Welcome To The Aircrew Association
Scottish Saltire Branch
Are you a former pilot, navigator or aircrew member who performed military service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) or with Commonwealth forces during times of peace and war? If so, membership of our organisation is guaranteed and welcome. Within our organisation, you'll meet many people spanning generations who experienced similar feelings and fears albeit in different times and stages of technology. Their story and yours is worthy of trust, thankgiving and rememberance and lasting beyond your own lifetime. Our collective legacy reflects the small part we played in forming our modern World yet warning of new dangers ahead. Several books have already been published using information presented on this web site. Were you a part of the Malaya campaign, Cold War, Korean War, Suez Crisis, Falklands and Iraq? If so then we'd dearly like to hear from you! Your experiences and memoirs could add to our database and understanding in huge measure and for the benefit of a much wider audience. Already, two widely publicised books have been published on account of the content presented on this web site - see Branch News for more information on this.
Naturally, we understand how many aircrew members migrated into commercial airline job opportunities following their military service. The Aircrew Association is an international organisation with members in former Commonwealth countries and with regular links to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and more. By definition, the Aircrew Association (ACA) exists to foster comradeship amongst those who, having been awarded an official flying badge, and have qualified to operate military aircraft and are serving or have served, as military aircrew in the armed forces of those nations allied to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth.
In practice, local branches like this one, meet at convenient locations on a regular basis promoting mutual understanding, self-help, and friendship. Our membership includes many who have been through the process of switching from military to civilian careers. Their advice, based on sage and experience, is typically deemed invaluable to younger members leaving military service!
Presently, the Aircrew Association has 10,000 active members spread through 117 branches in Australia, Canada, Cyprus, Spain and the United Kingdom. In Scotland, there are five branches - Saltire Branch, Tay, Dumfries, Highland and Grampian. Although eight other ACA Branches in the UK have initiated local websites, Saltire is the first branch in Scotland with it's own local web site affiliated to the main ACA site at www.aircrew.org.uk and where members receive local newsletters and the quarterly Intercom magazine.
The Scottish Saltire Branch typically covers the central area of Scotland from Ayrshire and Strathclyde in the West to Lothian and Fife in the East. As such, we cover the major cities of Glasgow and Edinburgh. Our membership covers these areas despite geographical and health issues that sometimes limit regular attendance by some members. Our website and the regular Association Magazine called 'Intercom' plus the regular local newsletter is designed to offset these difficulties whenever possible. Future plans include a real-time Internet forum where members will be able to talk with others despite remote location via the Internet.
Our members hold regular meetings in Glasgow on the 2nd Wednesday of each month, and in Edinburgh on the 4th Wednesday of each month. Our members are invited to preferential luncheons, modern air shows, sports fixtures, museums, golf outings and much more. We look forward to meeting you there!