Members of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Flying Instructors School (FIS) have paid a visit to North Yorkshire to come face-to-face with their British RAF counterparts.
The visit to RAF Linton-on-Ouse was part of a fact-finding mission to allow the PAF to find out more about the RAF’s training programmes, particularly the advanced courses for pilots.
Linton is home to the Tucano wing of the RAF’s Central Flying School and it was explained to the Pakistani visitors how RAF fast-jet pilots are trained, as well as the importance of ground-based training using flight simulators.
Station Commander, Group Captain Mike Longstaff, said:
“More than half of the current syllabus at Linton is given over to synthetic training and our colleagues from Pakistan were keen to learn not only about the operational and cost benefits but also the positive environmental impact.”
RAF Linton-on-Ouse has close ties with the PAF and operates an ongoing reciprocal exchange system post which is currently filled by Flight Lieutenant Adeel Ahmad.
He said:
“I think it’s a really important programme. I’ve learned a great deal during my time here at Linton and will take those lessons back with me to Pakistan. For me personally the biggest thing I have had to learn is how to fly in British weather.”
Commanding Officer of the FIS, Wing Commander Kazim Hammad, said:
“Our visit to the RAF has allowed us to look at the cross-training ideas we both have and is designed to foster mutual learning. Our Air Forces are very similar to one another – as are our training methods. Indeed the programme of reciprocal visits has taken place now for some forty years.
“We are looking to remake our basic training flight simulators and it has been extremely helpful to see how the RAF uses their simulators.”
The Pakistan Air Force was born in August 1947 and began as a tiny auxiliary Service, with a small number of personnel and insignificant equipment, to emerge as a powerful weapon of the country’s defence in later years.
