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| No. 622 Volunteer Gliding Squadron RAF | |
|---|---|
| [[Volunteer Gliding Squadron Crest]] | |
| Active | 1944-Present |
| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Branch |  Royal Air Force |
| Role | Training |
| Garrison/HQ | Trenchard Lines |
| Motto(s) | PROPTER PRAEMIUM PATIENTA ("Achieving Our Reward through Patience") |
| Equipment | Grob G-103 Acro Viking TX.1 |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol | White Horse Rampant |
Squadron History
[edit]Formation
[edit]The squadron was originally formed as 89 Gliding School (GS) in March 1944 at Christchurch. Christchurch airfield was not unfamiliar with gliding operations as during the war years it was used by Mr Philip Wills and crews to test radar responses on gliders over the Channel area off the Dorset coast, in conjunction with RAF Ringstead. When first formed the school was equipped with Dagling Mk Is and later with Cadet Mk Is and Mk IIs.
In 1946 the school took part in the Battle of Britain display at RAF Holmeslet South with a Cadet Mk I which was the only aircraft to fly during the day due to low cloud.
Cadet Mk Is were withdrawn in 1949/1950 and two seater training began with the introduction of T21 Sedburgh and Cadet Mk III aircraft. In 1950 the school was visited by the Commandant from RAF Staff College, Air Cdre J N T Stevenson, he was accompanied by Wg Cdr Engineer of the Royal Indian Air Force and Major A Montuori of the Italian Air Force, the school had been chosen to show these officers the new two seater aircraft and give instruction on running a gliding school.
The school entered the National Gliding Championship at Great Hucklow, Derbyshire in 1953 with a T21 and a self built retrieve trailer. They made the longest two seater flight of 60 miles to Leicester Aerodrome, piloted by the CO Sqn Ldr F R E Haytor MBE, accompanied by a civilian instructor, Derreck Goddard.
The unit entered the Nationals at Lasham in 1954 with the same aircraft and pilot and recorded a flight of 73 miles to Weymouth.
In 1955/1956 the school was redesignated 622 GS and was parented by RAF Sopley (Southern Radar).
Move to Old Sarum
[edit]Christchurch Airfield was closed in 1963 and 622 GS moved to Old Sarum, temporarily parented by RAF Chilmark. During its time at Christchurch the unit maintained one of the highest and consistent outputs of Proficiencies over 20 years and continued to do so in its early years at Old Sarum.
The Civil Air Patrol awarded a Certificate to the school in 1974 in recognition of a course run for them through the auspices of the International Air Cadet Exchange.
The RAF relinquished Old Sarum in 1978 and 622 VGS was then relocated to RAF Upavon, where it is currently based. 622 VGS share the airfield with the Wyvern Gliding Club, part of the Army GSA. The RAF left Upavon, and the Army took over control in 1993, although the airfield is still used by the RAF Hercules C 130's for field strip landing SCT to this day. RAF Upavon was the originating station of the RAF's Central Flying School in 1912, and prior to closure was the HQ of No 1 Group RAF. It is now the Base for the Army HQ of Doctrine and Training, in addition to being the HQ of the Army Adjutant General.
In January 1985, the school was re-equipped with the Grob 103 Viking T Mk 1 GRP aircraft at the same time as the final flights were made using the Mk IIIs and Sedburgh aircraft. A further boost in performance came in 1990, with the introduction of the new purpose built Munster Van Gelder winch, which bestowed a major improvement in power and performance over the old WW2 vintage Eagle winches. Additionally, the new Airfield Control Caravan and modern transport provided by the RAF have also increased comfort and efficiency. school used to own its own residential accommodation, and modern offices, briefing rooms and crew rooms inside the hangar. In 2008 the British Army condemned the Hangar complex and for 3 years the Squadron operated from a collection of glider trailers and ISO containers this "Expeditionary Gliding" took its toll on the Squadron reducing in size from a 9 aircraft squadron to one of 5.
Squadron Today
[edit]In April 2011 a storage shed for the aircraft was constructed on the southern perimeter track of the airfield to store the gliders in the fully rigged configuration, this has rapidly increased to flying rate of the Squadron as it starts to build back to its former size. The Squadron is currently without overnight accommodation and is supported in week long courses by Boscombe Down, Larkhill Camp and RAF Lyneham.
The school currently serves ATC and CCF cadets from Hampshire & Isle Of Wight, Dorset & Wilts and Middlesex Wings as well as many School CCF Units. 622 VGS has always been a major supplier of pilots Civil Aviation and to the RAF with current and past members serving on Voyager Tanker, Merlin and Apache Helicopters, Typhoon Fighter and HS125 Transport, indeed one ex-622 member flew as a member of the RAF "Red Arrows" team.
622 VGS won the Marshal Trophy for the best winch launched VGS in the UK in 1990, under the leadership of Sqn Ldr Colin Tarrant and the George Young Memorial Trophy for best engineering performance in 2010, and has traditionally been a leader in its class.
In 2005, following a decision by the Royal Air Force Board, the VGSs were renamed Volunteer Gliding Squadrons, keeping their VGS acronym.
Squadron Headquarters
[edit]The Squadron has now been moved to the adminsitration site away from the airfield based in building PC9 for 3 years on the site of the old "D" line hangars, at Trenchard Lines. Since the loss of the Hangar this provides all the storage for the squadron operations and training.
Airfield Information
[edit]The Squadron operates off of the grass runways at Trenchard Lines. The main runway 23/05 is 3000ft and is used in conjunction with the Wyvern Gliding Club on weekends. During continuous courses or whe operating alone on the airfield 22/04, 21/03 are also 3000ft runways or 26/08 which is a 2400ft run. The airfield is still used by Chinook and Apache helicopters and ISTAR training Regiment of the Royal Artillery.
Ground Equipment
[edit]The Squadron currently operates numerous pieces of equipment to support its gliding operations at Trenchard Lines. The squadron operates 3 Short wheelbase Land Rover Defenders and 1 long wheelbase. The Squadron also uses a Dautz-Fahr Tractor to tow its winches and caravan as well as towing the cables from the winch. The winches that the Squadron operates are Van Gelder Six Drum Trailer variant, this enables 6 launches to be carried out each time the cables are towed from the winch.
Organisation
[edit]The Squadron has an executive made up of 7 established posts: Officer Commanding, Chief Flying Instructor, Adjutant, Technical Officer, Training Officer, Flight Safety Officer, and Equipment Officer. These are then supplemented CGI's who contribute to the squadron as the deputies in many of these roles and the Flight Staff Cadets who are the next generation of instructors in training. The Squadron has between 28 staff how ever with the aircraft increased back to six this should rise beck to its height of 60 members.
Operations
[edit]The Squadron currently operates between 110 and 130 days a year including 4 week long courses at Easter, Whitsun, Summer school holidays and at Christmas. The days operations are organised each day by the Duty Instructor and overseen by the VGSDE (Volunteer Gliding Squadron Duty Executive), 622 VGS currently completes around 3000 launches a year.
Aircraft operated
[edit]Vintage Aircraft
[edit]- Dagling Mk1 1944-1949
- Slingsby Cadet TX.1 1944-1949
- Slingsby Cadet TX.2 1944-1949
- Grunau Baby 1944-1949
- Slingsby Prefect TX.1 1949-1950
- Slingsby Sedbergh TX.1 1949-1985
- Slingsby Cadet TX.3 1950-1985
GRP Aircraft
[edit]- Schleicher Valiant TX.1 1986-2001
- Grob G-103 Acro Viking TX.1 1985–Present
OC 622 Squadron
[edit]
External links[edit]Category:Royal Air Force squadrons Category:Gliding in the United Kingdom Category:Volunteer Gliding Squadron |