Squadron History

Northumbrian Universities Air Squadron (NUAS) was originally formed as Durham University Air Squadron in 1941. The Squadron was located at Woolsington, which is now Newcastle international airport, and between 1941 and 1947 10 Royal Air Force University Short Courses were trained in preparation for war service.

After the war, Durham was amongst the 14 University Air Squadrons retained and reorganised as part of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. When King's College was established as the independent University of Newcastle upon Tyne in August 1963, the Squadron's name changed to its present one and members were recruited from both Durham and Newcastle. NUAS has more recently widened its catchment area for recruiting and now also draws members from the universities of Northumbria at Newcastle, Sunderland and Teesside. The location for NUAS flying operations has moved several times since the Squadron was formed. The first move was from Woolsington to Usworth, near Sunderland, in 1949, followed by relocation to RAF Ouston in 1957. On the closure of Ouston in 1974 the Squadron moved to its present location at RAF Leeming where it has remained, except for a short period at Teesside Airport during preparation of Leeming for Tornado operations, ever since.

The idea of University Air Squadrons was originally conceived by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Hugh Trenchard. The first units to be formed were the Oxford and Cambridge UASs in 1925, followed by the London Squadron in 1935. Initially, the Squadrons were equipped with such front-line aircraft as the Bristol F2B Fighter, still in service from the First World War, but these soon gave way to more modern training aircraft, such as the Avro 504N and Avro Tutor, which became standard equipment for all UASs until 1939. The Munich Crisis and the period of re-armament just prior to the Second World War required a massive increase in number of pilot and officer recruits, and many more UASs were formed before and during the war years to provide for this need.

During this time most Squadrons were flying de Havilland Tiger Moths, and these were supplemented with North American Harvards, a type which was to remain in UAS service to the end of the 1950s. NUAS initially operated 5 Tiger Moth aircraft; these were replaced by Chipmunk T10s in 1951 and the squadron converted to the Scottish Aviation Bulldog TMk1, following the move to Leeming in 1974. NUAS converted onto the new Grob G115E Tutor in January 2001, which was selected by the Royal Air Force in mid-June 1998 for use in Elementary Flight Training, University Air Squadrons and the Air Cadet Air Experience Flights.

Although the NUAS flying headquarters has been somewhat peripatetic, until very recently, the Squadron retained its Administrative Headquarters in Newcastle. The original headquarters was in Windsor Terrace near the University, but when the building was demolished for road development in 1970, the headquarters was moved to the present location used for ground training.

Squadron Administrative Headquarters are now collocated with the Air Headquarters at Leeming although the former administrative headquarters are still leased to provide facilities for ground training and convenient venue for socisoicalal events. Despite all the other changes, the Squadron Badge and motto have remained the same; the motto being "Dat Scientia Alas" which translates as "Knowledge gives Wings."