RAF Cranwell
Encyclopedia : R : RA : RAF : RAF Cranwell
| RAF Cranwell | ||
|---|---|---|
 Station Crest | ||
| Role | Officer and Aircrew Training | |
| Location | Near Sleaford, England | |
| Date Founded | November 1915 (as RNAS base) | |
RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford.
Sir Frank Whittle attended RAF Cranwell in the late 1920s. It was here that he formulated many of his ideas for the jet engine and it was at Cranwell on 15 May 1941, that the world's first true jet-engine flight took place of the Gloster E.28/39.
Cranwell is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trains the RAFs new officers on a 32-week course. It is thus the RAF equivalent of Sandhurst or the Britannia Royal Naval College, and is considered by some to be the spiritual home of the RAF.
No.3 Flying Training School (FTS), training navigators and non-commissioned aircrew, is also based there. Cranwell is also home to two of the RAF bands.
It is also home to the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre (OASC). Where all applicants to the RAF as Officers or non-commissioned aircrew, are put through a 4 day rigorous selection process. This is in 2 parts. Phase 1 includes Aptitude tests, a Fitness test, Medical and an Interview conducted by 2 boarding officers. If successful you proceed to Phase 2 which consists of a Group discussion, Group planning exercise, Leaderless hangar exercise, Individual planning exercise, Hangar command exercise and a final debrief.
The Leaderless and Command exercises are conducted in a purpose built hangar. The scenarios generally require the team to travel from one point to another, moving from obstacle to obstacle, whilst observing certain restrictions. i.e. transfer Alpha syndicate from point A to point B without touching the floor and also transferring a bag of fragile equipment in a 15 minute time frame.
Successful candidates are notified at a later date and are invited to attend Initial Officer Training (IOT).
Since the mid-1990s, Cranwell has been home to Headquarters, Air Cadets.
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