New military flight training school in UK initiates first students

Posted by John McHalePARIS, 20 June 2011. Officials forthe United Kingdom Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) announced that their first students will arrive at Royal Air Force station (RAF) Barkston Heath later on this month. The UKMFTS has a flight training solution for the English Royal air force, Royal navy, and army air corps by combining all phases of aircrew instruction for the three services. The MFTS is a partnership between England's Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Ascent -- a joint venture of Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] and Babcock.Engineers at Ascent and its subcontractors Lockheed Martin, Babcock, and Cobham, created the training course; designed the courseware and lessons; acquired and upgraded four new Hawker Beechcraft King Air 350ER aircraft; acquired and designed new ground and airborne tactical mission trainers; created a new training management information system; trained and recruited military and civilian instructors and modernized the infrastructure at RAF Barkston Heath and Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Culdrose. An initial group of six Royal navy maritime helicopter observers will start the Ascent-managed RCT pipeline with a four-week Common Core Ground School course with the 703 Naval Air Squadron (NAS) at RAF Barkston Heath. Topics include Aviation Communication, Navigation Theory, Meteorology, Aircraft Systems, and Theory of Flight.Once ground course work is complete, the students will move to initial flying training and elementary navigation training, both with the Grob 115E single-engine aircraft. After that a 15-week Basic Flight Training program begins with 750 NAS at RNAS Culdrose, and includes simulator training on a tactical ground trainer and approximately 50 hours of actual flying on the maritime variant of the Beech King Air 350ER aircraft. After the students graduate they will transition to the Royal Navy's Helicopter Operational Conversion units and prepare for front line operational on Sea King ASaC, Maritime Lynx or Merlin helicopters.The RCT pipeline is the first in a training program series that includes multi-engine pilot training, advanced jet training, and rotary training programs.