Leading') before allowing AEF/AEG; I assume this was a local 'filtration' policy, to identify Cadets who were after more than a 'jolly' :wink:

(~50 years Cadet and Instructor)
#1839283
I was 12 years and 11 months old when I pitched up at the squadron. They couldn't be bothered sending me home for the sake of a few weeks, so I continued unofficially until I passed my 13th birthday.

My first flight was on 15th April 1983 with 10 AEF at RAF Woodvale. I don't need to look in my 3822 as it was my 14th birthday. I must find WP896 and see if I can get another flight in it for another birthday.

I went on to do the gliding proficiency (at BAe Salmesbury) in Ventures and flying scholarship at Cardiff with Cambrian Aero Club in Tomahawks. I did the remaining 8 hours (as it then was for a PPL) with Air Navigation and Trading at Blackpool.

I had camps at Northolt, Gibraltar and Kinloss (where I later spent several years on Nimrods) and attended the IACE in Switzerland.

They were five of the best years of my life.
rogerb liked this
#1839291
PeteSpencer wrote:
chevvron wrote:and then another 7 as Wing Gliding Liaison Officer before I was booted out.


Must have been the screaming up and down in that souped up Zephyr Six (or was it a Zodiac?) that nobbed off the powers that be.................. :roll:

I would never drive a Ford; they're for commercial travellers.
The only 6 cyl engines I ever drove were on the twin drum winches at Halton; Bedford 6 cyl coach engines; ran on 'military' grade fuel (about 80 octane if you were lucky) .
We would start them up about 9am and they would run until it got dark.
#1839300
JAFO wrote:My first flight was on 15th April 1983 with 10 AEF at RAF Woodvale. I don't need to look in my 3822 as it was my 14th birthday. I must find WP896 and see if I can get another flight in it for another birthday.


Well she is still about and flying.

Image
JAFO, rogerb liked this
#1839303
kanga wrote:In CCF/RAF Units, typical pattern seemed to be 'join' not before 'Year 9', then had to have passed 'Part 1' and be at least 13-9 before doing any of the activities above; although some schools with their own smallbore ranges seemed to allow local shooting sooner. Some schools also required an Air Navigation (whizzwheel!) pass at 'Part 2' (equivalent of ATC 'Leading') before allowing AEF/AEG; I assume this was a local 'filtration' policy, to identify Cadets who were after more than a 'jolly' :wink: )


I fear some CCF units may have existed pretty much solely because of the "jollies"! I never sat any tests, but did fly quite a lot. :oops:
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