S&NI Newsletter

2013 Issue 2

Newsletter DateApr 2013

In this Issue:

1. Spitfire Memorial takes shape2. ATC Stalwart Retires3. Rea’s RAC Adventure5. All Gold at 8706. Andrew Sash & Purdie Sword7. Certs of Meritorious Service8. ACO Marching Band Training9. Sports Round Up

Flying Officer Ellie Youle recently travelledto St James’ Palace in London to meet

HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

Ellie, who is a staff member at 2345 (StAndrews) Sqn, was at the palace to receiveher Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award fromPrince Philip.

I have today seen the Gillan Trophy results for2011/12 and wish to congratulate all the

sports participants, coaches and supportersacross the Region for their excellent efforts. SEScot Wg is especially congratulated for theirsecond place across the Corp. Also, having 3of our 5 Wings in the top 12 across the Corpsis a highly creditable performance and againreflects that this Region punches well above itsweight.

Again, very many thanks to all these involvedand best wishes for the current sportingseason. From my witnessing of our Region andWing events over the last 6 months, I know SNIis not short of passion, energy and effort.'

Gp Capt Jim Leggat

Regional Commandant

Gillan Competition Sucess

Congratulations Ellie!Well done to Sgt David Ball from 859 Sqn for acheiving the award mentioned

below and the blue QAIC lanyards (only 3 SNI cadets were on QAIC 5)

On 27 Mar 13 I had the great pleasure of attending the graduation dinner formembers of QAIC 5 Course at RAF Linton-On-Ouse. All 3 of the SNI attendeeswere prizewinners and are to be congratulated for thefollowing achievements:

- Sgt David Ball, 859 (Dalgety Bay) Sqn: winner of the most improved studentaward

- Cdt Jason Nicoletti, 2349 (Ballymena) Sqn and CWO Murray Weir, 2452(Shawlands Academy) Sqn: winners of the best syndicate award

In addition, FS Dean Welsh of 1271 (Bathgate) Sqn was a member of the bandthat provided musical support during the event.

A great success which again demonstrates that members of the SNI Region area force to be reckoned with.

J G LEGGATGp CaptRegional Comdt

NEW QUALIFIED AEROSPACE INSTRUCTORS

Cdt Shannon Mackenzie, 297 (Musselburgh) Sqn was presented with theHunter Memorial Prize for Scotland & Northern Ireland during a squadron

fundraiser this evening. Shannon was diagnosed with Acute Leukemia aged 12and has courageously fought this while raising funds CCLASP (Children withCancer and Leukemia Advice and Support for Parents) and latterly being an AirCadet. Heart warming story of her strength,

HUNTER MEMORIAL PRIZE WINNER

S&NI Regional NewsPage 2

The winners of the Andrew Sash and Purdie Sword for 2013are as follows:

a. Andrew Sash (Best Female Cadet in S&NI Region). Cdt FSIona Laing 287 (Stenhouse) Sqn SE Scot Wg.

b. Purdie Sword (Best Male Cadet in S&NI Region). CWOThomas Brownlee 833 (Antrim) Sqn NI Wg.

These cadets are to be congratulated for winning suchprestigious awards. They will now represent Scotland andNorthern Ireland Region in the Dacre Brooch and SwordCompetitions.

The Andrew Sash and Purdie Sword will be presented at theRegional Field Day on Sun 01 Sep 13.

Twenty two cadets from across the wing gathered at theWing Activity Centre in Galashiels for a weekend of training

activities designed to see the participants achieve their firstClass proficiency.

Cadets from 297 (North Berwick) DF, 1370(Leven) ,2180(Galashiels), 2311(Glenrothes) 2466 (Loanhead)Squadrons were supported by staff from their Squadrons andfrom 142 (Trinity) Sqn.

More pictures can be found on the Wing Facebook pagesgallery section.

A full-sizedreplica of a

WWII Spitfire beingbuilt in tribute to 71pilots who diedwhile learning to flyat RAFGrangemouth hashad its wingsattached.

The event marked a milestonefor the memorial, which hasbeen paid for with moneyraised by current air cadets.

RAF Grangemouth in Falkirkserved as a major air centreuntil 1949, and pilots from allover the world trained there.

The plane is an exact replicaof one flown by a young Polishpilot who was killed in trainingat the base

Tom McMorrow, of the 1333Grangemouth Air CadetsSquadron, said: "At one stagethere were over 100 Spitfiresbased here at RAFGrangemouth, and the aircrew came from all over theworld.

"Sadly we lost 71 of them inaccidents here. These traineepilots were about to go to warto frontline units so they werelearning operational flying likedog fighting and firing ofweapons. So we lost thatnumber through accidents ofvarious kinds."

The replica Mark ISupermarine Spitfire, which isdue to be unveiled on 9 May,is modelled on a real planeflown by a Polish sergeantcalled Eugeniusz Lukomski.

He died in the aircraft aged 23,in an accident not far from theairfield.

Mr McMorrow said he wastypical of many of the menwho served at the airbase.

"All of those 71 who died camefrom 11 different nations -Ireland, America, Canada,Australia, India, NewZealand," he said."We chose a Polish pilotbecause there were so manyPoles here.

"At one stage Grangemouthwas training every singlePolish Spitfire pilot, and ourcadets wanted to make thePoles the centrepiece of it."

'Fantastic achievement'

Every Remembrance Day AirTraining Corps cadets fromGrangemouth lay woodencrosses and poppies on thegraves of Spitfire pilots andother air crew who died whileflying with 58 OperationalTraining Unit.

Chairman of the GrangemouthSpitfire Memorial Trust IainMitchell said: "It's fantasticwhat's been achieved. Thecadets managed to raise themoney to crate the base forthe Spitfire.

"She will really begoing homeagain, I supposeyou could say."

The Spitfire is tobe installed onBo'ness Road,near whatremains of theairfield.

ANDREW SASH AND PURDIE SWORD 2013 Spitfire Memorial takes Shape

First Class Training at Wing Activity Centre!

RAF Tucano Display Team 2013

New colourScheme for the2013 season asseen at RAFLinton-on-Ouseduring March.

S&NI Regional NewsPage 3

2163 (Auchtermuchty) Sqnsaid farewell on Thurs 28th

March to CI John Band, whoretired from the ACO after 35years service.

John Band was recruited into2485 (Lochgelly) Sqn in 1978by Plt Off John Walker, andserved briefly as a CI beforegoing into uniform as an AdultWarrant Officer. He had abackground in the scoutmovement, and spent the next20+ years imparting hisoutdoor and campingexperience to many cadets.He also had a great practicalability and was an asset in theprojects area of the trainingprogram. He was a qualifiedRange Conducting Officer andhelped many cadets in thisfield.

He remained with 2485 until itclosed in 2006, when hetransferred his enthusiasm andskills to 2163 (Auchtermuchty)Sqn under the command of FltLt Stu Milne. He has made ahuge impression on the staffand cadets at 2163 Sqn, andthe cadets organised a videomontage of John Band, payingtribute to his hard work andenthusiasm. During his timeat 2163 he came out of uniformand returned to being a CivilianInstructor.

Flt Lt milne has now movedaway from Auchtermuchty andJohn has been working for the

past few months with the newOC Fg Off Craig Butler.

Joining the members of 2163Sqn to say farewell to Johnwere Flt Lt Stu Milne, Plt OffChristine Milne, CWO RoryMilne and Sqn Ldr JohnWalker.

John was presented withRetiral gifts from the Unit, FLtLt Milne and Sqn Ldr Walker.John in return presented eachperson with a personal gift, ahand crafted wooden piece,and presented the squadronwith a trophy for the annualbest flight competition.

Following a few fun gamesorganised by the cadets, theassembled group thenwatched John Band cut thecake and enjoyed somewelcome refreshments.

At long last, staff and cadetshave agreed on a crest for

1271 (Bathgate) squadron.Following discussion andoften debates, we finallyagreed!

We chose items which wouldbest represent the local area -the miner's lamp to representthe largest and probablylongest industrial process inthe area. James Youngcreated a method for distillingparaffin extracted from thecoal and shale in 1850s; thelizard to represent the firstreptile from around 335 millionyears ago, the Westlothiana,discovered in East KirktonQuarry in Bathgate.

Our motto Ex Tenebris InLuxem translates as from thedark into the light.

Each cadet was presentedwith navy blue polo shirts andgreens t-shirts, embroideredwith our new squadron crestwhilst staff received fleeces.

Eight cadets, supervised bythe Squadron Radio

Officer, took part in a nationalHF Radio Exercise on Sunday3rd March.

The day started by setting upthe radio station within 107Squadrons parade hall andraising the mast used tosupport the rather large HFradio antennas. Once all theequipment had been checkedout and the antenna matchedin the transmitter, the cadetsmade an 'Alpha Charlie' radiocheck request and weresomewhat amazed when theygot an immediate reply from425 (Aldrige) Squadronlocated in Staffordshire.

Initially conditions were quitegood and once the contest gotunderway we managed toexchange three contestmessages with both 425(Aldrige) and 1132 (Stalham)in Norfolk.

As the morning progressedthe receiver at 107 becameswamped with localinterference making receivingcontacts almost impossible.This was unfortunate as afterthe event we got reports thatwe were heard loud and clearover most of the UK and mostof the participating stationswere trying to make contact ascontest points were beingawarded for the longestdistances achieved.

After the end of the contestsome general listening testswere made and we found thatthe interference was muchlower on the 7MHz Amateurradio band and contacts weremonitored from Filey, inYorkshire and Warrington,near Manchester.

The cadets attending foundthat whole exercise interestingand can’t wait for the nextevent to be organised.

Photographs from the eventare on page 4.

ATC Stalwart Retires 1271 (Bathgate) unveilnew Squadron Crest

107 HF Radio Exercise Day

S&NI Regional NewsPage 4

Cadet Rea Bloice of 2519(Strathmore) Squadron

attended a Training Weekend atthe Leuchars Regional ActivityCentre with along with cadetsfrom 2163 (Auchtermuchty),2459 (Dudhope) and 2466(Loanhead) Squadrons, whichwas run by staff from SouthEast Scotland Wing.

After meeting up with the rest ofthe cadets on this course, aHealth and Safety brief wasgiven followed by a short presentation by themselves aboutthemselves, their interests, knowledge of leadership, and theirhopes for the future, the Friday evening concluded with a sportssession in the Sports Hall.

On Saturday the cadets, were split into two flights, with oneflight shooting on the Barrack Range and the other flightundertaking Leadership tasks and they changed over at the midpoint of the day .The evening finished off with an inter flightgeneral knowledge quiz followed by a social evening.

On Sunday they carried out leadership tasks using the MTA(Motivation Training Apparatus) kit, undertook Air TrafficControl simulator tasks, Flight simulator flights and Radiotraining.

Rea’s favourite part of the weekend was the radio training andits use as she had never been involved with this before andhopes to go on a radio course shortly.

The Wing Clay Target team played host to a Sea KingHelicopter crew on a cold but sunny day in December.

The crew flew in to try clay target shooting under the watchfuleyes of our qualified safety instructors.

The Wing Commander, Jim Haley, also turned up to try out thesport with his two sons.

The crew also had lunch on the range before giving guidedtours of the Sea King helicopter and showing off their flyingskills with a short display.

Many thanks to all the staff from the Wing Clay Target Teamand to the crew from HMS Gannet for a good day out.

Rea's RAC Adventure Clay Target Team host Sea King Crew

Above,Observer and OC HMSGannet Lt Cdr AndyDrodge, Pilots Lt JonGreen and Lt MikePaulet with AircrewmanCPO Dave Rigg

Right,Wg Cmdr Haley with FltLt McIlroy

Temporaryradio mast

erected

Operatingthe radio

107 HF Radio Exercise Day (Photographs)

S&NI Regional NewsPage 5

CWO Chris Heron of 870 (Dreghorn) Sgn was presentedwith his Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award on Tuesday

evening by Sqn Ldr A Ross.

This is the culmination of 15 months work by CWO Heron andincludes his walking and canoeing expedition in Norway in theSummer of 2011 and a residential which was completed atAltcar with the DofE award leadership course run by HQAC.

CWO Heron thoroughly enjoyed working on his gold award,and now has all three Duke of Edinburgh Awards to his credit.

This is the second Gold award in 870 (Dreghorn) Sqn with yetanother awaiting confirmation.

In the first graduation ceremony of its kind four RAF pilotshave been awarded their specialised RPAS pilots badge at

Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, USA. The graduation followsthe announcement in December by the RAF of the creation ofa specialised flying branch for those flying Remotely PilotedAircraft.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/news/archive/rpas-pilots-awarded-wings-01042013

IT'S ALL GOLD AT 870

At the recent WingFunctional Review with

the Regional Commandant,Group Captain Jim Leggat,presentations were made to 4members of the Wing.

Wing Commander Jim Haley,Rev. Colin Brokie and Flt Lt’sJamie Downie and SuzanneCallan were all awarded withthe Commandant Certificate ofMeritorous Service

Top to bottom:

Rev Colin Brockie

Wg Cmdr Jim Haley

Flt Lt Suzanne Callan

Flt Lt Jamie Downie.

COMMANDANTS CERTIFICATES OFMERITORIOUS SERVICE

RPAS Pilots Awarded Wings

The Scottish government has been debating the shape andsize of the Scottish forces, post independence in 2014.

However leaked earlypictures of the proposedScottish Air ForceAerobatic Team point topotential serious financialdifficulties after theIndependence result.

The Scottish Parliamentalso unveiled theirproposal for future SARservices in Scotland afterIndependence.

Picture shows Wally theDug - Scotland's firstSARR - Search andRescue Rover.

And Michael O’Leary willhead up the new ScottishAir Force.

POST INDEPENDENCE AIR FORCE

S&NI Regional NewsPage 6

Eleven cadets and staff from the Borders and East Lothianspent the weekend at the WAC in Galashiels undertaking

the Adult First Aid Course. Participating units were 297 (NorthBerwick) DF, 1007 (Duns) Sqn, 1716 (St Boswells) Sqn and2180 (Galashiels) Sqn.

Arriving on the Friday evening participants undertook 12 hoursof instructionn and practical work before a period of revision.Sunday was taken up with more revision, practice and thearrival of the course assessors and preparatory work for theafternoon assessments. Cadets from 2180 (Galashiels) Sqnalso arrived to act as casualties for the assessed scenarios ofwhich there are two.

On the successful completion of the course all cadets wereawarded the Green First Aid Badge and all Staff are now ableto instruct on the subject and deliver the Young Lifesaver Pluscourse, certificates for all will arrive in a few weeks. The coursewas delivered by Sqn Ldr H Macadam Regional First AidTraining Officer and assessed by F/Sgt I Wielbo from 2180Galashiels Sqn and Sgt H Cameron from 142 (Trinity) Sqn.

The national marching band of the air cadet organisation isperforming at two famous military locations in Kent this week.

On Friday 12 April, the band of over eighty young people fromtowns and cities across the UK will be marching and playing atChatham Historic Dockyard and Dover Castle.

The Royal Air Force Air Cadets have their annual music campat Shornecliff Garrison in Folkestone all week and theperformances will be a showcase of their week of hardrehearsals.

2180 (Galashiels)Sqn manage car

parking at the Gala 7sRugby Tournament.

Now an annual eventfor the Sqn who aregiven free access tothe Tournament,provided with matchteas and given adonation by Gala RFCfor the work done.

A very high profileevent in the Borderswhich is the first of the "Kings of the Sevens" rugbytournaments which draws teams and visitors from acrossScotland and the North of England.

2284 (Dunblane) Squadron went climbing at The Peak inorder to raise money for Comic Relief and hoped to climb

the height of Ben Nevis.

At the end of the night the photo shows the cadets from 2284Sqn who successful climbed the height of Ben Nevis (1344m)in two hours.

Help! Help - Dr Sab

Happy to have it all behind them - end of course photo Cadets, Staffwith Directing Staff , Assessors and casualties.

BORDERS GALA PERFORMANCE

2284 REACHES HIGH FOR COMIC RELIEF

ACO NATIONAL MARCHING BAND TRAINING

2013 is the fourth year of the national marching band and thefirst time the camp and performances have come to the SouthEast.

Tourists and visitors to the venues will be treated to famousmarches and popular music such as Monty Python theme tune'Liberty Bell', Saving Private Ryan's 'Hymn to the Fallen' andseventies disco classic 'I will Survive'.Good luck to all and of course our S&NI personnel.

S&NI Regional NewsPage 7

Cadets from several squadrons in the south of the Winggathered at 2180 (Galashiels) Sqn HQ to spend the day

hearing about and practicing Methods of Instruction.

The one day course is designed to equip students with the skillsrequired to deliver an assessed presentation which is arequirement for the award of the Master Cadet Lanyard. Yellowlanyards will only be awarded to those who successfullycomplete the Cadet Methods of Instruction Course andassessment. Cadets must be either Staff Cadet Part 1 or MasterAir Cadet to be eligible for this course.

Cadets from 297 (North Berwick) DF, 1716 (Roxburgh) Sqn and2180 (Galashiels) Sqn participated in the course which covereda wide range of subject including:-

● Icebreakers & Rules● Role of the Instructor● Instructional Methods● How Students Learn● Lesson Planning● Classroom Management● Deliver your Lesson● The “Dos and Don’ts” of public speaking

In the afternoon Students prepared and delivered twopresentations of 5 and 15 minutes. Deputy OC SESCot Wing,Sqn Ldr Barry Macadam, took time out from a training weekendat the WAC to observe a couple of the presentations and toldconducting staff that he was quite impressed by the cadetpresentations he saw. The course participants are now ready todeliver a presentation which will be assessed by their WSO andif completed successfully they can look forward to the award oftheir Yellow Lanyard.

In near perfect weather conditions the Scotland & NorthernIreland Inter Wing Junior Hockey and Football Competitions

2013 were contested at Almondvale Community School inLivingston.

Three Wings Contested the Junior Hockey with South EastScotland Wing beating both Northern Ireland and WestScotland Wing 1-0 in each of the games.

With both Northern Ireland West Scotland Wing losing 1Game each and drawing the other, 2nd and 3rd place wasdecided on the number Penalty Corners conceded. TheCompetition was followed by practice matches to selectplayers for the Regional Squad to Travel to RAF Cranwell inMay for the Inter Region Competition.

Final Places were:-

1st South East Scotland Wing

2nd Northern Ireland Wing

3rd West Scotland Wing

In Football it was West Scotland Wing that triumphed takingthe Junior Football Championship Title for 2013.

Final places were

1st West Scotland Wing

2nd Northern Ireland Wing

3rd South East Scotland Wing

Highland wing also sent three players who were involved inTrials after the Main competition when they also acted assubstitutes for SE Scotland Wing.

Regional Commandant Grp Capt J Leggat presented theWinners and second placed with Gold and Silver Medals. TheGrp Capt also thanked Umpires and the Referee for theirefforts and all staff for making the effort to allow cadets fromacross Scotland and Northern Ireland to participate.

Cadet Methods Of Instruction JUNIOR HOCKEY / FOOTBALL COMPETITION

That’s all for this Regional Newsletter. If you have any articles that you would like published in the next edition, thensend them to Regional HQ for the attention of Sqn Ldr John Walker RAFVR(T).

You can also submit news and photos to the following e-mail address media.sni@aircadets.org.

E-Mail - Text in either Word document or plain text files. Photo’s, preferably jpg or png formats (files no greater than 2.5 Mbin Size please) and use E-Mail heading “Regional Newsletter Article” so that it is obvious as to the content.

In between issues of the Regional Newsletter, why not keep up to date by logging on to the Regional web site,http://www.aircadets-sni.org.uk

Indeed we have a number of people who can submit news items directly onto the Regional Website (both staff and cadets).If you are involved in your squadron or Wing in newsletter creation or media comms and would like to become a staff / cadetreporter for your wing or squadron, please get your squadron commander to drop an e-mail to media.sni@aircadets.org withyour relevant details.

Note from the Editor

S&NI Regional NewsPage 8

Under sunny cloudless skies without the usual snow, rainand biting wind the annual Scotland & Northern Ireland

Cross Country Championships for 2013 were held atDechmont Law Livingston on Sunday 17th February. Based atDeans Community High School, teams from all five Wings inSNI Region battled for bragging rights, places in the RegionalTeam and of course Silverware.

South East Scotland Wing took the title of Champions 2013with West Scotland Wing a close second. SEScot also took theTeam trophies for Junior Girls and Youths who had a fantastic1st, 2nd and 3rd in their race.

The final places were as follows

1st South East Scotland Wing

2nd West Scotland Wing

3rd North East Scotland Wing

4th Northern Ireland Wing

5th Highland Wing

Winners and 2nd and 3rd placed cadet will travel to RAFCranwell to compete in the Inter Region and Corps CrossCountry Competitions on 23rd March 2013. In all eight Cadetsfrom South East Scotland Wing will travel to RAF Cranwell andwill be awarded their Regional Cross Country Blues.

South East Scotland Wing - Regional Cross Country Champions 2013!

North East Scotland Wing are the2013 Regional Junior Rugby

Champions.

At the competition held in March,despite the conditions, or indeedbecause of the conditions, North EastScotland Wing won the regional juniorrugby champions after defeatingHighland Wing by a 2 try margin in thefinal game.

2013 Junior Rugby Champions