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Aviation History
1965
1965 - 0194.PDF
120 FLIGHT International, 21 January I96S Saab J3SA Drakens of F-16 Wing at Uppsala. The standard handling truck has a 28V gener- ator ahead of the engine to run electronics and instruments on the ground One of the two-seat Sk35C Drakens used by F-16 Wing for conversion training of newly graduated pilots. Next to it are transportable fuel tanks, a cluster of which stands ready beside every aircraft parking position on the main apron New RSAF Training Sequence THE ROYAL SWEDISH AIR FORCE is planning to introduce a new training system in which foreign air forces have shown considerable interest. It will involve 160hr on the new Saab 105 at the Swedish Central Flying School, followed immediately by a 60 hours' conversion course on the Draken in the operational wing at Uppsala. Initial opera- tional training will occupy a third stage integrated in another operational Wing, and this is to be followed by a final year of operational training on the complex systems now being introduced in the J35D Draken (see also "Draken In the Air" on page 102). In the present training system, the Central Flying School in Southern Sweden gives student pilots 160hr during the first year on Safirs and Vampires. Pilots then move to operational squadrons for 150 hours' training, which brings them to a combat- ready status. Those selected for the J35 Draken go to F-16 Wing at Uppsala for a 25 hours' conversion course which makes them combat ready for day flying and the use of the Sidewinder missile. A further 60hr brings them to a fully all-weather standard covering all the Draken's roles. The new system will thus eliminate in due course the intermediate stages, as the Viggen takes the place of Lansens and other types. Pending the introduction of the Saab 105, the first of which is to be delivered at the end of 1965, the F-16 Wing at Uppsala has already converted several courses of pilots fresh from Safirs and Vampires. As the scheme builds up, three courses of 18 pilots each will be overlapping in the training system. In the interests of economy in a relatively small air force, operational training is already based on operational wings, but the Saab 105 is itself an operational aircraft as well as a trainer. Thus the Central Flying School will become an operational pool with instructors proficient in ground attack. The objective is always to be able to throw as much force as possible into the very earliest stages of a defensive battle. The 105 overcomes the penalties of relatively modest performance when operating against heavily defended targets by launching the new Saab 305 air-to-surface missile as a penetration weapon. For a pilot with 160hr total experience, the step from Vampire Trainer or Saab 105 to Draken is, of course, a very big one, but the RSAF has arranged a very successful 23-week course involving 30hr in the Sk35C two-seater, 30hr in the J35A intercepter and 25hr in the Curtiss Wright Dehmel flight simulator, two of which are installed in a special building at Uppsala. Main features of this course are that the pilots fly the two- seater at a very early stage, go solo in it after about 12hr dual, and that the RSAF appreciates that a good simulator pilot is not necessarily a good aircraft pilot. For the first four flights the trainee is in the rear seat. The fifth flight is made from the front seat, and the first solo is made in the two- seater after eight weeks and after only 9hr in the simulator. Thereafter the trainee flies more solo than dual, but the limited sortie duration of about 30min is put to best use by careful pre-flight planning, simulator training and dual instruction. Strong emphasis is placed on uniformity of pro- cedures, and it is noteworthy that the flying instructors also control the simulator. Actual flying at the earliest possible stage prevents students becoming nervous as they learn more and more about the aircraft. That this training scheme has so far proved successful reflects great credit on the individual instructors who are of a high calibre and who are able by virtue of their dual tactical and instructing role to give each trainee close contact with operational flying and an early introduction to the aggressive outlook of the combat pilot. In this respect the natural Swedish emphasis on physical fitness and competitive games seems to be of considerable assistance, and the sports facilities at Uppsala are excellent. RSAF instructors are picked among operational pilots and given a 2J months' course. Of the recruits, some 5 per cent of the 1,400 applicants for pilot training each year are initially accepted—a proportion similar to that in the RAF. As the tactical flying task changes from the hell-for- leather single-seat tradition to the all- weather systems methods, the RSAF is finding that rather older pilots are preferable for operational flying. Pilots continue on flying duties to the age of 38 or 40 and may then become instructors or transfer to the defence and control departments. The RSAF has both officer and non-commis- sioned, career and short-service pilots. "Wings" Tips the Macchi THE SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL Wings Over Africa reported recently that the Macchi MB 326 is the jet trainer/ground-attack aircraft to be built under licence by the nascent South African aircraft industry, the Atlas Aircraft Corporation. Flight stands by its recent forecast that the French Fouga Magister will prove to be the type put into production when the Atlas factory, expected to be in the Southern Transvaal, becomes operational in about 18 months. IN THE NEWS ITEM "RAF Honours" on this page two weeks ago, errors occurred. Correctly, Air Chief Marshal Sir Walter Cheshire was appointed GBE in the New Year Honours List and Air Marshal P. H. Dunn and AVM D. J. P. Lee both KBE.
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