Volunteer Gliding Squadron

614 Volunteer Gliding School badge, when it was based at RAF Debden. 614 VGS in its current guise is based at MDP Wethersfield, Essex.

A Volunteer Gliding Squadron (VGS) is an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which provides flying training in glider aircraft for Royal Air Force Air Cadets. All current operational Volunteer Gliding Squadrons operate a sole type of aircraft, the Grob G103A Twin II Acro, a conventional winch-launched tandem-seat sailplane known by its British military designation, Viking T1.

Since 2014, the squadrons operate under No. 2 Flying Training School, which was newly reformed for this purpose at RAF Syerston in Nottinghamshire, within No. 22 (Training) Group of Air Command.[1] The eleven currently operational squadrons, along with the Royal Air Force Central Gliding School, are standardised annually by the Royal Air Force Central Flying School. Under the Air Cadet Organisation prior to 2010, Headquarters Air Cadets, based at RAF Cranwell, retains administrative support.

Each VGS is formed entirely of volunteer staff. They are headed by an Officer Commanding, along with several executives, who are appointed by a Cadet Forces Commission in the Royal Air Force Air Cadets (RAFAC).[2][3] Instructors are a mixture of regular Royal Air Force / Royal Navy / British Army service personnel, reservists, RAFAC personnel, retired Royal Air Force pilots, Civilian Gliding Instructors, and Flight Staff Cadets.

  1. ^ "New Gliding School launches for Air Cadets". RAF.MoD.uk. Royal Air Force Air Cadets. 31 January 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  2. ^ "Join as a Volunteer Gliding Squadron Instructor". RAF.MoD.uk. Royal Air Force Air Cadets. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Freedom of Information response: Royal Warrant for the Cadet Forces Commission and new regulations from December 2017" (PDF). GOV.UK. Ministry of Defence. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2020.