that can be linked in several ways, it allows
greater variety of teaching, for example,
two students can work as a team, or one
instructor can teach a single or several
students. All students are issued with a
laptop containing the ground school course
syllabus, which is released to the students
as their training progresses.
In summary, the key skills students need
are to be able to:- plan and brief beforehand, and during
a mission. - analyse the information which the
sensors have picked up. - prioritise that information, decide on
a course of action and then carry it out as
part of a crew. - review actions with clarity and honesty
to learn from their experiences.
The ultimate phase of the course involves
ve sorties in which the student must deal
with urgent re-tasking – in the middle of
a mission – and other emergencies and
malfunctions, with a nal air test, graded by
one of the senior instructors.
Senior training staff on the squadron
agree the combination of the Avenger
T1 and the TMT(A) is proving to be a
winner. One of the pilots commented: “The
Avenger is a real pleasure to y, with its
advanced avionics suite giving the pilot great
situational awareness; it is very fuel efficient
and has excellent performance as regards to
both transit and climbing speed.
“It is a great training platform, a really
exceptional ‘ ying classroom’, being light,
smooth, quiet and comfortable, so providing
a fantastic teaching environment, which
can travel from one training area to another
rapidly and can be 100 miles from Culdrose
at low level in next to no time.”The aircraft is, of course, just one part
of the system, a senior observer instructor
was equally enthusiastic about the TMT(A),
describing it as “an awesome piece of kit –
a PC simulator bolted onto a live radar”.GETTING THE
BALANCE RIGHT
The course content is constantly being
evaluated and scrutinised by instructors
to give students the necessary support
and guidance to have the best chanceof succeeding. The AGM noted that:
“The balance between ‘overtraining’ and
‘undertraining’ is of prime importance. Our
students should arrive at the OCU at exactly
the right time; 750 NAS is now capable
of delivering so much more that, counter
intuitively, it is possible to prepare the
student too well for the next challenge.”
Another partner based within the
squadron is Cobham Aviation Services, a
team of engineers contracted to have two
or three of the four aircraft (depending upon
the requirement) available on the ight line
every day. The company is responsible for
maintaining the airframe, engines and
the TMT(A).
Having installed all the mission systems
in the aircraft at its Bournemouth, Dorset
facility, and operated King Airs for many
years, Cobham is ideally quali ed for the
role. Daily inspections, defect recti cation
and scheduled maintenance every 200
hours are the main tasks, with four
phased inspections over two years being
equivalent to a major service. The chief
engineer has 17 years’ experience of the
King Air and praises the aircraft for its
reliability and advanced systems that are
easy to work on.
The combination of modern aircraft and
state-of-the art training facilities is giving
students a sound preparation for graduation
to the aircraft in which they will serve
operationally on the front line.http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 67“The Avenger is a
real pleasure to fl y,
with its advanced
avionics suite
giving the pilot
great situational
awareness.”
Two of the unit’s Avengers outside the 750 NAS hangar at Culdrose. Peter WestwardThe remit of the Avenger T1 has expanded beyond the original requirement to train observers and now
also includes Royal Navy ASW aircrewmen and RAF WSOp (EW) students. 750 NAS/ Ascent Flight Training64-67_avengerDC.mfDC.mfDC.indd 67 07/06/2018 15:22