Letter from the Squadron - 2013
LETTER FROM THE SQUADRON - 2013
In the last letter from the Sqn, our future looked u
ncertain to say the least and it is a great pleasure to be able to write to you this year with far better news. Although I only assumed command of 208 in Dec 12, I am no stranger to life as a Hawk QFI at RAF Valley, having previously served as a Flt Lt on the Sqn ten years ago. With the Hawk T Mk 2 due to take over the flying training task from 208 Sqn, it had seemed almost certain that this would lead to disbandment at the end of last year. Thankfully the decision has now been made that 208 Sqn will continue in the flying training role as part of a contract to train fast jet pilots for the Royal Saudi Air Force. The first four Saudi students arrived at RAF Valley in Feb and have since completed ground school, and made a promising start to their flying training courses. We anticipate receiving another two Saudi students before the end of the year with numbers continuing to increase into 2014 while we also maintain our traditional task as the Hawk T Mk 1 OCU.
As in the past couple of years, 208 Sqn will continue to train students from the Tucano and deliver them direct to the front line OCUs. In order to complete this task it is vital that we rebuild the instructor cadre and as such the gradual decline in numbers over the last 12 months has now started to reverse with the arrival of several new instructors.
Despite the uncertainty of the last 12 months, the Sqn still has much to be proud of after another hard working year. Since the last newsletter, we have flown 3633 hours over 3667 sorties and in the process we have graduated a range of students of which 19 have been ab intios going directly to the front line OCUs. At the current time we are still the only unit maintaining the flow of trained aircrew to the front line, although IV Sqn are expected to output their first students soon.
Undoubtedly
the highlight of the last 12 months has been the EIIR flypast conducted to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, in partnership with IV Sqn and 100 Sqn. The formation was displayed to the public on two occasions, with the first being over Windsor Castle and the second during the Royal International Air Tattoo in July. On both occasions the Sqn performed very professionally in testing conditions and the results speak for themselves as you can see from the adjacent photo.
While continuing with the core task, 208 Sqn also supported the 2012 Hawk display with Flt Lt Phil Bird completing a very successful season and raising of over £10,000
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