Hamble College of Air Training

Last updated

Hamble College of Air Training was a flight training centre in Hampshire, England.

During the late 1950s it became apparent that there was going to be a shortage of ex military pilots who would be available to crew British civil aircraft. The two (then) state owned airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Aviation, proposed a flying school based loosely on the Royal Air Force's officer training college at Cranwell. The site chosen was a small airfield at Hamble, Hampshire in the Southern United Kingdom, used at the time by Air Service Training and Southampton University Air Squadron. The first course of cadets began training in 1960.

The college continued operations until the mid-1980s: British Airways (the merged BOAC and BEA) announced the closure in 1982 and in 1984 the land was sold for development and the equipment disposed of.

For the first few years of operation the course lasted two years: later courses were shortened to eighteen months. Cadets were accepted equally from the ranks of school leavers and university graduates: previous flying experience was not a requirement. Following fifteen weeks of ground study, ab initio and, later, advanced flying training commenced.

Ground training included aerodynamics, astronavigation, meteorology, propulsion and many other disciplines. Flying training commenced after fifteen weeks, initially on De Havilland Chipmunk then Piper Cherokee aircraft, progressing to twin engine experience on Piper Apaches and later Beechcraft Barons. A graduate would leave the college with a British commercial pilot's licence and a "frozen" airline transport pilot's licence, which could be converted into a full ATPL after further examinations and having accumulated the requisite flying hours.

Related Research Articles

Bristol Britannia British four-engined turboprop airliner, 1952

The Bristol Type 175 Britannia is a retired British medium-to-long-range airliner built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company in 1952 to fly across the Commonwealth. During development two prototypes were lost and the turboprop engines proved susceptible to inlet icing, which delayed entry into service while solutions were sought.

British European Airways Defunct British airline (1946-74)

British European Airways (BEA), formally British European Airways Corporation, was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974.

Caledonian Airways Scottish private charter airline from 1961 until a merger in 1970

Caledonian Airways was a wholly private, independent Scottish charter airline formed in April 1961. It began with a single 104-seat Douglas DC-7C leased from Sabena. Caledonian grew rapidly over the coming years to become the leading transatlantic "affinity group" charter operator by the end of the decade. During that period, passenger numbers grew from just 8,000 in 1961 to 800,000 in 1970. The latter represented 22.7% of all British non-scheduled passengers. It also became Britain's most consistently profitable and financially most secure independent airline of its era, never failing to make a profit in all its ten years of existence. By the end of 1970, Caledonian operated an all-jet fleet consisting of eleven aircraft and provided employment for over 1,000 workers. At that time, its principal activities included group charters between North America, Europe and the Far East using Boeing 707s, and general charter and inclusive tour (IT) activities in Europe utilising One-Elevens. This was also the time Caledonian merged with British United Airways (BUA), the largest contemporary independent airline and leading private sector scheduled carrier in the United Kingdom, and formed British Caledonian.

Avro York 1942 transport aircraft family by Avro

The Avro York was a British transport aircraft developed by Avro during the Second World War. The design was derived from the Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, several sections of the York and Lancaster being identical. Due to the importance of Lancaster production, York output proceeded slowly until 1944, after which a higher priority was placed upon transport aircraft.

Dan-Air Airline based in the United Kingdom (1953-92)

Dan-Air was an airline based in the United Kingdom and a wholly owned subsidiary of London shipbroking firm Davies and Newman. It was started in 1953 with a single aircraft. Initially, it operated cargo and passenger charter flights from Southend (1953–1955) and Blackbushe airports (1955–1960) using a variety of piston-engined aircraft before moving to a new base at Gatwick Airport in 1960, followed by expansion into inclusive tour (IT) charter flights and all-year round scheduled services. The introduction of two de Havilland Comet series 4 jet aircraft in 1966 made Dan-Air the second British independent airline after British United Airways to begin sustained jet operations.

British Airtours was a British charter airline with flight operations out of London Gatwick and Manchester Airports.

Singapore Flying College Flight school in Singapore

The Singapore Flying College is a CAAS approved flight school based in Singapore. Established in 1988 under the Singapore Airlines Group, it is the training school for cadet pilots with Singapore Airlines, Scoot and Singapore Airlines Cargo.

Mike Bannister is an airline pilot. He is most famous as the Chief Pilot of British Airways' Concorde fleet, a post which he held from 1995 until its withdrawal from service in 2003.

Short S.26

The Short S.26 G-class was a large transport flying boat designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Short Brothers. It was designed to achieve a non-stop transatlantic capability, increasing the viability of long distant services/duties.

Airwork Services

Airwork Limited, also referred to during its history as Airwork Services Limited, is a wholly owned subsidiary company of VT Group plc. It has a long and rich history in providing a variety of defence support services to the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm and overseas air forces, as well as having played an important role in the development of civil aviation – both in the United Kingdom and abroad.

British Eagle

British Eagle International Airlines was a major British independent airline that operated from 1948 until it went into liquidation in 1968. It operated scheduled and charter services on a domestic, international and transatlantic basis over the years.

Airways Flying Club

The Airways flying club was formed in 1948 under the name of the Airways Aero Club, by employees of British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The club is operated by Airways Aero Associations Ltd, and flies out of Wycombe Air Park.

CAE Oxford, part of CAE Inc., is an ab initio flight training network. It provides integrated aviation training and resourcing services. Professional airline pilots have been trained at Oxford Aviation Academy flight school since 1961.

Cambrian Airways

Cambrian Airways was an airline based in the United Kingdom which ran operations from Cardiff Airport and Liverpool Airport between 1935 and 1974. It was incorporated into British Airways when BOAC, BEA, Cambrian and Northeast merged on 1 April 1974.

Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport 1930–1957 airport of Bristol, England

Bristol (Whitchurch) Airport, also known as Whitchurch Airport, was a municipal airport in Bristol, England, three miles (5 km) south of the city centre, from 1930 to 1957. It was the main airport for Bristol and the surrounding area. During World War II, it was one of the few civil airports in Europe that remained operational, enabling air connections to Lisbon and Shannon and onwards to the United States.

Air Service Training (AST) is an organisation in Perth, Scotland, that has been training engineers and pilots for airlines, maintenance organisations and the military since 1931. It is owned by Perth College UHI, with training taking place on the college campus and at Perth Airport, near Scone. In addition to holding a UKCAA Part 147 Approved Basic Training Approval AST Also holds Direct Foreign EASA Part 147 Basic Training Approval and Nepalese NCAR 147 Approval.

Giles Guthrie

Sir Giles Connop McEachern Guthrie, 2nd Baronet, was an English aviator, merchant banker and later, an airline industry executive, serving as the chairman and chief executive of the state owned airline British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).

British Overseas Airways Corporation Defunct British state-owned airline (1939-74)

British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passing of the Civil Aviation Act 1946, European and South American services passed to two further state-owned airlines, British European Airways (BEA) and British South American Airways (BSAA). BOAC absorbed BSAA in 1949, but BEA continued to operate British domestic and European routes for the next quarter century. A 1971 Act of Parliament merged BOAC and BEA, effective 31 March 1974, forming today's British Airways. For most of its history its main rival was Pan Am.

Athelstan Sigfrid Mellersh Rendall OBE, known to his friends as Flaps Rendall, was a British pilot.

Hugh Palliser Kingsley Dibley is a former commercial airline pilot and trainer who made contributions toward conserving fuel and controlling noise during aircraft operations. He was also a successful racing car driver and race car constructor.

References

http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1967/1967%20-%200386.jpg

Coordinates: 50°55′1.35″N1°26′10.91″W / 50.9170417°N 1.4363639°W / 50.9170417; -1.4363639