The Australian Defence Force Basic Flying Training School (BFTS) was located in Tamworth in northern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. It was run by

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

Flying Training Academy, which conducted tri-service flight screening and basic flying training for the

Australian Defence Force The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the Armed forces, military organisation responsible for the defence of Australia and its national interests. It consists of three branches: the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), Australian Army and the Royal Aus ...

(ADF) aircrew from the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

(RAN) and the

Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...

(RAAF) using CT-4 Airtrainer aircraft. It helped pilots gain basic knowledge about flying, it also had a 26 week basic flying simulation course. BFTS was raised in response to the RAAF and RAN beginning all-through training on the

Pilatus PC-9 The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft designed and manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Developed as a more powerful evolution of the preceding Pilatus PC-7, the PC-9 features an enlar ...

in December 1992. in 1993, Headquarters Training Command Detachment A was raised in Tamworth consisting primarily of civilian instructors. Army students were trained here as the PC-9 course was not appropriate. The detachment also screened prospective military pilots at this time. BFTS was officially reformed in 1999 and quickly began tri-service training. The training preceded streaming into single service flying training, with RAAF and RAN pilots having moved to

No. 2 Flying Training School No.2 Flying Training School is a Flying Training School (FTS) of the Royal Air Force (RAF). It is part of No. 22 (Training) Group that delivers glider flying training to the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. Its headquarters is located at RAF Syers ...

(2FTS) at RAAF Pearce, Western Australia while Army pilots undertook further training at the Australian School of Army Aviation in

Oakey, Queensland Oakey is a rural town and locality in the Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. The Museum of Army Aviation is located at Oakey Airport. In the , the locality of Oakey had a population of 4,756 people. Geography The town is situated on ...

. All flying training was conducted by the ADF with the provision of aircraft and support services from BAE Systems Tamworth. Flying instructors were from all three branches of the ADF with several civilian flying instructors from BAE. The school formed part of

Air Training Wing RAAF Air Training Wing is the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) unit responsible for providing basic training for the force's pilots and aircrew, and training instructors. It also oversees the RAAF Museum. Structure Air Training Wing forms part of the ...

. In 2015, BAE Systems lost a contract bid to Lockheed Martin Australia for the ab-initio training of pilots. Training was transitioned to No. 1 Flying Training School (1FTS) on the

Pilatus PC-21 The Pilatus PC-21 is a turboprop-powered advanced Trainer (aircraft), trainer with a stepped tandem cockpit. It is manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland. Development In November 1997 Pilatus flew a modified Pilatus PC-7, PC-7 Mk.II in ...

. The drawdown of training in Tamworth began in 2018 and the final ADF course graduated from BFTS in February 2019. In the years of operation, the school trained approximately 4000 military and flight screening students and operated over 280 000 flight hours. Flying training for the ADF is now conducted at 1FTS.

Aircraft

Notes

References

* Military education and training in Australia Military units and formations disestablished in 2019 Military units and formations established in 1993 {{Australia-mil-stub