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All potential fast-jet pilots for the RAF and Royal Navy attend the Basic Fast-Jet Training (BFJT) course at 1 Flying Training School (1 FTS) at RAF Linton-on-Ouse to fly the Tucano T.1. Around 70 students each year graduate and pass on to advanced flying training. 1 FTS comprises four squadrons; 72(Reserve) and 207(Reserve) which are responsible for BFJT, the Central Flying School Tucano Squadron (CFSTS) which are tasked to train exchange pilots and to provide future instructor pilots and 76 (Reserve) or Tucano Air Navigation Squadron (TANS) which provides basic navigation training for its student
pilots.
The fundamentals of low flying are taught during basic flying training on the Tucano, with low flying navigational exercises. Student pilots will have already demonstrated an ability to fly during elementary flying training on the Grob Tutor T.1 or Slingsby T67M Firefly.
The four BFJT courses are run simultaneously and comprise 120 hours of flying over the 40 weeks. Around 80 sorties are flown every day, requiring around 25 aircraft to be serviceable each morning from a total fleet of 55 aircraft.
Flying at 210 knots (389 km/h) or 3.5 miles per minute students are initially cleared down to 500 feet MSD before being cleared down to 250 feet. Students will use a stopwatch and map to navigate while visually estimating their altitude when flying at low level. Despite the recent addition to the Tucano’s equipment of the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), students are expected to keep a good look out for any conflicting traffic.
Students are expected to fly solo on the 9th sortie. By sortie 25 they are ready to be tested before being cleared for solo aerobatics. On sortie 50 students are tested on basic handling and navigation, including the more demanding low-level navigation flying at a minimum height of 500 feet (152m) MSD. Most low-level flying is conducted over the nearby Yorkshire Dales. Now, at the halfway stage student’s move onto tactical flying training. This includes; formation, night, instrument and further navigational training exercises. Progressing to low-level flying at 250 feet (76m) they will use initial points (IP) for attacks on targets and
fly fighting-wing formations. A final navigation test is flown on around sortie 96. This highly demanding test requires students to fly to a designated airfield at both high level and at low level for planned simulated attack on a target to within 5 seconds, before returning to base after 1¼ hours of flying. In the final ten hours of the course they are taught tactical low-level flying as a fighting pair. A final test involves flying as a fighting pair in close formation with tactical flying at low-level, it also includes landing at an unfamiliar airfield, typically Prestwick, Leuchars or Kinloss. During the return flight they start as a pair
before breaking off to fly home at low-level.
On graduating and receiving their ‘Wings’ most students will join 208(Reserve) Squadron at RAF Valley to fly the Hawk T.1. A few students are ‘creamed’ off and move to the Central Flying School (CFS) to be trained as flying instructors. Of the 40 qualified flying instructors (QFI) at Linton, most have come from fast-jet squadrons, the rest have multi-engine or rotary engine experience, one or two have returned from CFS.
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