CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF

flight run by the Air Cadet Organisation of the Royal Air Force

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionOct 12, 2025
Entity authorityQ7043078 ↗
Source-derived summary

No. 1 Air Experience Flight (1 AEF) is one of thirteen Air Experience Flights (AEFs) run by the Air Cadet Organisation of the Royal Air Force. The primary purpose of the AEF organisation is to provide air experience to members of the Air Training Corps, Combined Cadet Force (RAF) Section and occasionally, the Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets and the Air Scouts.

History

No. 1 AEF formed on 8 September 1958 at RAF Biggin Hill in Kent, equipped with de Havilland Chipmunk T Mk 10 aircraft. It later moved to RAF White Waltham followed by RAF West Malling and then to RAF Manston.

RAF Manston (1963–1995)

Introduction

The Flight HQ and Crew Room was based for many years just north of the main runway (29L/11R) on the B2190 in corrugated World War II buildings adjacent to the Western Taxiway (as it was known then). The accommodation was shared at the time with the Bristow Helicopters civilian SAR Flight which flew the Westland Whirlwind. In the late 70s the Flight moved a little further north toward the cross roads (B2190 and B2050) at the centre of the airfield relocating to the former ASF (Air Servicing Flight) building near the old AVPIN store where it remained until the Flight closed in the mid-90s.

Throughout the Flight's thirty-two-year tenure at RAF Manston, No.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF” as flight run by the Air Cadet Organisation of the Royal Air Force. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1958, 1963, 1995—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1958-09-08. The account is most persuasive where Experience, Flight and flight can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as flight run by the Air Cadet Organisation of the Royal Air Force. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Oct 12, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7043078. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1958, 1963 and 1995.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF primary sources, No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF archive and Experience research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “No. 1 Air Experience Flight RAF” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.