RAF Cranwell
Station Crest
Role	Officer and Aircrew Training
Location	Near Sleaford, England
Date Founded	November 1915 (as RNAS base)

RAF Cranwell is a Royal Air Force station in Lincolnshire close to the village of Cranwell, near Sleaford. This image is Crown copyright protected. ... Location within the British Isles Sleaford is a town in North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... The Royal Air Force (often abbreviated to RAF) is the air force branch of the UK Armed Forces. ... Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs) is a county in the East Midlands of England. ... Cranwell is a village in mid Lincolnshire. ... Location within the British Isles Sleaford is a town in North Kesteven, Lincolnshire, England. ...

Sir Frank Whittle attended RAF Cranwell in the late 1920s. It was here that he formulated many of his ideas for the jet engine and it was at Cranwell on 15 May 1941, that the world's first true jet-engine flight took place of the Gloster E.28/39. Frank Whittle speaking to employees of NASA Glenn Research Center, USA, in 1946 Sir Frank Whittle (June 1, 1907 - August 9, 1996) was a Royal Air Force officer who invented the jet engine. ... A Pratt and Whitney turbofan engine for the F-15 Eagle is tested at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, USA. The tunnel behind the engine muffles noise and allows exhaust to escape. ... May 15 is the 135th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (136th in leap years). ... 1941 was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Gloster E.28/39, (also referred to as the Gloster Whittle, Gloster Pioneer, or Gloster G.40) was the first jet engined aircraft to fly in the United Kingdom. ...

Cranwell is home to the Royal Air Force College (RAFC), which trains the RAFs new officers on a 26-week course. It is thus the RAF equivalent of Sandhurst or the Britannia Royal Naval College, and is considered by some to be the spiritual home of the RAF. In military organizations, a commissioned officer is a member of the service who derives authority directly from a sovereign power, and as such holds a commission from that power. ... Sandhurst is the name of several villages in the UK, the most famous being the one in Berkshire near Camberley. ... The Britannia Royal Naval College (BRNC), founded on its present site on a hill above the town of Dartmouth, Devon, England, in 1905, is the principal location for the training of officers for the Royal Navy. ...

No.3 Flying Training School (FTS), training navigators and non-commissioned aircrew, is also based there. Cranwell is also home to two of the RAF bands. For the WWW browsers of the same name, see Netscape Navigator and Mozilla. ... A non-commissioned officer (sometimes noncommissioned officer), or NCO, is an enlisted member of an armed force who has been delegated leadership or command authority by a commissioned officer. ... In the Royal Air Force and United Kingdom the word Aircrew is used to describe the flying crew of the aeroplane. ...

It is also home to the Officer and Aircrew Selection Centre (OASC). Where all applicants to the RAF as Officers or non-commissioned aircrew, are put through a 4 day rigorous selection process. This is in 2 parts. Phase 1 includes Aptitude tests, a Fitness test, Medical and an Interview conducted by 2 boarding officers. If successful you proceed to Phase 2 which consists of a Group discussion, Group planning exercise, Leaderless hangar exercise, Individual planning exercise, Hangar command exercise and a final debrief. A non-commissioned officer (sometimes noncommissioned officer), or NCO, is an enlisted member of an armed force who has been delegated leadership or command authority by a commissioned officer. ... In the Royal Air Force and United Kingdom the word Aircrew is used to describe the flying crew of the aeroplane. ...

The Leaderless and Command exercises are conducted in a purpose built hangar. The scenarios generally require the team to travel from one point to another, moving from obstacle to obstacle, whilst obseving certain restrictions. i.e. transfer Alpha syndicate from point A to point B without touching the floor and also transferring a bag of fragile equipment in a 15 minute time frame.

Successful candidates are notified at a later date and are invited to attend Initial Officer Training (IOT).

Since the mid-1990s, Cranwell has been home to Headquarters, Air Cadets. The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a UK cadet force. ...