Basic Flying Training School

Tamworth

The $85 million complex was built in 1991 and comprises a main building containing administration offices, classrooms, a lecture and briefing theatrette, operations room, flightline and life support facilities. In fact, it’s probably no accident that the BFTS facility resembles an operational squadron headquarters building. Backing on to this is the large ramp area with three rows of shade-cloth lined ‘carports’ for the aircraft, and a large maintenance hangar.

At the other end of the complex are the accommodation blocks for visiting students and flight screening candidates, a large mess hall, and various recreational facilities. “The Basic Pilots Course is 63. 8 hours, and every student who comes to BFTS must complete it. ”BAE operates 27 aircraft at Tamworth and four at RAAF East Sale on contract to the ADF and other customers. “We have 26 CT-4Bs here, half of which we purchased straight from Pacific Aerospace, and the other half are ex RNZAF machines,” explained Pierre Steyn, BAE Systems’s project manager at Tamworth.

“Four of these aircraft are permanently placed at RAAF East Sale’s Central Flying School (CFS) for flight instructor course (QFI) training.

We also have three Mudry CAP 10 tail draggers for the FSP student training, as well as two Piper Senecas which are used for staff transport. ” The CT-4 was formerly operated by the RAAF as a basic trainer, and is a New Zealand built development of the one-off four-seat Australian Victa Aircruiser (a big brother to the two-seat Airtourer). It is said to be an easy aircraft to fly, but difficult to fly well, making it an ideal training aeroplane. All the BAE aircraft are on the civilian ‘VH’ register.

“The CT-4s fly about 12,500 hours per year on the ADF contract, while the CAP 10s fly about 3500 hours, so we’d do about 16,000 hours at the maximum student capacity levels,” Steyn said. “Each aircraft flying hour and QFI hour is paid for by the ADF – we have a maximum and minimum student range we can move between under the current agreement without cost implications to the Commonwealth. ” By far the largest ‘customer’ of the school is the ADF BFTS, while the ADF Pilot Selection Agency, which is responsible for coordinating

“The circuit is always busy as most sorties will end with three or four circuits, plus we can also use Quirindi for circuits if Tamworth is busy. ”

the final three components of the ADF pilot selection process for all three services – FSP, the Officer Selection Board (OSB), and the subsequent distribution of applicants to the services – is also located there.

“We work in a contracted environment and have a very close working relationship with BAE Systems,” said WGCDR Mark Smith, BFTS’s commanding officer.

“We are a military unit, operating under military rules and regulations with the assistance of BAE which runs the facility and owns the aircraft, while the ADF provides about half the QFIs and, of course, the students. ” Most ADF executives at Tamworth have a corresponding civilian equivalent within BAE in order to maintain a balanced and consistent management structure. So while the ADF can focus on maintaining the quality of the students and the standards of instruction, BAE provides the accommodation and facilities, the administration, the maintenance and the aircraft, an arrangement which both parties agree provides huge cost benefits to the ADF. “Commercially driven pressures make the system run efficiently,” said WGCDR Smith. “The provision of aircraft is spot on, and the accommodation and facilities are as good if not better than most ADF-run facilities. ” To this end, BAE has 59 permanent staff plus a further 18 catering staff at Tamworth, while the RAAF will have 32 permanent staff by the end of 2008.

“There are almost 110 people permanently employed here in addition to the hundreds of students who come through each year,” said Steyn. “We believe the academy provides a major contribution to a community like Tamworth – the Department of State and Regional development last year estimated the total economic contribution to be in the region of $25 million to the local economy. ” The flying environment at Tamworth is also a good one, with a well laid out and flexible airport, a large training area just west of the city, and good flying weather with an average of 273 fine weather days per year. The airport has two parallel paved runways; 12L/30R which is 2220 metres long and has an ILS approach on 30R, and 12R/30L which is 1110 metres long; as well as two shorter grass strips, 36/18 and 24/06. The training airspace starts about 15nm or an 11 minute transit to the west, and comprises a rough north-south rectangle down to Quirindi in the south east, across to south of Spring Ridge in the southwest, up to Gunnedah in the northwest, and across to the edge of Lake Keepit in the north east.

“We program four or five waves of aircraft per day, with about 12 aircraft in each wave, so in total we’ll fly between 50 and 60 sorties per day,” said WGCDR Smith. “The circuit is always busy as most sorties will end with three or four circuits, plus we can also use Quirindi for circuits if Tamworth is busy. ”

Flight Screening

A component of the Directorate of Personnel Officers – Air Force, the Pilot Selection Agency’s role begins after recruitment, and ensures panelling of Flight Screening Program courses, and is the primary user of the results.

BFTS is responsible for providing the flying components of the FSP.

Applicants are selected by the Pilot Selection Agency based upon their pilot aptitude, their officer commissioning test scores, and upon recommendations from their recruiting officer and a psychologist.

The FSP is a two-week assessment of potential candidates, and is conducted over 10 sorties totalling 15 hours of flight time, as well as two sorties in an IF synthetic trainer. “We run 44 FSP courses per year, each of which has about seven to nine students,” WGCDR Smith said.

“We receive up to 350 dossiers from recruiting, from which we take 275.

They’re selected based on their motivation, education and leadership potential. ” “The flight screening programs overlap,” added Steyn. “We have the flexibility to fly on weekends if we need to if we get into trouble with the weather, but we must have completed all 10 flights by the end of the second week. The FSP candidates have separate accommodation and supervision as some of them are under 18 when they arrive for flight screening. ”“Most of our flight screening candidates are civilian but we do have the occasional military person too,” WGCDR Smith continued. “Flight screening candidates arrive on a Sunday, and they’re in an aircraft on the Monday. The first six sorties are completed with a BAE QFI in the CT-4B.

The seventh ride is a straight assessment flight with an ADF QFI, and then there are two instructional rides in the CAP 10 followed by another assessment flight. ” The FSP student is awarded scores on a per sequence basis for a number of sortie profiles designed to determine whether an applicant is suitable for military flight training. While the student’s raw score is a large component of the overall assessment, they are also assessed on their demonstrated rate of learning, an ability to respond to instruction, their personal application and motivation, and their maturity.

“The QFIs assess the student’s ability to learn in the air,” said WGCDR Smith.

“A good majority of our FSP students come to us with less than five hours total flying time. While we prefer them to have done some flying so that we can be sure this is what they want to do, sometimes having more experience can impact them, but we keep an open mind. ” On the final day of their two-week stay at Tamworth, FSP candidates are interviewed by the Officer Selection Board (OSB) panel comprising ADF Pilot Selection Agency staff and a civilian psychologist, to assess their overall suitability for entry into the ADF as a pilot.

OSB interviewees participate in group activities, problem solving exercises, verbal presentation exercises as well as a formal interview, all of which are designed to provide the maximum opportunity to display their true potential to be an officer and pilot. Apart from their FSP scores, each applicant is assessed on their motivation for wanting to join, their general knowledge of the ADF, training and career progression as an ADF pilot, their personal qualities and leadership potential, and their level of understanding of the commitment required of them as officers.

At the conclusion of their OSB interview, each applicant is debriefed as to their suitability as an ADF pilot. “The PSA is searching for ADF pilots for all three services, not just for the RAAF, and it’s an extremely competitive process,” noted WGCDR Smith. “Our target for screening in 2008 is 275 candidates, of which we will recommend about 165 for acceptance. Only the best of the best get through – it’s a world of attrition. These guys and girls have got to be robust and have the ability to deal with pressure. ” A successful applicant generally will be offered their first preference of service (RAAF, RAN, or Army), but offers may also be made by other services as well, depending on their requirements. If an applicant is not offered their first preference, they may choose to remain in the ‘distribution pool’ for up to 12 months in the hope of that preference becoming available. If judged to be unsuitable for pilot training, other ADF entry options may be discussed with the applicant, but only those that the applicant specified as options in their recruitment process.

Basic Flying Training School

Once prospective pilots have completed their officer studies at the relevant officer training school (East Sale, RMC Duntroon or HMAS Creswell), they return to Tamworth to complete the flying element of their training with BFTS.

There are eight Basic Pilots Courses (BPCs) run each year, with up to 20 students on each course for a total of between 130 and 150 students. Each course runs for 25 weeks in total. The breakdown of students comprises roughly 50 per cent RAAF, 40 per cent Army and 10 per cent Navy.

“Students will do five weeks of permanent ground school before they fly,” said Pierre Steyn. “Once they start flying, ground school continues in the mornings and then they fly afternoons, or in the afternoons if they’re flying in the mornings. ”

“The Basic Pilots Course is 63. 8 hours, and every student who comes to BFTS must complete it,”

said WGCDR Smith. “The first 26 rides cover basic general flying (GF) where students learn straight and level flight, turning, climbing, descending, steep turns, unusual attitude recoveries, practice forced landings, basic aerobatics including loops and aileron rolls and, normal, flapless and glide circuits. ” Each morning before flying begins, there is a daily whole-of-school briefing which covers NOTAMs, weather and other items, similar to that conducted within operational military units. There are also individual and group briefings and debriefs, as well as tutorial sessions.

Individual briefings include detailed 15 minute pre-flight briefings which coverwhat the student will be assessed upon or learning on that flight, and then after the flight there is also a detailed debrief.

“The 27th flight is a test ride without instruction,” WGCDR Smith said. “If they pass that, they move on to instrument flying (IF) for a further 11 flights, and then another test, and then four navigation sorties which include an overnight trip to Dubbo. After that comes advanced general flying which includes six instruction rides and a test flight, and this will cover more advanced aerobatics, emergencies, and quality circuit work.

“At the end of it all the students have a general flying test which is very much a standards ride, and if they pass, RAAF and RAN pilots will go to Pearce to fly the PC-9 (with 2FTS), and Army pilots will stay on to complete their Intermediate Pilots Course (IPC) which comprises approximately 38 hours of additional rides where they learn advanced navigation at low and medium altitudes, they sit a navigation test, and they have to be at certain points at certain times to progress.

Those who don’t succeed generally leave at the various test stages, but flying training is not a black and white thing – everyone’s an individual. We have a very rigid remedial process – if a student fails a flight there may be a two flight remedial package available to them. Students may use up to 10 per cent extra of their total hours for remedial work. ” The IPC sees more of the all-important crew resource management (CRM) techniques introduced to prepare Army pilots for the transition to helicopters. “We don’t do any formal CRM training in the first GF phase, but good QFIs will subtly introduce it without the student realising it,” said BAE’s Steyn. “But once an Army pilot passes BFC and IPC, there’s not a whole lot more we can do to prepare a fixed wing pilot for helicopters. ” Pass rates at BFTS aren’t static, varying from course to course. Course cohesion is a very important contributor to success, with many of the courses engaging in charity work or group social events during their time at Tamworth.

“Historically, our pass rate has been fairly constant at about 65 to 70 per cent,” said WGCDR Smith. “But last year we had one course which had a 100 per cent pass rate, mainly because their course cohesion was very strong. So we’re certainly not stuck in the mindset where we have to lose 30-35 per cent of our students. ” The school also has psychologists on staff and provides mentoring from the QFIs and executive staff. Each QFI is usually responsible for four or five students for training, and will also mentor them through the process and provide support.

“We also try to arrange as many motivation visits of other ADF types to Tamworth as possible so the students can get up close and personal to aircraft they may one day be flying,” said WGCDR Smith. “CFS occasionally brings up a couple of PC-9s when they come to check on our QFIs, and we’ll often give motivational rides to students who may be struggling or lacking motivation. One example is that of a young guy we had here a couple of years ago who wasn’t sure whether he could handle it. He was really missing his family, so we gave him some time off to visit them, and when he came back he still wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Shortly after we had a CFS visit and we arranged for him to have a ride in a PC-9. Needless to say he had a ball, he regained his focus, and he’s now flying Hornets!” In fact, WGCDR Smith said many ADF flying units pass through Tamworth in order to give students an opportunity to get up close to an aircraft and talk to the crews, and this often provides additional motivation for students who may be struggling.

“It’s not just about ticking boxes – there’s certainly a lot of psych involved,” he said.

Qualified Flying Instructors

There are currently 36 QFIs at Tamworth, split roughly 50:50 between BAE and the ADF, although the ADF is expected to increase its QFI numbers to 23 by the end of 2008 with the addition of some experienced lateral recruits.

“It is preferable that the BAE QFIs have previous military experience because we are training military pilots and there are different teaching and cultural methods, however some don’t,” said Pierre Steyn. “We have a few QFIs from an airline or GA background, but most are retired ADF pilots, but whether they have a military or a civilian background, as far as the students go it’s seamless. ” “With BAE, there are some returnees from Saudi Arabia who have worked with BAE over there too,” noted WGCDR Smith. “Of the ADF QFIs, I think we have a Hornet pilot, a couple each from Caribous and C-130s, about three from P-3s, and an F-111 guy as well. It is a normal two year posting rotation for ADF QFIs to BFTS. Theyusually come to us as D-Cat rated, are upgraded to C-Cat within six months, and then B-Cat in another six months.

Our B-Cats have the skill sets to deal with struggling students, and they also fill our executive positions. ” D-Cat flying instructors are basically fresh out of CFS having completed their Flying Instructors Course. They are considered a junior QFI and they require close supervision and guidance.

C-Cat QFIs are considered the ‘worker bees’ of BFTS. They generally achieve C-Cat ratings having grasped the concepts and tools of teaching in the airborne environment. While C-Cats still require some supervision, they are generally able to send students solo.

B-Cats are experienced QFIs who have achieved their rating after about 12 months at BFTS and are primarily tasked with performing remedial training, testing and flight screening duties, as well as fulfilling executive roles.

“Our QFIs are required to have a minimum of 300 hours as a captain, but some of our captains from the P-3 and C-130 world have between 500 and 1000 hours,” said WGCDR Smith. “For the students, we try to keep QFI continuity going rather than the students having a different QFI each day. So students will have a primary QFI and a secondary assigned to them for the duration of their course. ” “Most of BAE’s QFIs are experienced instructors in their 40s or 50s, and one of them has more than 21,000 hours,” said Steyn. “We generally don’t take anyone with less than 3000 hours unless they have a military or heavy instructional background, but the skills shortage has been a real challenge for us – we’ve advertised for QFIs three times in the past year and we’ve only had one local applicant. The pull from the airlines means we really can’t compete with their wages. ” The ADF QFIs are generally posted to Tamworth for a period of two years, after which they will most likely return to their Force Element Groups as QFIs, although some may go to CFS to train future QFIs, or to 2FTS.

“It never ceases to amaze me how much more people enjoy the posting the longer they’re here,” said WGCDR Smith. “We work hard to make it a good place to work, but we also need to constantly monitor the morale, fatigue and the quality of instruction of our QFIs.

Motivation is maintained because the job is a good one – it’s very satisfying seeing students succeed, and it’s a good feeling turning around a struggling student.

There is also some staff flying available, and it’s a good social environment. ” “I guess the measure of a good QFI is they will be able to gauge a student’s ability to go to the next level before they sit the test and will derive satisfaction from doing so,” said Steyn. At the end of the day, most of the guys here are here to fly, and they all have a common goal. ”

The Future, On Hold

The Department of Defence’s Air 5428 Pilot Training System project to succeed the current BFTS/2FTS arrangement was first detailed in the 2004 Defence Capability Plan, but like most other uncontracted defence acquisition projects it is essentially on hold for now while the government completes its White Paper process. Instead, BAE Systems has continued to operate BFTS under contract extensions.

‘First pass’ approval for the new ADF pilot training system is expected sometime next year, but with the Defence White Paper and possibly a new Defence Capability Plan likely to be released before first pass approval, likely industry bidders for the ambitious project have kept themselves busy covering all Air 5428 possibilities by positioning themselves to offer everything from platformonly to full ‘turn-key’ solutions across the ADF’s basic and advanced fixed wing training regimes, as well as the related Air 9000 Phase 7 Helicopter Air Training Scheme (HATS).

“A range of acquisition strategies have been investigated as part of the process to develop capability options for first pass,” the Director General Aerospace Development, GPCAPT Mark Green, told AA. “The number, type and characteristics of the training platforms will be determined by the system design process … all options are on the table. A holistic approach to training design has and will continue to be taken so that the transition point of Navy and Army students from the fixed-wing to the rotary-wing environment can be optimised. ” So while the Air 5428 and Air 9000/7 solutions will remain separate projects and selected through two tender processes, there will be a degree of coordination between the project teams who fall under the same directorate within the ADF’s Capability Development Group (CDG).

For now, the joint facility model offered by BAE Systems and the ADF at Tamworth points to the kind of industry partnering likely for Air 5428, where the ADF can focus in on its core competencies and industry can more cost effectively provide services from aircraft ownership and provision of catering.