Central Navigation School
(Republished from the 22 January 1965 issue of The Voxair)
THE RCAF CENTRAL NAVIGATION SCHOOL
The Central Navigation School, or “CNS” as it is more commonly called, has a long and distinguished history of active participation in the development of air navigation and related fields in Canada, and is well known in the RAF and USAF.
CNS was originally formed in 1942 at Rivers, Manitoba, on the western plains of Canada. Its function at that time was to train the vast numbers of navigators, bombadiers, and other aircrew required under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, as well as to train the large number instructors which the BCATP required.
During its short wartime existence, CNS was successful in achieving its purpose. By the time the school was disbanded in 1945, several thousand RCAF. RAF. RNZAF, and RAAF personnel had been graduated. Most of these were basic students, but many were instructors trained by the “Specialist Wing’’ of CNS to staff the other navigation schools.
Specialist Wing of CNS was the only Canadian navigation training unit which was not disbanded. This group of specialists was moved to Summerside, Prince Edward Island on Canada’s east coast, where it became the nucleus of a permanent Air Navigation School.
After a short interruption in training, the “ANS” graduated two courses of “Interim Navigation Instructors” during 1945-46. After these two courses had been completed, training ceased at the ANS for eighteen months while a small staff of officers of the Air Navigation School undertook an intensive research and study programme to determine the best type of training and post graduate education the RCAF could provide Radio Navigators to meet post war conditions.
In 1948, the permanent RCAF navigation training programme began with the first Staff Navigation Instructor Course, followed by a Staff Navigation Instructor (Pilot) Course, and Number 1 Specialist Navigation Course. No. 1 Specialist Navigation Course made history by carrying out a flight over the North Pole, on 9 May 1949, in a long range navigation trainer Lancaster. This marked the first time that a Canadian aircraft, had reached the pole. The 14-hour flight was made from an ice strip at Kittigasuit near the mouth of the MacKenzie River in the North West Territories.
The Korean action added impetus to the undergraduate and post graduate training programme, and combined with a growing RCAF commitment to NATO, created a demand for a greater number of navigators and instructors. Because of these increased demands, a second ANS was opened at Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Central Navigation School was formed at Summerside from the Specialist Wing of the original Summerside ANS. Thus, nine years after the formation of the first CNS at Rivers, the present CNS was “reborn” into a new and more complex role of providing a standards and a test and evaluation function in addition to its instructional role.
In 1953, the ANS at Summerside was disbanded and its commitments were transferred to the school at Winnipeg. Central Navigation School, however, remained at Summerside until 1954, at which time it also moved to Winnipeg.
Since moving to Winnipeg, CNS has continued to conduct the Aerospace Systems Course (formerly named the Specialist Navigation Course). Staff Navigation Instructor Long Range, Radio Instructor, and Airborne Interceptor Instructor courses, and short specialized courses when required. Its standards function remains as important as ever and studies and evaluations continue to be an important aspect of CNS activities.
In recent years the complex nature of navigation, weapons delivery, and communications systems combined with the rapid developments in air and space vehicles make It necessary for the RCAF to maintain an establishment capable of understanding these complex systems, able to keep abreast of developments, and capable of conducting post graduate and special courses and to provide a training standards function. CNS is recognized as this authority, and today the role of the school can be briefly stated as follows:
- to keep abreast of the latest developments in equipment, procedures, and training related to navigation, guidance and control systems, airborne communications, and interception techniques, as applied to aircraft, missiles, and spacecraft;
- to conduct advanced Radio Navigator courses and the Aerospace Systems Course;
- to ensure that RN training within Training Command is maintained at a high level;
- to prepare and maintain RN training syllabi, publications, and examinations;
- to make recommendations concerning aircrew practices and techniques for all types of flying in the RCAF; and
- to evaluate techniques and equipment related to navigation, guidance and control, air communications, and RN Training.
The motto of CNS “Scientia Ducit” — “Knowledge Guides” correctly reflects the character of the school; the dedication which exists within CNS has been created through the tradition of a high level of professional knowledge.