UK Mil Flight Training

Welcome back to the POLO Aviation Blog! This month marks a considerable milestone and step-change in UK Military Rotary Winged Flight Training, especially for the Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS) at RAF Shawbury.

The DHFS have been training military helicopter pilots at RAF Shawbury since 1997, and until recently have been using the AS350 single Squirrel for Single Engine Basic Rotary Wing (SEBRW) and the Bell 412 Griffin for Multi-Engine Advanced Rotary Wing (MEARW). Until the United Kingdom Search and Rescue units were privatised the Griffin also provided SAR Training through its unit at RAF Valley.

The contract to replace the Squirrel and Griffin was put out to tender in 2014, and was won by Airbus helicopters, who will take the flying training through until 2033. As part of the contract, the As350 and 412 fleet are being replaced with the H135 'Juno' and H145 'Jupiter' aircraft to fulfil the training role, as part of 22 Trg Gp RAF.

The Juno and Jupiter are built in Germany, and will make up a 32 strong fleet for the UKMFTS and will be fully operational by 2018. Did you know that every UK military pilot in the last 40 years has trained on an Airbus helicopter. What are your thoughts?

#pilot #bell #aviate #airbus #helicopter #juno #jupiter #ukmfts