The unit was formed in 1925 and initially operated out a runway located next to RAF Engineering school at Fen causeway in Cambridge.[2] After a brief spell at RAF Duxford,[3] the squadron moved in 1949 to a new home at Cambridge "Marshall's" or "Teversham" Airport where it remained until 1999 and its transfer away to RAF Wyton.[4] 15 years later, the squadron was moved again, to RAF Wittering.[5]
Present day
Cambridge University Air Squadron offers basic flying training and adventure training to undergraduates and graduates and encourages members to take up a career as an officer in one of the branches of the Royal Air Force.
Student members hold the title of Officer Cadet, which carries the privileges, but not the rank, of a commissioned officer. Students may apply for an Acting Pilot Officer course in the RAF Volunteer Reserves, with four being selected per year. Officer Cadets are required to attend a minimum of one training night a week during full term, usually a lecture by a guest speaker on an aspect of the Royal Air Force, another military unit or Air Power. They are also expected to take part in two weeks of continuous training during the Long Vacation. There are also camps during all university vacations for sports and adventure training. Periods of intense flying training (PIFTs) are conducted over the Easter and Long Vacations.
CUAS is based at RAF Wittering a station which they share with the University of London Air Squadron, and is equipped with Grob Tutor T Mk 1s.[6]
The Hack Trophy
The Hack Trophy is awarded annually to the University Air Squadron for best all-round performance covering flying training, flying standards and competitions, ground school training, organisation and administration. Cambridge UAS won the trophy in 1970, 1974, 1975 (the year in which the squadron celebrated its 50th anniversary as the first-formed UAS) and 1977 (runner-up in 1976).
Kate Saunders, the first female to eject in the UK; aged 22, studied classics at Queens' College, Cambridge, from the independent King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham; on Wednesday 25 September 1991, she ejected from a two-seat Harrier XZ147[8] from RAF Wittering, with pilot Sqn Ldr Ashley Stevenson, later the station commander from 2005-06, suffering a broken leg and pelvis; she was seriously ill with 28% burns; the ejection seat was typically designed for the weight of a male; a lighter female would, likely, have more acceleration;[9][10] she left hospital at the end of November 1991;[11] in September 1994, she married her flight instructor from RAF Cranwell; she left the RAF in September 1995, being medically discharged; she taught Classics at Dauntseys School in Wiltshire from 2006 to 2019