Southampton University Air Squadron

The History of the UAS Movement

The University Air Squadron concept was originally conceived by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Hugh Trenchard in the 1920s, with the first units being formed at Oxford and Cambridge in 1925. They were set up to provide preliminary flying training to students studying at those universities, and to promote the Royal Air Force to those high flying students lucky enough to secure a place there.

During the 1930s, events on the world stage brought about a massive increase in the number of required pilot and officer recruits. As a result, many more UASs were formed throughout the country, before, and during the war years to help increase the number of aircrew going to the front line.

Throughout the period of the war, most Squadrons were flying the de Havilland Tiger Moth. These were also supplemented with North American Harvards, a type that was to remain in UAS service to the end of the 1950s.

The post-war years saw the new Squadrons being largely maintained, with some rationalisation and reorganisation. The value of the Squadrons had been fully recognised during the war, proving to be an excellent source of high calibre recruits to the RAF. As an outcome of this, the UASs were less affected by the post-war reduction in manpower than other areas of the Royal Air Force.

1950 saw the introduction into service of a brand new training aircraft, the de Havilland Chipmunk. Oxford University, at that time flying from Kidlington, was the first to receive the new aircraft, with the other Squadrons following soon after.

The Graduate Entry Scheme was introduced in 1969, and during the 1970s, some 50% of RAF pilots entered the service as University Graduates. In April 1973 the Scottish Aviation Bulldog began to replace the Chipmunk as the standard RAF primary training aircraft. The first UAS to receive the type was the University of London Air Squadron in October 1973, then based at RAF Abingdon (now Dalton Barracks).

This training system continued throughout the 1980s. In 1995 the University Air Squadrons were recognised by a Defence Cost Study as being the future primary source of RAF pilots.

Despite originally being conceived as an aircrew-training organisation, the 1990s saw an increase in the number of students on the squadrons wishing to enter the Ground Branches of the service. 1998 saw the introduction of a formal Ground Branch syllabus as a response to this.

The Bulldog gave sterling service in the primary training role up until the turn of the century, when it was finally withdrawn from service. In replacement, the UASs were re-equipped with the Grob 115E primary trainer. 90 aircraft, owned and maintained by a civilian contractor, are utilised by all the Squadrons across the country, together with some other elementary flying training units. The first units to receive the new aircraft were the University of London Air Squadron and Cambridge University Air Squadron.

Currently, there are around 600 Flying and 400 Ground Branch UAS members across the fourteen Squadrons. Under the new organization, those selected for the UAS will no longer be designated as Air or Ground Branch members. UAS flying, amounting to some 10,000 hrs per year, will be available to all cadets and formal Elementary Flying Training for those going on to be RAF pilots will be undertaken after successful completion of Initial Officer Training.

The recent study into the delivery of Elementary Flying Training has reemphasised the value of the UASs, not only in recruiting officers and aircrew for the RAF but also in developing our future leaders, whatever their chosen career. The ensuing change in emphasis towards personal development, whilst retaining a challenging and rewarding flying training syllabus, has helped to secure the future of the UAS organization for years to come.