The 81st Entry
RAF Halton Aircraft Apprentices
Sept 1955 - July 1958

ISSUE No.22 - FEBRUARY 2010
81st ENTRY NEWSLETTER
Editor: Mike Stanley

THE CHALLENGE CONTINUES
by Adrian Gates

You may remember in my last article I outlined in general the enormous recruitment and training effort involved by BRAMA in preparing to take over on 1st April 1997 most of the ground functions from the RAF at Valley. These efforts continued at full pace, but in parallel numerous other essential tasks had to be completed to meet the dead line. About 8 ex Valley SNCOs, experienced on the Hawk were recruited as either Managers or to fill specialist functions, i.e. i/c of The Engine Test Bed. Their initial task was to compile the Company Order book, equivalent to the Eng Wg Order/Unit Standing orders etc, quite some task as important matters such as the grade structure and ‘organisation’ had to be finalised. An Accounts and an Admin Section had to be set up with the attendant pay and expense system, budgetary controls, disciplinary procedure etc and of course a Quality Assurance Section. Company protective and other clothing had to be purchased and an internal Supply system implemented, not to mention facilitating the various Unions, which would represent the workers. Company vehicles had to be leased, computers and equipment purchased as well as stationery and office equipment. Such organisations, equipment and systems are a part of the infrastructure of the Services and are accepted as the norm and not given a thought.

As April approached the interaction between BRAMA personnel and the RAF obviously increased. Fortunately the relationship between the BRAMA executives and the RAF had been good from the very beginning and with the exception of one senior officer; the co-operation had been extremely good. However. the relationship between our ‘workers’ and the non-officer element of Valley varied from outstanding to downright obstructive. I have to admit that in general the weapon tradesmen were the worst offenders. To put the situation in context it has to be realised that the morale at Valley was very low owing to a then recent fatal crash of a Hawk caused by ‘servicing error’, the fact that many personnel had been posted away from Valley in 1996 and were detached back from their new Units and there was also resentment as many believed that‘ their jobs’ were being taken.

During March two unexpected situations arose which really caused problems for the contract start in April. During the month there were very high winds, which prevented hangar door being opened for most of the month, consequently aircraft could rarely be towed out of the hangars and the number of sorties was drastically reduced.

This meant that our tradesmen rarely had the opportunity to gain experience on towing aircraft or observe flight line activities. The problem was compounded by the fact that there were severe problems with the tail plane PFCUs and a high percentage of the Hawks were stripped down awaiting spares, further reducing the aircraft available. This would continue to create problems for BRAMA in the early stages of the contract as there would be less aircraft available and the repair work would have to be carried out by our tradesmen.

April approached fast and not unexpectedly our recruitment, training and the implementation of the many services were behind schedule. This situation was certainly not down to lack of effort by BRAMA, as every one did their best and showed full cooperation. Our Execs were working out of a portakabin which made life very difficult as the conditions were cramped and every one could hear what was going on, which I must admit occasionally had its advantages.

An ex American Serviceman, together with his newly married Welsh wife were informally discussing his chances of employment with the Company. Owing to his lack of knowledge on the Hawk or RAF documentation, he was informed that we would not employ him. His wife was even more upset than he as it probably meant him returning to the States to seek employment. This conversation was over heard and it was suggested he would be suitable for work on the Visiting Aircraft Section. To cut a long story short he was offered a job and became a very good all round Supervisor, his wife also thought that BRAMA were ‘wonderful’.

Surprisingly I never heard a cross word (often differing views) between us execs, even when things were going very badly and the midnight oil was being burnt. Even now, 13 years later, we still meet up (Ireland or Wales) once a year for dinner and a chat about the ‘good old days’.

What happened on 1st April 1997 will be related in the next journal.