Tuesday mission looking back and going forward into 2022

[0405 Andrew]

Dear RAF Air,

Joint squadron Tuesday missions have come to a close for 2021.

Stats for 2021

• 34 joint squadron missions

• About 80 hrs of mission time

• 5 mission writers, Matt, Chris, Duke, Father Cool, Andrew

• 12 Squadron planners, Matt, Paul, Flyco, Geoff, Chris, Ade, Beanie, Danny, Alien, Plexi, Hendo, Grizzly-sorry if I have missed you off, let me know and I will add you

Looking back at the year we had a few ups and downs, some good missions and some duds. Generally I hope you all enjoyed it.

The mission planning has evolved and improved and I appreciate all of the effort put in by the squadron planners that have helped push it on. And all the patience shown for when they did not go right. (How long did it take to get the DL working for the F16's with AWACS? That seems like a long time ago.)

I'd personally like to thank Chris and Ade who have helped no end to get us to where we are now. And Duke for doing AWACS a few times.

Going forward in to 2022.

There will be a mission on Tuesday the 4th of Jan (details will be released over the next week or so) and after that the aim is to run a joint Squadron mission for the whole of RAF Air every other Tuesday.

The commanders role will be trialled and if it works will be entered in to the Tuesday mission SOP.

New members to the tiny mission group are very welcome, as are ideas for missions. Just pm me.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the squadrons of RAF Air giving the Tuesday mission their full support for 2022 and making it another good year for multi squadron flying.

[Chris]

Andrew, may I praise your perseverance and fortitude this past year in maintaining the regular provision of RAFAIR Missions.

You have consistently and successfully interacted with a large group of forthright strongly opinionated diverse people and managed not only to remain sane but also produce regular outcomes for the enjoyment of all. This a skill few have, certainly not me - ever thought of becoming a politician, Boris could do with a hand at the moment....

On behalf of all at Carrier Air Wing, 11(F) and 892NAS may I sincerely thank you for all the time and effort you invested, long may it continue... Good one mate! (I promise to behave ('ish) in 2022!)

[Beanie]

Andrew, thank you for all you’ve done this year. Everyone at 3(F) really appreciate all the work you’ve put in trying to make the missions as immersive and “real” as possible whilst dealing with all the drama of having 50 different people all wanting different things all at the same time.

I tip my hat to you sir for keeping your composure.

Put your feet up for a few weeks and sit back and bask in the glory of a job well done.

Regards

Andy B / Beanie

[0405 Andrew]

Cheers Chris and Beanie.

It's genuinely good fun to do when everyone plays along.

One year on and we're all still talking,

[Paul(Dragon)0043]

97 Sqn concur with the previous statements from 3(F), 11(F) and 892, Jolly Good Show, Andrew. Keep up the stunning work.

[Richard Rodgers]

Without exception, everyone involved with our mission planning has done a fantastic job. I for one am far more grateful than you could ever imagine.

The fact that we have had re runs of missions so that you can iron out any wrinkles that came to light on the first run shows that you are all prepared to take on board any points brought up by each squadron.

The main thing that I have been enthused by is the fact that you have done your level best to accommodate all squadrons in some shape or form. Well done.

I wish I had the ability and time available to help you out, but sadly that seems some way off at the moment.

Going forward, I have no real idea how to improve on things. It is probably more of a tweaking exercise to the format that you currently have.

[Alien]

It's all been said Andrew and rightly so, from all at 11F you've done a fantastic job in keeping us occupied with a variety of missions, I couldn't put a number of the amount of hrs you've put in over the past year but you should be able to double them in 22

Well done mate, excellent effort on your part and maximum enjoyment on our part.

[0405 Andrew]

Thank you all.
It's the joint effort and support of all the squadrons that has got us here and should put us in a good place for next year.

There is interest from a couple of members wishing to write some missions, so hopefully we'll get a few more out next year.

[309 Geoff]

Andrew,
I concur with all the positive sentiments above.
From a personal level, you pushed me to my limit of expertise. With your varying cloud bases throughout the year, I initially rejected your selection, then tested, and retested with different weapons and profiles with missions I created just for testing, until I became fully operational in all weather conditions. I'm now happy with flight planning, building simple missions, creating briefs, and leading 97Sqn flights.
The only thing missing is getting together with 97Sqn in the Mess bar on a Friday for happy hour.
You have brought 97Sqn, and RAFAIR UK together.
Thank you Andrew for all your input and output. Take the rest of the year off.

[0405 Andrew]

Geoff, many thanks, your kind words are much appreciated.

I'm glad you've mostly enjoyed everything that has been thrown at you!