Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron

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Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron
Yorkshire UAS
Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron badge.png
Squadron badge
Active15 Mar 1969 – present
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Ensign of the Royal Air Force.svg Royal Air Force
RoleOfficer Training, Ab-Initio Flying Training
Part of No. 6 Flying Training School
Garrison/HQ RAF Leeming
Motto(s) Latin: Universitate sublimis
(All Raised on High) [1]
Equipment Grob Tutor T1
Website Official website
Insignia
Identification
symbol		 YUAS Badge:In front of a Rose Argent barbed and seeded slipped and leaved all proper an open Book Azure/Or/Argent

The Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron (more commonly known as YUAS) is a Royal Air Force flying training unit that currently operates out of RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, England. One of fourteen University Air Squadrons, the unit traditionally recruits students from universities across the Yorkshire and Humber region and provides bursaries for those who wish to pursue a career in the Royal Air Force.

Contents

History

YUAS was formed in 1969 when the University Air Squadron (UAS) from Hull and the UAS from Leeds, were combined to make YUAS. [2] Leeds UAS was formed in January 1941 and had been allocated to airfields at Sherburn-in-Elmet and RAF Yeadon. [3] Whilst at Yeadon, the squadron represented the final RAF presence when the airfield had gone over to a commercial operation as (what is now) Leeds Bradford Airport. [4] Hull UAS was formed at RAF Driffield, but flew out of Leconfield and Brough. With the amalgamation of the two squadrons in 1969, flying was retained at RAF Leconfield for students from Hull University. [5] [6] As a formed squadron, YUAS first flew from RAF Church Fenton between 1969 and 1975.

The Queen approved the badge for the squadron in 1972; the blazon depicts a Yorkshire white rose with an open book on top of it. The rose represents Yorkshire, and the book represents the universities of the county. [7] In July 1976, two Bulldog aircraft from the squadron were damaged over Southport beach in north west England. One aircraft went into a spin from which the aircrew could not recover, and both pilot and instructor bailed out, with the instructor's parachute opening just before he hit the ground, which resulted in spinal damage. The student pilot was unhurt. Another aircraft landed on the beach to check on the bailed-out crew, and this second aircraft flipped over in the mud. All aircrew survived. [8] [9]

When Church Fenton was placed under a care and maintenance programme as a Relief Landing Ground (RLG) for RAF Linton-on-Ouse, [10] the squadron moved to RAF Finningley in 1975. It returned to a resurgent Church Fenton in 1995 when RAF Finningley was closed. [11]

YUAS is one of fourteen University Air Squadrons that are spread out across Great Britain [12] and it recruits from the universities at Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Sheffield and York, with about 30 new intakes every year. [13] Alongside the original universities that were listed for YUAS, students from Sheffield Hallam, Leeds College of Music, Leeds Metropolitan University and York St John University, can also apply to join YUAS. Students who join YUAS are enlisted as Officer Cadets in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve [14] and receive 30 hours of flying training annually. [15]

In 1998, a contract was signed to replace the Bulldog trainer aircraft with the Grob G115 (Tutor). [16] A private company, Vosper Thorneycroft, were contracted to supply maintenance on the aircraft through a private contract. [17] The Tutor aircraft was delivered to the University Air Squadrons from July 1999 onwards. [18]

In 2013, it was announced that RAF Church Fenton would be closing down and that all units would need to be transferred elsewhere. In the case of YUAS and No. 9 Air Experience Flight RAF, [19] this would mean a transfer to RAF Linton-on-Ouse, some 7 miles (12 km) north-west of York. [20] In 2014, a year after moving to Linton-on-Ouse, YUAS won the best University Air Squadron beating 13 other University Air Squadrons across Great Britain. [21]

Due to the closure of RAF Linton-on-Ouse in 2021, [22] YUAS relocated to RAF Leeming on 1 December 2020. An announcement was made on that day that YUAS would operate alongside Northumbrian Universities Air Squadron at RAF Leeming. [23]

Locations

Related Research Articles

Leeds East Airport Airport in Church Fenton, North Yorkshire

Leeds East Airport Church Fenton, formerly RAF Church Fenton, is an airport and former Royal Air Force station located 4.3 miles (6.9 km) south-east of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England and 6.3 miles (10.1 km) north-west of Selby, North Yorkshire, near the village of Church Fenton. The airport has had a licensing application from the UK Civil Aviation Authority rejected. This led to the scrapping of plans to allow regular scheduled passenger flights and charter flights to various European destinations. The airport has subsequently been awarded an operating licence for private use.

RAF Leeming Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Leeming or RAF Leeming is a Royal Air Force station located near Leeming, North Yorkshire, England. It was opened in 1940 and was jointly used by the RAF and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Between 1950 and 1991, it operated mostly as a training base with Quick Reaction Force (QRF) Tornado F3 fighters based there in the latter stages of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. Since 2006, it has become the home of the deployable RAF communications cadre and the home of No. 135 Expeditionary Air Wing.

RAF Dishforth Former Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Dishforth was an RAF airfield near to Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. Opened in 1936, the base was used as a bomber airfield during the Second World War with both British and Canadian squadrons flying missions from the airfield. After the war, the base was used by various squadrons and training units before being disposed of in 1992 and handed over to the Army Air Corps.

RAF Leconfield Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Leconfield or more simply RAF Leconfield is a former Royal Air Force station located in Leconfield, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.

RAF Linton-on-Ouse Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

RAF Linton-on-Ouse was a Royal Air Force station at Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire, England, 10 miles (16 km) north-west of York. It had satellite stations at RAF Topcliffe and Dishforth Airfield.

RAF Topcliffe Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Topcliffe or RAF Topcliffe is a former Royal Air Force station in North Yorkshire, England.

An Air Experience Flight (AEF) is a training unit of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve whose main purpose is to give introductory flying experience to cadets from the Air Training Corps and the Combined Cadet Force. As of 2019, thirteen AEFs are active.

RAF Finningley Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Finningley or RAF Finningley was a Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force station at Finningley, in the Metropolitan Borough of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The station straddled the historic county boundaries of both Nottinghamshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire.

Grob G 115 Flight training aircraft

The Grob G 115 is a general aviation fixed-wing aircraft, primarily used for flight training. It is built in Germany by Grob Aircraft. The E variant with a 3-blade variable pitch propeller is in service with the Finnish Air Force, the Royal Navy and Army Air Corps for Flying Grading and in the Royal Air Force as part of No. 6 Flying Training School which provides flying to both University Air Squadrons and Air Experience Flights to Cadets of the Royal Air Force Air Cadets. As of 2020, the Tutor is still being used by the RAF for some Elementary Flying Training (3FTS) but is due to be phased out in favour of its replacement, the Prefect T1.

No. 616 Squadron RAF Military unit

No. 616 Squadron is an active Reserve unit of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) assigned to the RAF ISTAR Force at RAF Waddington. It was originally formed as a unit of the British Auxiliary Air Force in 1938, active throughout World War 2 as a fighter unit, becoming the 1st operational RAF unit to fly jets and disbanded in 1957. The unit reformed in its current guise in April 2019 as 616 Squadron Royal Auxiliary Air Force.

RAF Driffield Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Driffield or RAF Driffield is a former Royal Air Force station in the East Riding of Yorkshire, in England. It lies about 2 miles (3 km) south-west of Driffield and 11 miles (18 km) north-west of Beverley. It is now operated by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation, as the Driffield Training Area.

Number 76 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It was formed during World War I as a home defence fighter squadron and in its second incarnation during World War II flew as a bomber squadron, first as an operational training unit and later as an active bomber squadron. With the end of the war the squadron converted to the role of transport squadron, to be reactivated shortly in the bomber role during the 1950s. From 2007 to 2011, it was a training unit, equipped with the Short Tucano at RAF Linton-on-Ouse.

No. 4 Group was a Royal Air Force group, originally formed in the First World War, and reformed in the wake of the Second World War, mostly part of RAF Bomber Command, but ending its days in RAF Transport Command.

RAF Hutton Cranswick Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Hutton Cranswick or more simply RAF Hutton Cranswick is a former Royal Air Force station located to the south of Driffield and immediately south west of the village of Hutton Cranswick in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The station was developed as a fighter base with many Spitfire fighter squadrons passing through. It was used by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), and several Polish Fighter Squadrons of the RAF. It was opened in 1942, and disposed of in 1946.

No. 9 Air Experience Flight RAF Military unit

No. 9 Air Experience Flight is one of thirteen Air Experience Flights (AEFs) run by the Royal Air Force for the Air Cadet Organisation. The primary purpose of an AEF is to provide air experience to members of the Air Training Corps, Combined Cadet Force (RAF) Section and occasionally, the Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets and the Air Scouts.

No. 3 Flying Training School RAF Military unit

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RAF Church Fenton Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

Royal Air Force Church Fenton or RAF Church Fenton was a former Royal Air Force (RAF) station located 4.3 miles (6.9 km) south east of Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, England and 6.3 miles (10.1 km) north west of Selby, North Yorkshire, near the village of Church Fenton. The station was opened in 1937 and during the Second World War was home to air defence aircraft, a role retained by the station until the 1960s when it became a training station. It closed in 2013 and is now a civilian airfield known as Leeds East Airport.

No. 6 Flying Training School RAF is a Flying Training School (FTS) within No. 22 (Training) Group of the Royal Air Force that delivers flying training to University Air Squadrons and Air Experience Flights.

RAF Shipton Former Royal Air Force base in Yorkshire, England

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References

  1. ↑ Pine, L.G. (1983). A dictionary of mottoes (1 ed.). London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p.  242. ISBN   0-7100-9339-X.
  2. ↑ "Yorkshire UAS". www.rafchurchfenton.org.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Lake, Alan (1999). Flying units of the RAF : the ancestry, formation and disbandment of all flying units from 1912. Shrewsbury: Airlife. p. 134. ISBN   1-84037-086-6.
  4. ↑ Delve 2006, p. 281.
  5. ↑ Delve 2006, p. 165.
  6. ↑ "University Air Squadrons". www.rafweb.org. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron | RAF Heraldry Trust". rafht.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  8. ↑ Rees-Mogg, William, ed. (23 July 1976). "Four survive RAF crash". The Times. No. 59763. p. 2. ISSN   0140-0460.
  9. ↑ "Scottish Bulldog crash Southport". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  10. ↑ Halpenny, Bruce Barrymore (1990). Action stations (2 ed.). Wellingborough: Stephens. p. 52. ISBN   0-85059-532-0.
  11. ↑ Stead, Mark (13 April 2012). "65 homes planned for RAF Church Fenton airfield". York Press. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  12. ↑ Richards, Clive (2017). "The University Air Squadrons Early Years 1920–39" (PDF). www.comec.org.uk. pp. 32–34. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  13. 1 2 "Yorkshire Universities Air Squadron | Royal Air Force". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2018.
  14. ↑ "Prize appeal for RAF auction". Sheffield Star. 23 May 2012. ProQuest   1015265463.
  15. ↑ Woodward, Rachael; Jenkins, K. Neil; Williams, Alison J. (2015). The Value of the University Armed Service Units. London: Ubiquity Press. p. 11. ISBN   978-1-909188-57-0.
  16. ↑ "Tutor T1 | Royal Air Force". www.raf.mod.uk. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  17. ↑ "MORE STATIC AIRCRAFT TO VIEW". Lincolnshire Echo. 7 September 2017. p. 20. ISSN   0962-5003.
  18. ↑ Kidd, Wing Commander HR 'Ray' (2013). Horizons : the history of the Air Cadets. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Aviation. p. 114. ISBN   978-1-84884-654-8.
  19. ↑ "Yorkshire RAF base to be axed under defence cuts". The Yorkshire Post. 27 March 2013. ProQuest   1319709683.
  20. ↑ "290" (Map). York. 1:25,000. Explorer. Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN   9780319244876.
  21. ↑ "YUAS: A Year of Success | Linton Link Online". www.lintonlinkonline.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  22. ↑ King, Hannah (26 October 2019). "Tucano's Last Flight 30 Years After Entering Service". Forces Network. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  23. 1 2 "RAF Leeming: And then there were two | RAF Leeming Station Facebook Page" . Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  24. ↑ Delve 2006, p. 88.
  25. ↑ Delve 2006, p. 132.

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