The Canadian Forces Air Navigation School is located at

CFB Winnipeg Canadian Forces Base Winnipeg (CFB Winnipeg; ) is a Royal Canadian Air Force base located within the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Co-located at Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport, CFB Winnipeg is home to many flight operatio ...

From Observers to navigators

Canadian pilots in the

Royal Flying Corps The Royal Flying Corps (RFC) was the air arm of the British Army before and during the First World War until it merged with the Royal Naval Air Service on 1 April 1918 to form the Royal Air Force. During the early part of the war, the RFC sup ...

(RFC) learned rudimentary navigation during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, but separate observer schools were not introduced until 1918. Right up until the outbreak of World War II there was still no category of air observer in the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF).

World War II

specialty navigator training started in March 1942 as part of the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a large-scale multinational military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Second Wo ...

1 Air Navigation Schools (1 ANS) moved to Rivers, Manitoba from Trenton, Ontario, in November 1940, and 2 ANS started in Pennfield Ridge, New Brunswick in 1941. The two Air Navigation Schools, 1 ANS and 2 ANS, amalgamated on May 11, 1942, to form Central Navigation School.The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force Volume II, The Creation of a National Air Force, W.A.B Douglas, University of Toronto Press, 1986, p. 227 In early 1944 two other schools, 2 ANS and 3 ANS, (re)opened. Central Navigation School disbanded on September 15, 1945.

Post-war

Central Navigation School was re-formed at Summerside, P.E.I., on August 1, 1951, and then moved to

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, in 1954. In August 1967, CNS and Central Flying School (CFS) joined as Central Flying and Navigation School (CFNS) training both flying and navigation. In November 1968 navigator training was again separated from flying training, and became the specialty of the Canadian Forces Air Navigation School (CFANS). In the early 21st century, CFANS expanded its role to include the training of Airborne Electronic Sensor Operators (AESOP).

Present

On June 26, 2009 CFANS adopted the name of the Canadian Forces advanced pilot training school,

1 Canadian Forces Flying Training School While the lineage of 1 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (1 CFFTS; ) can be traced back through previous similarly named Canadian military pilot flying schools, such as No. 1 Service Flying Training School and 1 Flying Training School, th ...

(1 CFFTS), inheriting the histories of both advanced flying training and navigator training.

Notes

{{Coord, 49, 53, 20, N, 097, 14, 05, W, type:airport_region:CA-MB, display=title Aviation schools Royal Canadian Air Force

From Observers to navigators

World War II

Post-war

Present

See also

Notes