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Be part of something. YUAS has had a long and illustrious history. The origins of Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron can be traced back to the World War II scheme to provide pre-service ground and flying training to potential officers. In 1941 Hull UAS was formed at Royal Air Force Driffield, and Leeds UAS at Yeadon (now Leeds/Bradford Airport), both equipped with Tiger Moths. Here is a link to [former] Hull UAS website run by Professor Bev Pardoe, Chairman Manchester and Salford MEC and designer/author of Hull University Air Squadron's Although they were disbanded later in the war as student numbers fell, they were reformed immediately post-war as part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, with the intention of maintaining a liaison between the Royal Air Force and the universities and to provide pre-service training to National Service pilots. Hull and Leeds UASs amalgamated to form Yorkshire Universities UAS, at RAF Church Fenton, in 1968. Between 1975 and 1995 YUAS flew from RAF Finningley in South Yorkshire, before returning to its current home at Church Fenton. YUAS now draws its members from the eight major Yorkshire universities, and, with a total undergraduate establishment of 75, is the second largest of the UASs.
On 21st September 2005, it was announced by Defence Minister Don Touhig that there was to be a major shake-up in the way that RAF Elementary Flying Training (EFT) is organised. Until recently, all University Air Squadrons (UASs) were responsible for a share of the RAF's EFT requirement, training both University students during the course of their degree, and also Direct Entry (DE) student pilots. From now on, however, University Air Squadrons are no longer responsible for RAF EFT, and all RAF EFT is nowcarried out at three bases - RAF Church Fenton, RAF Cranwell and RAF Wyton. These three bases are each home to a squadron of No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School, with Church Fenton being the home of No. 3 Sqn of 1 EFTS. The new squadron is staffed by regular military QFIs, and all students are regular military students. At full strength, the squadron will have one Boss and 9 or 10 QFIs, with a course of 13 - 14 students arriving approximately every three months, the total student population being approximately 30. Changes for the station have been minimal, with only a little increase in flying activity. There are now 10 Tutor aircraft based on the station, which are shared with Yorkshire UAS and 9 AEF. |
