Defence Helicopter Flying School

The Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury, a Royal Air Force station near Shrewsbury, England, trains aircrew from all three of the Armed Forces.

The school's Eurocopter AS.350BB Squirrel HT1

The school's Bell 412EP Griffin HT1

Another view of the Bell 412EP Griffin HT1 as it hover taxis to the runway at RIAT 2010

Squadrons

The DHFS has three flying squadrons:

• 660 Squadron Army Air Corps - 660 Sqn AAC is responsible for the basic 10 week flying course on single engined helicopters
• 705 Naval Air Squadron - 705 NAS provides the advanced single engined flying course
• 60(R) Squadron, Royal Air Force - 60 Sqn is the advanced rotary wing training squadron

Training

Training is undertaken on the Squirrel HT1 and for the Royal Air Force students the Griffin HT1 (a twin engine modern version of the famous "Huey" helicopter). Training is typically 6 months for the Army and Navy and 18 months for the RAF.

In addition, Search and Rescue training for all RAF aircrew takes place at RAF Valley on the Search and Rescue Training Unit (SARTU)

All aircrew instruction is carried out by Central Flying School (Helicopters) (CFS(H)) Instructors. These Instructors are a mix of military personnel and CFS(H) accredited contractor personnel. FB Heliservices is responsible for the provision of the CFS(H) accredited contractor personnel

Helicopters and Synthetic Training Equipment

All the Defence Helicopter Flying School Helicopters and Synthetic Training Equipment are owned by FB Heliservices, a consortium of Bristow Helicopters and FR Aviation, who provide 40% of the instructional staff, all the ground school and simulator staff, carry out all maintenance and provide support services.

External links

• Defence Helicopter Flying School site