{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Pilot Training Squadron based at

RNZAF Base Ohakea RNZAF Base Ohakea is an operational base of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Opened in 1939, it is located near Bulls, 25 km north-west of Palmerston North in the Manawatū. It is also used as an alternate airport for civilian aircraft. The ...

, and trained

RNZAF The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, becoming an in ...

pilots from 1966 until 2015.

Origins

Military pilot training during World War I was undertaken by private contractors; principally the

New Zealand Flying School The New Zealand Flying School was formed in 1915, by the Walsh Brothers, Leo and Vivian Walsh (aviator), Vivian Walsh, to train pilots for the Royal Flying Corps. The school was also known as the Kohimarama Flying School. The school built, impor ...

of the Walsh Brothers in Auckland and the Canterbury Aviation Company formed by

Henry Wigram Sir Henry Francis Wigram (18 January 1857 – 6 May 1934) was a New Zealand businessman, politician and aviation promoter. He is best known for his role in developing a public transport system in Christchurch and as a key player in the establis ...

in Christchurch. When the New Zealand Permanent Air Force was formed in June 1923, war surplus

Avro 504 The Avro 504 is a single-engine biplane bomber made by the Avro, Avro aircraft company and under licence by others. Production during World War I totalled 8,970 and continued for almost 20 years, making it the most-produced aircraft of any kind ...

K and

Bristol F2B Fighter The Bristol F.2 Fighter is a British First World War two-seat biplane Fighter aircraft, fighter and reconnaissance aircraft developed by Frank Barnwell at the British and Colonial Aeroplane Company later known as the Bristol Aeroplane Company. ...

s transferred from Britain were used for training purposes, supplemented from 1929 by

de Havilland Gypsy Moth The de Havilland DH.60 Moth is a 1920s British two-seat touring and training aircraft that was developed into a series of aircraft by the de Havilland Aircraft Company. Development The DH.60 was developed from the larger DH.51 biplane. T ...

s and replaced from 1931 by

Hawker Tomtit The Hawker Tomtit is a British training biplane from the late 1920s. Design and development The Royal Air Force in 1927 required a replacement for their current elementary trainers, the elderly Avro 504Ns. They specified that the power plant sh ...

s and

Avro 626 The Avro 626 is a single-engined British biplane trainer aircraft produced by Avro during the (1918-1939) inter-war period. Design and development The Model 626 was developed by Avro from the company's Model 621 (Tutor) for export to smaller ...

s. A single two seat

Gloster Grebe The Gloster Grebe was developed by the Gloster Aircraft Company from the Gloster Grouse (an experimental aircraft later developed as a trainer), and was the Royal Air Force's first post-First World War fighter aircraft, entering service in 192 ...

provided conversion training on that type. in anticipation of the delivery of

Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs' chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of t ...

bombers, twin engine monoplane training began on the first of 229

Airspeed Oxford The Airspeed AS.10 Oxford is a twin-engine monoplane aircraft developed and manufactured by Airspeed Ltd, Airspeed. It saw widespread use for training Commonwealth of Nations, British Commonwealth aircrews in navigation, radio-operating, bombin ...

s in 1938.

World War II

By the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the more modern of these types had been formed into No. 1 Flying Training School RNZAF at

Wigram Wigram is a suburb in the southwest of Christchurch, New Zealand. The suburb lies close to the industrial estates of Sockburn and the satellite retail and residential zone of Hornby, and has undergone significant growth in recent years due t ...

, while advanced training on types such as the Oxford had been separated. Due to the

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 Wor ...

, other schools were under construction at Taieri, and Woodbourne. A large number of additional FTSs followed with the first few years of the war, while from 1939 335

de Havilland Tiger Moth The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s British biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and built by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and other operators as a primary traine ...

s manufactured in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

provided the main primary trainers. Until 1941 much advanced training was done on retired combat types such as the

Hawker Hind The Hawker Hind is a British light bomber of the inter-war years produced by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force. It was developed from the Hawker Hart day bomber introduced in 1931 in aviation, 1931. Design and development An improved Ha ...

Vickers Vildebeest The Vickers Vildebeest and the similar Vickers Vincent are single-engined British biplanes designed and built by Vickers and used as light bombers, torpedo bombers and in army cooperation roles. First flown in 1928, they remained in service at ...

and

Fairey Gordon The Fairey Gordon was a British light bomber (2-seat day bomber) and utility aircraft of the 1930s. The Gordon was a conventional two-bay fabric-covered metal biplane. It was powered by variants of the Armstrong Siddeley Panther IIa engine. A ...

but these were gradually replaced by 202 locally assembled

North American Harvard The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft, which was used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Air Force (USAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Ro ...

Post war

After the second world war, primary flying training was conducted by No.1 Flying Training School at Taieri, and from 1956

. The Tiger Moths were phased out, Harvards being used for ab intio training,

de Havilland Devon The de Havilland DH.104 Dove is a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The design, which was a monoplane successor to the pre-war Dragon Rapide biplane, came about from the Brabazon Committee report which, am ...

and two seat

De Havilland Vampire The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteo ...

s being used for advanced training. 1 FTS became the Pilot Training Squadron in 1966. The squadron received a small number of

AESL Airtourer The Victa Airtourer is an all-metal light low-wing monoplane touring aircraft that was developed in Australia, and was manufactured in both Australia and New Zealand. Design and development The Airtourer was the winning design, submitted by Henr ...

in 1970 and re-equipped with Pacific Aerospace CT-4B Airtrainers in 1976, these subsequently being replaced by more powerful CT-4Es. Advanced training on

BAC Strikemaster The BAC 167 Strikemaster is a jet-powered training and light attack aircraft designed and produced by the British Aircraft Corporation. It was a development of the Hunting Jet Provost trainer, itself a jet engined version of the Percival Provo ...

and

Aermacchi MB-339 The Aermacchi MB-339 is a military jet trainer and light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Italian aviation company Aermacchi. The MB-339 was developed during the 1970s in response to an Italian Air Force requirement that sought a re ...

shifted to No. 14 Squadron RNZAF, twin engined training on

Fokker Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

s and later Cessna Golden Eagles and

Beechcraft Super King Air The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by Beechcraft. The Model 200 and Model 300 series were originally marketing, marketed as the "Super King Air" family; the "Super" designation was droppe ...

s being undertaken by No. 42 Squadron RNZAF. No. 3 Squadron undertook basic rotary training with the

Bell 47 The Bell 47 is a single-rotor single-engine light helicopter manufactured by Bell Helicopter. It was based on the third Bell 30 prototype, which was the company's first helicopter designed by Arthur M. Young. The 47 became the first heli ...

. When Wigram closed in 1993 the squadron shifted to

Ohakea RNZAF Base Ohakea is an operational base of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Opened in 1939, it is located near Bulls, New Zealand, Bulls, 25 km north-west of Palmerston North in the Manawatū District, Manawatū. It is also used as an alter ...

. Pilot Training Squadron was disbanded in 2015 with the retirement of the Airtrainer. Its role was taken over by a reformed No. 14 Squadron which operated the replacement

T-6 Texan II The Beechcraft T-6 Texan II is a single-engine turboprop aircraft built by Textron Aviation. It is a license-built Pilatus PC-9, a trainer aircraft. The T-6 replaced the United States Air Force's Cessna T-37B Tweet and the United States Navy' ...

External links

RNZAF Squadron Web page
Royal New Zealand Air Force squadrons Flying training squadrons Training units and formations of air forces Military units and formations established in 1966