The Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury

RAF Shawbury

RAF Shawbury is a Royal Air Force station by the village of Shawbury near Shrewsbury, Shropshire.The station at Shawbury was first used for military flying training in 1917 by the Royal Flying Corps, but it was returned to agricultural use in 1920. In 1938 it was reactivated as a training...

, a Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

 station near Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, trains aircrew from all three of the Armed Forces.

Squadrons

The DHFS has three flying squadrons:

• 660 Squadron Army Air Corps - 660 Sqn AAC is responsible for the basic 10 week flying course on single engined helicopters
• 705 Naval Air Squadron
  705 Naval Air Squadron
  705 Naval Air Squadron was first formed in 1936 from No 447 Flight Royal Air Force and operated Swordfish torpedo bombers from battlecruisers. It was disbanded in 1940, but was re-formed in 1947 as a Fleet Requirements Unit to evaluate naval use of helicopters...
  
   - 705 NAS provides the advanced single engined flying course
• 60(R) Squadron
  No. 60 Squadron RAF
  No. 60 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1916 at Gosport. It is currently part of the Defence Helicopter Flying School based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire....
  
  , Royal Air Force
  Royal Air Force
  The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
  
   - 60 Sqn is the advanced rotary wing training squadron

Training

Training is undertaken on the Squirrel HT1 and for the Royal Air Force students the Griffin HT1 (a twin engine modern version of the famous "Huey" helicopter). Training is typically 6 months for the Army and Navy and 18 months for the RAF.

In addition, Search and Rescue training for all RAF aircrew takes place at RAF Valley

RAF Valley

RAF Valley is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training...

 on the Search and Rescue Training Unit

Search and Rescue Training Unit

The Search and Rescue Training Unit of the Royal Air Force is located on the southern side of RAF Valley on the Isle of Anglesey, Wales. SARTU operates three Griffin HT1 helicopters to train pilots and winchmen before progression to an active Search and Rescue squadron, which include No 203 Sqn or...

(SARTU)

All aircrew instruction is carried out by Central Flying School (Helicopters) (CFS(H)) Instructors. These Instructors are a mix of military personnel and CFS(H) accredited contractor personnel. FB Heliservices is responsible for the provision of the CFS(H) accredited contractor personnel

Helicopters and Synthetic Training Equipment

All the Defence Helicopter Flying School Helicopters and Synthetic Training Equipment are owned by FB Heliservices, a consortium of Bristow Helicopters and FR Aviation, who provide 40% of the instructional staff, all the ground school and simulator staff, carry out all maintenance and provide support services.

External links

• Defence Helicopter Flying School site