The US Air Force served as the primary partner and mentor during these challenging years - in June 1956 the Americans handed over the first aircraft: 49 Piper L-18s and Harvard T-6s. In early 1957 the Luftwaffe established a first transport unit receiving 20 ex-USAF C-47s. Meanwhile the Marineflieger acquired 16 Fairey Gannets for anti-submarine duties. Prior to this during 1955 the decision was taken to acquire 266 Piaggio P-149s, 190 of which were subsequently built by Focke Wulf in Bremen.
Both USAF and RAF airbase facilities were inspected, and the organizational structure and tactical operational methods of the respective units were explained and demonstrated.
Prior to this the initial steps toward flight proficiency refresher training for the first post-war German military aviators had been set in motion. As early as the autumn of 1952, Colonel/Oberst (Ret.) Steinhoff and Colonel (Ret.) Kuhlmey traveled to Italy to receive initial flight training on powered aircraft at the Italian Aero Club. In November of the same year, the Lockheed T-33A jet trainer was demonstrated to both men at the USAF’s 36th Fighter Bomber Wing in Fürstenfeldbruck. While not publicised at the time, the first military flight by former Wehrmacht pilots aboard a two-seat T-33A in the Federal Republic of Germany took place there on 24 November 1952. In late June 1953, this was followed by in-depth T-33A familiarization—covering high-altitude flight, aerobatics, landings, and bad-weather approaches (GCA)—for Colonel/Oberst (Ret.) Steinhoff, Colonel (Ret.) Kuhlmey, and Captain/Hptm. (Ret.) Krupinski with the US Air Force at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. Each of the three men was allocated three hours of T-33A flight time. In July of the same year, Hptm. Cescotti received a brief orientation flight in the Harvard T-6, followed in November 1953 by a flight in the T-33A out of Fürstenfeldbruck.
The refresher training of pilots with wartime experience could not have been carried out without utilizing the immediately and generously available training capacities of the US Air Force at Landsberg and Fürstenfeldbruck. There was no serious alternative to this.
Below; entrance to Fürstenfeldbruck air base as seen in 1954 (via Keith Jones)
Initial flight training for young pilot candidates without wartime experience was begun in 1956/57, running parallel to the "Conventional Refresher Courses" at Landsberg. In the summer of 1957, the USAF's "7351st Flying Training Wing MDAP" (Mutual Defense Assistance Program) assumed responsibility for training at the German Pilot Training School "A" under its first commander, Colonel Werner Streib, wartime Nachtjagd Kommodore and Knight's Cross recipient.
Developments at Fürstenfeldbruck proceeded in parallel. From late 1957 onwards—coinciding with the disbanding of the USAF's "7330th Flying Training Wing MDAP"— Oberst/Colonel Dietrich Hrabak served as the first commander of Pilot Training School "B," responsible for advanced training, including Basic Jet Training.
Following the completion of the initial setup phase, Pilot Training School "A" was officially commissioned on February 1, 1957.(Flugzeugführerschule A)
The airbase was handed over from the USAF to the Luftwaffe on December 14, 1957, and the last American flight instructors departed Landsberg on May 22, 1958. The USAF did not agree to the Luftwaffe's request to extend the deployment of American instructional staff for another two to three years—a move intended to allow German instructors from Landsberg to be transferred to operational units. As an alternative, the Luftwaffe Command Staff requested the Royal Air Force in April 1958 to provide 100 flight instructors for a period of several years. The Royal Air Force acceded to the request, and the corresponding agreement was signed on August 6. The first British flight instructors arrived in Landsberg as early as the end of August. In the ensuing months, a total of approximately 60 British flight instructors were assigned to Pilot Training School "A," while another 40 began their duties at Pilot Training School "S." The "RAF Mission"—to which all 100 British flight instructors were subject for disciplinary purposes—was led by a Wing Commander based at Landsberg.
About half of the British flight instructors at Flying Training School "A" flew the Harvard Mk IV. The remaining officers took on instructional duties with the new Fouga Magister jet trainer, which was introduced at Flying Training School "A" starting in 1958.
Hans-Ulrich Flade recalled;
".. The Luftwaffe also arranged a programme with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) for basic and advanced flight training—covering the period from 1957 to the end of 1959—in order to secure the urgently needed aircrew required to stand up operational units. We were already partnered with the Canadians through the purchase of the Canadian version of the F-86 "Sabre." It was fortunate that the RCAF, having drastically reduced the training capacities that dated back to the earlier "Empire Training" scheme, was able to offer up its surplus capacity for use.
This made it possible to send just under 300 young student pilots to Canada for training. Flying was conducted using the British de Havilland "Chipmunk" and the American T-6 and T-33—all of which were manufactured under license by Canadair. The head of the "German Air Force Liaison Office RCAF," based in London, Ontario, was the then-Major Roderich Cescotti—who was thus able to undergo his own "refresher" training as well..."
The Fouga Magister—a jet trainer purchased in large numbers by the Bundeswehr and built under license in Germany—enabled the expansion of training capacity.
Subsequently, some student pilots proceeded directly to a basic Fouga Magister jet training course without prior training on the Harvard T-6 propeller aircraft. This course comprised approximately 110 flight hours, consisting of a brief aircraft familiarization followed by aerobatics, instrument flying, formation flying, cross-country flying, and night flying.
On 13 November 1956, the operational staff of Luftwaffe Weapons School 30 (Fighter-Bomber Training) was commissioned at Fürstenfeldbruck under Major Walter Krupinski; it was equipped with 75 F-84F aircraft but did not yet have a single fully trained pilot. Once seven pilots had finally assembled at the school, Gerd Barkhorn took command of their 1st Staffel.
Below; November 1956 - F-84s under new ownership at Fürstenfeldbruck- noch ohne Flugzeugführer. Barkhorn climbs out of the cockpit...
In March 1957, Weapons School 30 began relocating from Fürstenfeldbruck to Büchel in the Eifel region. Its first squadron could not follow until the summer, however, as the bad-weather approach aids at Büchel were not yet operational.
In the meantime, the Luftwaffe leadership had decided to have its fighter-bomber pilots trained at Luke AFB, Arizona. This allowed the training mission of Weapons School 30—regarding pilots to be trained in Germany—to be gradually phased out. While the build-up of Fighter-Bomber Wing 31 (JaboG 31) at Nörvenich—under its first Kommodore/Wing Commander, Gerd Barkhorn—was commencing in the summer and autumn of 1957 based on the 1st Training Squadron, Fighter-Bomber Wing 33 (JaboG 33) was simultaneously being formed at Büchel from the training unit, under Wing Commander/Kommodore Walter Krupinski. The new wing maintained a 3rd Squadron for a time to handle remaining training tasks. In the years that followed, JaboG 33 at Büchel served as the organizational and personnel "nucleus" from which Fighter-Bomber Wings 32 (Lechfeld), 34 (Memmingen), and 35 (Husum) subsequently evolved. JaboG 36 (Hopsten) was established in 1962/63 through the takeover...
Flade ;
".. In 1957, fighter training for the new Air Force was still lacking. As "refresher" trainees, we were entirely focused on the "Jabo" (fighter-bomber) role, having seen the first F-84Fs of Weapons School 30 in operation at Fürstenfeldbruck starting in late 1956. We were strictly instructed to grant absolute priority in the traffic pattern to these operational aircraft while flying the T-33... "
A clear "pecking order" existed among the aircraft types. From the winter of 1956/57 onwards, even higher priority was given to the US Air Force's first North American F-100 "Super Sabres," which operated out of "Fürsty" for a time. The former WWII fighter aces marveled at these truly massive birds—the first to be equipped with afterburners—as they ignited their engines with a deafening "bang" and roared into the sky trailing long tongues of flame.
With the Canadians – Hptm. Josten, Oberstleutnant/Lieutenant Colonel Wehnelt and Oblt. Flade.
".. Our "Basic Jet" course (JF-4) had concluded in May 1957 with a formal graduation ceremony at Fürsty. We were mentally prepared for further training in the States. One fine spring day in May, "Jolle" Josten and I were having lunch at the Fürsty Officers' Club when one of the three "Englishmen"—Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Wehnelt—headed toward our table, looking wiry and beaming with enthusiasm: "I’ve been looking for the two of you—we’re going to establish the Luftwaffe’s Weapons School 10 together!" What was this all about? We had already pictured ourselves in sunny Arizona. Yet here was our new school commander, suddenly sitting at our table and dropping a bombshell. He must have sensed our awkward reticence. "The three of us will undergo conversion training on the F-86 'Sabre' with the Canadians in Zweibrücken this summer, and we’ll receive our instructor training there as well," he said encouragingly. "Josten, you will take command of the school’s 1st Squadron, and Flade, you are to become the operations officer on the school staff..."
So much for the enticing prospect of seeing and flying in the USA. Soon, however, we shared in our new commander's joy and enthusiasm for this special mission and its challenge of building something entirely new from scratch. The Air Force (the one "up there somewhere in Bonn," which seemed nebulous and distant to us in the cockpit) had decided to include the Canadian version of the North American F-86 "Sabre," built by Canadair, in the inventory of the newly established weapons school and its future units.
The plan was to fly the Sabre 5 version equipped with the Canadian Orenda-10 engine until the Sabre 6s—upgraded by Dornier in Oberpfaffenhofen with the more powerful Orenda-14 engine—could be delivered to the school and operational units. This sounded promising; the Canadian F-86s enjoyed a better reputation than their American counterparts, as their higher thrust was said to make them significantly more agile.
Ultimately, we were in agreement: we had an interesting mission to stand up the unit, would receive support over the years from a large RCAF Advisory Team (fighter instructors and several technicians) at the school, and—much like our fighter-bomber colleagues—would be able to put our own stamp on this new organization. Exciting new territory lay ahead. Suddenly, we felt a real sense of momentum. We also liked our new commander, whose open-minded nature radiated optimism. After a period of leave at home—since our families hadn't been able to relocate to Landsberg or Fürstenfeldbruck—we were to reconvene at "Fürsty" in late June before heading to Zweibrücken.
For the three of us, I think the leave couldn't end fast enough; the prospect of flying such a spirited aircraft was a powerful draw. Back at Fürsty, we received our initial flight gear from Weapons School 30—there were even leather jackets available. At that stage, we existed only on paper; aside from a small advance party in Nörvenich and the three of us pilots, there was nothing else. We admired our commander all the more for securing what was likely the unit's first piece of authorized major equipment: three olive-drab VW Beetles... "
