Royal Naval School of Flight Deck Operations

Last updated
Royal Naval School of Flight Deck Operations
RNSFDO, SFDO
Cornwall UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Cornwall
Former namesRoyal Naval School of Aircraft Handling
General information
TypeTraining centre
AddressCornwall, TR12 7RH
Coordinates 50°05′15″N5°14′56″W / 50.0874°N 5.2489°W / 50.0874; -5.2489
Elevation80 m (262 ft)
Completed1959
Inaugurated1959
ClientFleet Air Arm
OwnerRoyal Navy

The Royal Naval School of Flight Deck Operations is the Fleet Air Arm's training establishment for aircraft handling.

Contents

History

It was known as the School of Aircraft Handling until November 1995, when the officer unit in Dorset joined. The whole site was at Gosport until 1957, and moved again in November 1959 to Cornwall. It included Naval Air Command Fire School.

The current site officially opened in October 1995. [1]

First night-time trials in September 2018 180929-N-ZB537-001.jpg
First night-time trials in September 2018

Training

The site trains around 1500 sailors per year. Training includes a 15 week course for aircraft handlers (AH) and flight deck officers.

Carrier sea training in June 2020 Carrier Sea Training MOD 45166688.jpg
Carrier sea training in June 2020

Structure

A new Flight Deck Training Simulator was built in November 2015 by Systems Engineering and Assessment (SEA) of Frome, costing £500,000. It has Kinect motion sensing. [2]

Four F-35 models were built in June 2017 by Gateguards Ltd of Cornwall. [3] [4]

The site has a 600ft practice flight deck.

See also

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References

  1. Navy News December 1995, page 18
  2. Navy News July 2016, page 2
  3. Navy News April 2017
  4. Naval Technology