Role and History
AIRCRAFT AND ROLE INFORMATION
The Beechcraft King Air is a twin-engine turboprop which entered RAF service in 2004. The fleet comprises seven King Air B200s and three B200GTs, the latter type featuring a fully electronic ‘glass cockpit’. The King Air is used as a multi-engine advanced pilot trainer by 45(Reserve) Squadron, which is part of 3 Flying Training School based at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire. Prior to flying the King Air, students who have been streamed to fly multi-engine aircraft at the end of elementary flying training undertake survival training and personal development training to prepare them for the rigours of operational service. They then join 45(R) Sqn where they complete an additional eleven hours training on the multi-engine lead-in (MELIN) course, flying the Grob 115EA Tutor. During the MELIN course, students are taught crew co-operation and develop their instrument flying skills to prepare them for their advanced flying training on the King Air.
King Air students learn essential multi-engine techniques such as general handling, asymmetric flying, emergency handling and radio-aids navigation, and consolidate the multi-crew skills acquired on the MELIN course. As the course 
progresses, the emphasis shifts towards developing captaincy, crew resource management, and managing the King Air's avionics systems. Students also learn advanced skills such as formation flying, low-level flying and airways navigation, and are expected to plan and manage composite missions involving up to three aircraft. On completion of the course students are awarded their coveted pilot’s wings, before conversion to their frontline aircraft type at an Operational Conversion Unit. A variety of shorter King Air courses is available with students’ previous flying experience determining which course they undertake; this experience can be as little as 70 hours for a student arriving straight from elementary flying training, to several thousand hours for a qualified pilot transferring to the multi-engine role from fast jets or helicopters.
The King Air has performed extremely well in RAF service, and has proved popular with students and instructors alike. In addition to its flying training role, the King Air can be used to carry up to six passengers or freight. Its combination of a well-proven airframe with advanced cockpit and systems make it an ideal training platform for the varied multi-engine aircraft in RAF service.
45 SQUADRON HISTORY
Formed on 1 March 1916, 45 Squadron has served all over the World, notably in Egypt and Iraq, where in 1922 it adopted the nickname ‘The Flying Camels’. This was chosen, along with the winged-camel motif, as an appropriate identity for a squadron acting as the ‘ship of the desert’ flying the Baghdad-Cairo mail route. Pursuing the theme of identification, at the same time the Squadron aircraft were given names. A Flight elected to use names beginning with the letter ‘A’, while B Flight adopted the names of trawlers in Kipling’s wartime poem Minesweepers. The name of each aircraft was made into brass letters, about 3 inches tall which were mounted on polished wooden batons and fixed to either side of the nose of their Vickers Vernon aircraft. Later aircraft were given names beginning with the letter ‘V’ or drawn from Greek mythology
On 11 Jun 1940, a year after receiving Blenheims, the Sqn flew the first offensive mission of WW2 in the Middle East. 45 Sqn was one of the very few units to engage German, Italian, French and Japanese forces, and played a significant role in the re-taking of Burma with its Mosquito fighter-bombers. Post-war, it operated in the maritime strike role, for which it was re-equipped with Beaufighters.
The Sqn has since flown many more aircraft types including the Vampire, Canberra and Hunter, finally disbanding as the Tornado Weapons Conversion Unit in 1992. 45(Reserve) Sqn reformed later that year, taking on the multi-engine training role at RAF Finningley operating the Jetstream. The Sqn moved to RAF Cranwell in 1995, where in 2004 it re-equipped with the King Air.
As part of the Sqn’s 90th Anniversary celebrations, the King Airs received the following names: Assyrian, Aurora, Golden Gain, Morpheus, Stormcock, Vagabond and Valkyrie. These names can all be identified with previous squadron aircraft; one of Golden Gain’s name plates is mounted in the Sqn crewroom; Valkyrie was the personal aircraft of ‘Bomber’ Harris when he was Officer Commanding 45 Squadron. More recently, the three GT aircraft were named Daedalus, Hercules and Nimrod. Daedalus was used by the Squadron in the 1920s and links the Squadron to RAF Cranwell which was formerly HMS Daedalus. Hercules and Nimrod have been chosen as a mark of respect to those multi-engine operators who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country in recent operations operating those particular types. 
