MarketNo. 2 Flying Training School RAAF
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No. 2 Flying Training School RAAF

No. 2 Flying Training School is the main flying training school of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Formed under its present name in 1969, it is located at RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia. The unit operates a fleet of Pilatus PC-21 turboprop trainers. No. 2 FTS traces its origins to the post-war re-establishment of the Air Force's original cadet training unit, No. 1 Flying Training School, at RAAF Point Cook, Victoria, in 1947. Following reorganisation of aircrew training in 1951–52, No. 1 FTS was renamed No. 1 Applied Flying Training School, and began specialising in advanced flight instruction on CAC Wirraways. It relocated to RAAF Base Pearce in 1958, where it converted to De Havilland Vampire jet trainers. In January 1969, the school was reformed as No. 2 FTS, having the previous year begun replacing the Vampires with Macchi MB-326Hs. The Macchis were themselves replaced by the PC-9/A beginning in 1989.

History
Origins and early years as No. 1 AFTS In August 1947, No. 1 Flying Training School, which had been known as No. 1 Service Flying Training School under the wartime Empire Air Training Scheme and disbanded in 1944, was re-established at RAAF Station Point Cook, Victoria. Responsible at that stage for all flight instruction of air cadets, its aircraft initially included one Avro Anson, two De Havilland Tiger Moths, and 55 CAC Wirraways. In response to demands for more aircrew to fulfil Australia's commitments to the Korean War and Malayan Emergency, RAAF flying training underwent significant change in 1951–52. No. 1 Initial Flying Training School was raised at Archerfield, Queensland, to impart students with general aeronautical and military knowledge, after which they received flight grading on Tiger Moths. Graduates went on to the newly formed No. 1 Basic Flying Training School (No. 1 BFTS) at Uranquinty, New South Wales, where they underwent further instruction, first on Tiger Moths and then on Wirraways. Finally they transferred to No. 1 FTS, which was renamed No. 1 Applied Flying Training School (No. 1 AFTS) in March 1952, for advanced instruction and combat training on Wirraways. In May 1958, No. 1 AFTS relocated to RAAF Base Pearce, Western Australia, to re-equip with De Havilland Vampire jet trainers. Pearce's long runway made it more suitable for jet operations than the airfield at Point Cook. No. 1 AFTS's place at Point Cook was taken by No. 1 BFTS, which transferred from Uranquinty. It began replacing the Vampires of No. 1 AFTS in May 1968. Reformation and recent years as No. 2 FTS , Western Australia, in 1980|alt=Side view of two-seat, single-engined military jet in flight with wheels down On 31 December 1968, No. 1 AFTS was disbanded at Pearce, reforming as No. 2 Flying Training School (No. 2 FTS) on 1 January 1969. At the same time, No. 1 BFTS was disbanded at Point Cook and reformed there as No. 1 FTS. As the CT-4A Airtrainers of Point Cook were phased out and No. 1 FTS disbanded in 1992–93, all-through flight training on the PC-9 began. Since 2006, No. 2 FTS has been under the command of Air Training Wing, a component of Air Force Training Group, headquartered at RAAF Williams Laverton Base. RAAF and RAN pilots undertake a 34-week training course at the school, ==Notes==
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