Letter from the Squadron - 2005

October saw the end of the Display Season, Squadron involvement on the ground and in the air in the local Freedom Parades, visits from CinC STC and the military head of the Defence Exports Sales Organisation, a very successful Charity Track Day (raising over £4 500 pounds) arid the presentation, long overdue, of the Canal Zone Medal to Flt Lt (Ret d) Dougie Mee – ex 208 Squadron – in the Officers Mess. A party from the Squadron also travelled down to London for the Annual Dinner of the Squadron Association, This was a great evening with both staff and students able to meet association members from across the years, the presentation of the Geoffrey Bromet Memorial Trophy to the 2004 Display Pilot - Jon Killerby – and an extended party in the West-End for those with sufficient stamina.

Over the winter we were badly affected by some very poor weather with gales, fog and low cloud making flying training very difficult. By January we decided that a deployment chasing the sun was the only answer so 6 aircraft were despatched to Solenzara in Corsica for a week’s worth of formation flying. This was much enjoyed by the lucky few who travelled but they did find that most of Sardinia was closed for the winter so off-duty entertainment was in short supply. At the end of the month the Station and the Squadron were thoroughly checked out by the Central Flying School Examiners on their annual visit, this testing time went very well and the team was generally impressed with what we achieved and the quality of our work. Due to the weather we did, however, fall behind the task overall and were forced to cancel one training course. With too many student pilots "in the system" this was not a major issue but regrettably waiting periods continued to rise and the young aircrew faced significant delays before progressing onto Front-Line Squadrons. In February there was an excellent liaison visit to the Metropolitan Police with a large team of aircrew proving that they were better pilots than skid-pan drivers.

The Spring saw some excellent visits to BAE Systems at Brough to view both the new Hawk 132 aircraft for the IAF and also the new Hawk 128 for the RAF. Development and manufacture of both aircraft is proceeding apace and they will offer both air forces a very significant leap forward in training capability. By April IAF Course 4 had arrived in the UK and the 2005 Display Pilot - Joey Diacon - was formally granted his authority to display by our new AOC, Air Vice-Marshal Ponsonby. The highlight for many in this period was undoubtedly the visit by HRH The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles to RAF Valley in May. The Prince visited the Station, presented Honours and Awards to Station personnel and met and chatted to many Squadron members during his tour. He was particularly impressed with the quality of the personnel who in his words, "achieve so much when faced with many difficulties". At the end of the month we also hosted a visit by more than 50 members of the Squadron Association who made the long journey to Valley to take part as our guests at the RAF Valley Families Day. This was very successful, despite appalling weather, with a dinner at a local hotel on the first night, an Open Day on the Station and an evening party.

Back to
Hawk Articles

…... Continued

Letter from the Squadron - 2005 Page  1  2  3