The Central Fighter Establishment was a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

formation that dealt with the development of

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

tactics which was formed on 4 September 1944 at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford, Lincolnshire, Sta ...

. It also tested new fighter aircraft and equipment, and with the training of squadron and flight commanders. It was formed on 1 October 1944 as part of

No. 12 Group RAF No. 12 Group of the Royal Air Force was a group, a military formation, that existed over two separate periods, namely the end of the First World War when it had a training function and from just prior to the Second World War until the early 1960s ...

, and was disbanded on 1 February 1966 while at RAF Binbrook.

Units

* Air Fighting Development Squadron (1944-66) became Fighter Command Trials Unit * All-Weather Development Squadron (1956-59) * All-Weather Fighter Leaders School (1950-58) became All-Weather Fighter Combat School * All-Weather Wing (1950-56) became All-Weather Development Squadron * Day Fighter Development Wing (1944-??) * Day Fighter Leaders School (1944-58) became Day Fighter Combat Squadron * Enemy Aircraft Flight (1945) * Fighter Combat School (1958-??) ** Day Fighter Combat Squadron (1958-65) ** All-Weather Fighter Combat School (1958-62) became Javelin Operational Conversion Squadron * Fighter Command Instrument Rating Flight (1956-60) became Fighter Command Instrument Rating Squadron * Fighter Command Instrument Rating Squadron (1960-63) became

No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit RAF No. 226 Operational Conversion Unit was a Royal Air Force Operational Conversion Unit which was active between 1946 and 1991. Operational history It was first formed on 15 August 1946 at RAF Molesworth under No. 11 Group RAF, No. 11 Group of RAF ...

* Fighter Command Instrument Training Flight (1948-51) became Fighter Command Instrument Training Squadron * Fighter Command Instrument Training Squadron (1951-56) became Fighter Command Instrument Rating Flight * Fighter Command Target Facilities Squadron (1961-63) became No. 85 Squadron RAF * Fighter Experimental Flight (1944-46) * Fighter Interception Development Squadron (1944-50) became Radar Interception Development Squadron * Fighter Leaders School (1944-?) * Fighter Support Development Squadron (1951-??) * Fighter Support Development Unit (1951) became Fighter Support Development Squadron * Fighter Weapons School (1955-1958 as part of the Central Gunnery School) (1958-) * Javelin Operational Conversion Squadron (1962) * Lightning Conversion Squadron (1960-63) became

* Naval Air Fighting Development Squadron (1945-56) * Night All-Weather Wing (1957-??) * Night Fighter Development Wing (1944-49) became Night Fighter Wing * Night Fighter Leaders School (1945-50) became All-Weather Fighter Leaders School * Night Fighter Training Squadron (1945) became Night Fighter Leaders School * Night Fighter Wing (1949-50) became All-Weather Wing * Radar Interception Development Squadron (1950-53)

Commandant

References

Citations

Bibliography

*{{cite book , last1=Lake , first1=A , title= Flying units of the RAF , year=1999 , publisher= Airlife , location=

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, isbn= 1-84037-086-6 Air force test units and formations Military history of Norfolk Military units and formations of the Royal Air Force Organisations based in Norfolk Science and technology in Norfolk