Welcome to RAF Cranwell

RAF Cranwell is home to many of the Royal Air Force’s most prestigious training units. Most famous is the College that is responsible for the selection and initial training of all young officer and aircrew cadets as well as the recruiting of all ranks. RAF Cranwell is also an extremely busy flying training base. No 3 Flying Training School is responsible for the advanced training of pilots selected for multi-engined aircraft and the rear-crew of all aircraft types. No 1 Elementary Flying Training School is both headquartered and conducts a large part of its training from here, conducting the initial flying training of all military pilots. Together with air cadet flying this means many sorties are flown daily by our fleet of King Airs, Dominies and Tutor aircraft. Other units that are based here include the Air Cadet Organisation, Central Flying School, Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering, Air Warfare Centre, the bands of the RAF College and the RAF Regiment and other specialist medical, engineering and security organisations. So, the Station is a diverse and vibrant place with a world-class reputation for training the very best military officers and aircrew. Of course, none of this would be possible without the vital support staff on Station, many of them civil servants or civilian contractors, who sustain all of these specialist units.