FlyPast 03.2018

March 2018 FLYPAST 85

LUFTWAFFE EAGLES

FLÜGEL DES ADLERSFLÜGEL DES ADLERS

was followed by basic training for
six to 12 months before going to a
selection centre.
After that, schooling became
more structured through a
Fliegerfuhrerschule A (FFS A

• basic instruction) and FFS B
  (advanced) to complete 100 to
  150 hours of training. Students
  would move on to specialist
  institutions – three to four months
  at a Waffenschule (combat school)
  for fighter and Junkers Ju 87 ‘Stuka’
  pilots.

Bomber pilots had 60 hours at

a FFS C (multi-engined), and 50

to 60 hours at a Blindflugschule

(instrument instruction).

Observers also went through an

FFS C, as well as 9 to 12 months

at an Aufklarungsfliegerschule.

(FFS A and FFS B units were

combined from November 1938

as FFS A/Bs.) The navy had three

Flugzeugführerschulen See (FFS

sea, or maritime).

By the outbreak of war in 1939

there were 16 FFS A/B, 11 FFS

C, two Blindflugschule and ten

Waffenschule. As the conflict

progressed, captured aircraft

from across the Allied forces were

allocated to schools to boost the

fleets. By 1942-1943 an output of

30 fully trained pilots per month

was achieved from each unit.

VARIED FLEET

Among the types used by FFS

A/B were elegant Klemm Kl 35

monoplanes, first flown in 1935,

and 2,000 were manufactured.

“To disguise the true strength of the Luftwaffe, many units were given

false designations purporting to be sections of the DVS, DLV or Lufthansa, the

national airline”

To p

A line of Fw 44s at FFS A

Halberstadt in 1937.

Above left

A posed image of pilots

with Heinkel He 72Bs,

lined up before a hangar

at one of the FFS A/B

schools. E GROSSE

Above

Heinkel He 60 fl oatplane

D-ILYN of FFS See

Warnemünde, circa 1935.