This is a List of Beam Approach beacon system Units of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. The first system to guide RAF aircraft safely down onto a runway was called the Standard Blind Approach (SBA) system and was trialled in the late 1930s. It was also being used by a few civil airports. By late 1941 the word 'Blind' was changed to 'Beam' as it was felt that blind did not give a reassuring feel to a system used when visibility was very low. The word Standard came from Standard Radio, the name of the company that made the equipment under license from the German company that designed it. However the equipment was also 'standard' fit on RAF aircraft. The change from Blind to Beam is evidenced in the two sets of Unit names in the tables below. There were no physical beams in the system at all, rather it relied on a heavily distorted dipole radiation pattern using a single transmitter. Instead of 'beams' it used a single heavily distorted toroid that was flipped left and right with a periodicity that simulated a morse code letter, the plane of equal field strength in this arrangement being mathematically equal to a line of zero width - a perfect 'beam' from an imperfect, cheaper, and simple radio transmitter. SBA was not automatic, the pilot flew the aircraft at all times. The Beam Approach Beacon System (BABS) is an automatic radar landing system developed in the early 1940s but not used until much later when it replaced the SBA system.

Blind Approach Training flights

Beam Approach Training flights

Radio Aids Training flights

Other units

List of Royal Air Force aircraft independent flights This is a list of Royal Air Force independent Flights. An independent Flight is a military administrative structure which is used to command flying units where the number of aircraft is not large enough to warrant a fully fledged squadron. RAF C ...

List of conversion units of the Royal Air Force Conversion units and operational conversion units (OCUs) were training units of the Royal Air Force (RAF). History With the introduction of new heavy bombers, the four-engined Short Stirling, Avro Lancaster, and Handley Page Halifax, the Roya ...

List of Royal Air Force Glider units A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

List of Royal Air Force Operational Training Units Royal Air Force Operational Training Units (OTUs) were training units that prepared aircrew for operations on a particular type or types of aircraft or roles. OTUs ;No. 1 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF (1 (C)OTU): The Unit was formed i ...

List of Royal Air Force schools This is a list of schools within the Royal Air Force, including the empire flying training scheme, civilian and service elementary training schemes, and gliding schools. Schools The Royal Air Force operated many schools to train aircrew in the m ...

List of Royal Air Force units & establishments There have been many units with various tasks in the Royal Air Force (RAF), and they are listed here. A unit is an administrative term for a body, which can be larger or smaller than a flight or squadron, is given a specific mission, but does no ...

List of RAF squadron codes Most units of the Royal Air Force (RAF) are identified by a two character alphabetical or alpha- numeric combination squadron code. Usually, that code is painted on the aircraft belonging to that squadron. The squadron code is usually presente ...

List of RAF Regiment units This is a list of units of the Royal Air Force Regiment. The RAF Regiment is the ground fighting force of the Royal Air Force and is charged mainly with protecting military airfields, among other duties. First formed in 1942 to protect the airfi ...

* List of Battle of Britain squadrons *

List of wings of the Royal Air Force Wings within the Royal Air Force have both administrative and tactical applications. Over the years, the structure and role of wings has changed to meet the demands placed on the RAF. Many of the RAF's numbered wings were originally Royal Flying ...

Royal Air Force roundels The air forces of the United Kingdom – the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, the Army's Army Air Corps and the Royal Air Force use a roundel, a circular identification mark, painted on aircraft to identify them to other aircraft and ground force ...

Army Air Corps * List of Army Air Corps aircraft units Fleet Air Arm *

List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons This is a List of Fleet Air Arm aircraft squadrons. The primary organisational structure for aerial operations within the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) is represented by squadrons. These include frontline combat squadrons which were designated with the ...

List of Fleet Air Arm groups This is a list of Fleet Air Arm groups of the Royal Navy (RN), the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN), that were either formed or planned. There were two types of groups: there were Carrier air wing, Carrier Air Groups ...

List of aircraft units of the Royal Navy A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

List of aircraft wings of the Royal Navy A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...

Others *

List of Air Training Corps squadrons The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. The ATC is largely composed of individual units known as squadrons. These squadron ...

University Air Squadron University Air Squadrons (UAS), are Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve units under the command of No. 6 Flying Training School RAF. That offers training and flight training to university students, with the goal of attracting students into a ca ...

Air Experience Flight An Air Experience Flight (AEF) is a training unit of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training Branch) whose main purpose is to give introductory flying experience to cadets from the Air Training Corps and the Combined Cadet Force. As of ...

Volunteer Gliding Squadron A Volunteer Gliding Squadron (VGS) is an aircraft squadron of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which provides flying training in glider aircraft for Royal Air Force Air Cadets. All current operational Volunteer Gliding Squadrons operate a sole type ...

United Kingdom military aircraft serial numbers United Kingdom military aircraft registration number, known as its serial number, or tail code is a specific aircraft registration scheme used to identify individual military aircraft belonging to the United Kingdom (UK). All UK military aircr ...

United Kingdom aircraft test serials United Kingdom aircraft test serials are used to externally identify aircraft flown within the United Kingdom without a full Certificate of Airworthiness. They can be used for testing experimental and prototype aircraft or modifications, pre-deli ...

British military aircraft designation systems British military aircraft designations are used to refer to aircraft types and variants operated by the armed forces of the United Kingdom. Since the end of the First World War, aircraft types in British military service have generally been know ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{RAF unit types Air traffic control in the United Kingdom History of air traffic control Training units and formations of the Royal Air Force