What happens in the Air Cadet syllabus?

Well for starters, there are 4 classifications, First Class, Leading, Senior and Staff. Throughout the year, cadets receive lessons on certain subjects within these topics [for a full list see below]. These subjects are designed to further the cadets interest in general aviation and of course the RAF itself.

On completion of the entire course, cadets can receive a B-TEC in Aeronautical Studies.

First Class badge	Leading badge	Senior badge	Staff lanyard

First Class

The cadets study in this particular section:

• The Air Training Corps
• The RAF
• Initial Expedition Training
• Map Reading
• History of Flight
• Weapons Training (on the No.8 .22 rifle)

At the completion of this, cadets can expect to fly in the Grob Tutor training aircraft, the Viking/Vigilant gliders and to fire the No.8 target rifle. Also in this section, cadets learn the basics of drill and marching.

Leading

In this second stage of training, other areas are available, such as leadership, adventure training etc.

Topics sat in this area are:

• Principles of Flight
• Airmanship
• Basic Navigation

Senior

In this section, cadets sit topics in two of the following:

• Air Navigation
• Pilot Navigation
• Airframes
• Propulsion
• Advanced Airmanship
• Operational Flying
• Advanced Radio and Radar
• Satellite Communications

Staff

There are two parts to Staff Cadet training. The first part involves sitting any two of the above (Senior subjects) not sat for the Senior exam. The second part is an interview at Wing HQ, with an officer, on training younger cadets and also is much more focused on knowledge of the local area (local squadron names and numbers etc, and Wing Staff Officers etc).