advanced trainer at
RAF Little Rissington, 1967 T.7 at
RAF Coltishall, 1969 The Central Flying School was established by the
Royal Navy at
Upavon Aerodrome, near
Upavon, Wiltshire, on 12 May 1912. The school's strength at the outset was ten Staff Officers and eighty flying students, whose course lasted for sixteen weeks. Its first commandant was Captain
Godfrey Paine RN, and it also trained pilots for the
Royal Flying Corps, created in 1912, and the
Royal Naval Air Service, 1914–1918. The school was transferred from the Southern Training Bridge to HQ Training Division on 5 January 1918 and was redesignated
Flying Instructors School RAF on 23 December 1919. The school was reformed on 26 April 1920 and it has been responsible for instructor training since 1920, with pilot training being delegated to the Flying Training Schools. On 7 October 1926, the school moved from Upavon to
RAF Wittering, but on 30 August 1935 it returned to Upavon Due to the
Second World War the school was redesignated as
No. 7 Flying Instructors School RAF on 1 April 1942. The school was reformed from the disbandment of the
Empire Central Flying School RAF on 7 May 1946 at
RAF Little Rissington. Between May 1952 and 1 June 1957 the CFS was split into two, assets at Little Rissington became
CFS (Advanced) with assets at South Cerney becoming
CFS (Basic) by renumbering
No. 2 Flying Training School RAF. On 1 November 1954 the school was transferred to
No. 81 Group RAF. On 12 April 1976 the school moved to
RAF Cranwell for the first time, only staying until 5 September 1977 when it moved to
RAF Leeming. It then moved to
RAF Scampton on 19 September 1984 and finally back to Cranwell on 31 May 1995 as part of
No. 3 Flying Training School RAF The school used various airfields as
relief landing grounds such as: High Post, Alton Barnes, Overton Heath, New Zealand Farm, Manningford, Enstone, Wellesbourne Mountford, Aston Down, Kemble and
RAF Fairford. During January 1996, the Central Flying School museum moved from RAF Scampton to RAF Cranwell, where it had been based since 1985.
Display teams In 1964 the Central Flying School at RAF Little Rissington became responsible for the provision of the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team. This responsibility had previously been held by Fighter Command. The 'Red Pelicans' equipped with six Mk 4 Jet Provosts were given the honour of this role and became The 1964 RAF Premier Aerobatic Team. The team displayed in the UK, France, Belgium, Denmark, and Norway. During 1964 RAF Valley formed a team of five Gnats named 'The Yellow Jacks". It was decided that the Gnat team would become the Premier Team for 1965. In preparation for the handover the Red Pelicans and the Yellowjacks performed combined displays at the 1964 Farnborough Airshow. The Yellowjacks were repainted to the well known Red colour and in 1965 the team became, the now world famous, Red Arrows.
Elementary flying training The
Primary Flying Squadron moved from South Cerney to Church Fenton on 16 January 1967. The squadron started using
de Havilland Chipmunk T.10 and
Scottish Aviation Bulldog T.1 while Bulldog Squadron moved to Cranwell on 31 March 1995 and became part of
No. 3 Flying Training School RAF. In 2000 the
Grob Tutor T.1 replaced the Scottish Aviation Bulldog as the initial trainer operated by the squadron.
Fast jet training The training started on 1 October 1955 at Kemble as the
Type Flight evolving into the
Type Squadron on 10 July 1957 with a: •
Hawker Hunter Flight at Kemble •
English Electric Canberra Flight at Little Rissington •
Gloster Meteor Flight at Little Rissington • Communication Flight at Little Rissington The
Folland Gnat T.1 was added and initially used at Fairford before moving to Kemble, with the Jet Provost moving from Fairford to Aston Down from 1966. The
Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1 was added and became
No. 19 (Reserve Squadron) RAF on 1 October 1994. During 1976 the
Folland Gnat T.1s were based at
RAF Valley however during 1977 these were replaced as the CFS main advanced jet trainer by the
Hawker Siddeley Hawk T.1. From 1992 the
Short Tucano T.1 took the place of the
BAC Jet Provost. The
Tucano Squadron moved to
RAF Topcliffe on 24 April 1995. The
Refresher Flying Flight was formed during April 1984 at Church Fenton operating the Jet Provost and moved to Scampton during 1991 but was disbanded during 1992. The flight was re-established on 24 April 1995 within the Tucano Squadron at Topcliffe. The first Shorts Tucano was delivered to the CFS on 1 September 1988.
Helicopter training Helicopter instruction began on 8 March 1954 at
RAF Middle Wallop as the
CFS Helicopter Flight. The flight used the
Westland Dragonfly and
Bristol Sycamore at
RAF South Cerney in Gloucestershire from 18 June 1955 until 1 June 1957 when it moved to Little Rissington. It moved to
RAF Tern Hill in August 1961. From 1966, the
Westland-built
Sioux helicopter began service, lasting until 1973, when replaced with the more modern
Westland Gazelle HT.2s. During the 1970s the
Westland Whirlwind HAR.10s were also used and the school had a detachment at
RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales for SAR and mountain rescue training. During 1974 it consisted of: No. 1 Squadron with Gazelles No. 2 Squadron teaching Advanced Training No. 3 Squadron teaching SAR training at Valley No. 2 Squadron was renamed to
No. 2 (Advanced) Flying Training School RAF (2 AFTS) while at Tern Hill during February 1974 with Whirlwinds. On 29 September 1976 the Helicopter Flight and No. 2 AFTS joined to form
No. 2 Flying Training School RAF at Shawbury with No. 3 Squadron at Valley becoming No. 2 SAR Training Squadron. In 1997 the Gazelle HT.2's and HT.3's were replaced by the
Eurocopter Squirrel HT.1 and the
Bell Griffin HT.1. RAF Shawbury has been the home of the helicopter training school since 1977, becoming the Defence Helicopter Flying School in 1997. A satellite unit of the CFS is maintained at RAF Shawbury to train and develop helicopter instructors. The CFS also used other aircraft: • Airspeed Oxford, Auster T.7, Avro 504K, Avro 504N, Avro Tutor, Bristol Bulldog TM, de Havilland Tiger Moth, de Havilland Mosquito T.3, de Havilland Vampire T.11, Gloster Grebe (DC), Hawker Tomtit, Hawker Hart Trainer, Hunting Percival Provost, Miles Magister I, Miles Master, North American Harvard, Percival Prentice T.1, Vickers Varsity T.1. ==Current training squadrons==