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==