Republican Air Force SECOND DRAFT
The '''[[Lloegr-Cymru]]'' ''Republican [[Air Force]]''' or RAF is the smallest and newest service of the '''[[Lloegr-Cymru Forces]]'''. Two air forces, the [[Lloegry-Cymru Republican Navy#Fleet Air Arm|Fleet Air Arm]] and [[Lloegr-Cymru Army#Supporting arms|The Aviation Regiment]], exist outside the Air Force.
==Command==
The Air Board is responsible for the political direction of the RAF, consisting of three voting members: the parliamentary political Secretary of State for Defence (currently Simon Gwylyms), the civil service non-partisan Permanent Under Secretary, and the Forces Chief of the Air Service and First Air Member. The Second Air Member (Air Operations) and Third Air Member (Air Support) cannot vote by their Forces? superior relies on their advice in discussions with government authorities.
The Air Marshal is the senior Air Officer in the RAF, who holds concurrent appointments as CAS, First Air Member and Commander Gwyneth District. Below the CDS is the Chief of Air Operations and Second Air Member, with three Squadrons Commanders as subordinates charged with fighter, bomber and transport operations. The Chief of Air Support and Third Air Member also has three SC subordinates, charged with aircraft, supply and training responsibilities.
English is both the official and working language of this arm of service mainly because it is a new and technologically oriented arm of service Forces. Consequently, Welsh is rarely encountered in official names and documents.
==Squadrons==
{|width="50%" align="right"
|+Squadrons
|-
! Number !! Nickname !! Squadron code* !! Normal station
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|No. 1 Capital !! Gweriniaeth !! AA !! Aberystwyth
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|No. 11 Fighter !! nil !! CB !! Caernarfon
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|No. 12 Fighter !! Bakers !! CR !! Aberystwyth
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|No. 21 Fighter !! Guineas !! DS !! Aberystwyth
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|No. 23 Fighter!! Drinkers !! DT !! Caerdydd
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|No. 50 Heavy Bomber !! Omlets !! MA !! Caernarfon
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|No. 51 Light Bomber !! nil !! ML!! Caernarfon
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|No. 55 Bomber !! Flying Squirrels !! MS !! Caerdydd
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|No. 70 Transport !! Safe Arrival !! SA !! Ceredigion's 2nd city
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|No. 72 Transport !! nil !! SH !! Caernarfon
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|No. 76 Transport !! Storks !! ST !! Caerdydd
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|No. 81 Transport !! Hackers !! TB !! Caerdydd
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|No. 90 RAFVR !! Prifddinas !! YA !! Ceredigion's 2nd city
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|No. 91 RAFVR !! Gwyneth !! YG !! Caernarfon
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|No. 93 RAFVR !! Caerdydd !! YT !! Caerdydd
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|100+ !! * !! Wartime expansion
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|colspan=4|* See ???[[#Markings|Markings]]??? below.
|-
|}
As the regiment is the basic building block of the Army, so to the squadron is of the Air Force. Squadrons are have about twelve [[#Aircraft|aircraft]] depending on the role and fulltime or parttime status. The air officer commanding, not surprisingly, is a Squadron Commander and the two or more flights' AOCs are Flight Lieutenants.
Although squadrons bear numbers rather than official alphabetic names, many have widely known nicknames, e.g., No. 21 Fighter Squadron "Guineas" (for the 21 shillings in an old guinea), No. 50 Heavy Bomber Squadron ?Omlettes? (for the broken ?eggs? or bombs) and No. 76 Transport Squadron "Storks" (for delivering welcome gifts).
The Air Force's squadron traditions are as strong if not as long as the Army's regimental traditions. The heraldic badges of the RAF consist of ovals crowned by an iris (the national flower), flanked by laurel wreaths and supporting a scroll bearing the motto. The field of the badge includes a graphical allusion to the squadron's history, role, location or achievements, frequently incorporating birds.
==Higher formations==
Two or more squadrons may be grouped temporarily or semi-permanently into a numbered wing under the command of a Wing Commander. Currently No. 1 Wing at RAF Aberystwyth is tasked with air defence of the capital, No. 3 Wing RAF Caerdydd training and No. 6 Wing RAF Caernarfon multi-role. These are analogous the Army brigades or Republican Navy squadrons, and consequently have little personality or sense of continuity.
In contrast, Republican Air stations by definition are static. The RAF?s three major stations are commanded by Squadron Commanders. Headquarters RAF is located at RAF Caernarfon and its Air Marshal is concurrently Commander Gwyneth District for home defence in the island-province. The second major station is at RAF Aberystwyth and is responsible for the air defence of the capital. The third major station is at RAF Caerdydd.
Minor stations are little more than forward airfields with minimal base services and defence. These five stations are each commanded a Flight Lieutenant:
#RAF Abertawe
#RAF Ceredigion's second city
#RAF Gwyneth's second city
#RAF Llandrindod
#RAF Llangefni.
==Aircraft==
Gwyneth is the nation's industrial heartland and arms manufacturing centre, which is why HQ RAF is found there. Civilian companies like Lloegr-Cymru Aerospace, Hebocawr-Sidney, Eastland Helicopters and Essex produce a wide range of civil airplanes and helicopters for the home and foreign markets. When the Chief of the Air Staff identifies an operational need, the Air Board tenders a design, construction or maintenance contract. The four domestic aerospace companies usually bid on all contracts, but some bids are also received from companies elsewhere in the [[International Democratic Union]] under the [
http://s10.invisionfree.com/IDU/index.php?showtopic=4 IDU Free Trade Agreement].
The Air Force alphanumeric designation begins with one or two letters indicating its role: F for fighter, G for ground attack, B for bomber, T for transport, R for reconnaissance and S (school) for training. It is followed by a period, then a serial number within its letter group. The official nicknames, somewhat of an oxymoron, are always that of a bird. Additionally, many aircraft bear civilian designations for civilian domestic aircraft or foreign designations for export aircraft. A few have unofficial nicknames. Some of the more common aircraft are listed below with comments:
*B.1 ''Vulture'' ? Old but reliable medium bomber
*B.4 ''Albatross'' ? Strategic bomber noted by huge cost overruns
*F.1 ''Falcon'' ? Air defence interceptor
*F.2 "Cygnet'' ? naval variant of the ''Hummingbird'' operated by the Republican Navy's [[Lloegr-Cymru Republican Navy#Fleet Air Arm|Fleet Air Arm]]
*FB. ''Goose'' ? Bomber variant of the F.1, named because it drops eggs and stays close to the ground
*FR.1 ''Gull'' ? Because gulls can spot edible garbage kilometres away. Unofficial nickname: "Gloomy Gus'' from a lisping pronunciation of FR.1 as "frown"
*G.1 ''Grouse'' or ''Grugiar'' ? Attack helicopter variant of T.2
*GF.5 ''Hummingbird'' ? vertical/short take off and landing fighter and ground support, so named because hummingbirds use stationary flight
*S.4 ''Chick'' ? Propeller-driven, elementary flight training
*T.2 ''Pelican'' ? Transport helicopter, so called because pelicans carry fish inside their bills rather than clamping on the outside the mouth.
*T.4 ''Flamingo'' ? Large transport aircraft named after T4 slips distributed annual by employers listing income for tax purposes and pink slips distributed the same employers to announce redundancies.
==Markings==
All combat and some non-combat aircraft are painted with camouflage appropriate to their location and role. Unarmed transports are usually painted plain white or, for VIP transport, light air force blue.
{|align="right"
|+Squadron numbers
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! Number !! Squadron code !! Role
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|1-9 !! AA-BZ !! Special
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|10-49 !! CA-LZ !! Fighter
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|50-69 !! MA-RZ !! Bomber
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|70-89 !! SA- XZ !! Transport
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|90-99 !! YA-ZZ !! RAF Voluntary Reserve
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|100+ !! * !! Wartime expansion
|-
|colspan=3|* Assigned to gaps in appropriate class above.
|-
|}
The fuselage bears a two-letter squadron code (consult [[#Units|chart above]]), the letters I, J, O, Q, U and V remaining unused to avoid confusion. The squadron code is followed by the Air Force roundel, blue and red annuli encapsulating a white circle with a stylised iris in the centre. Finally a single-letter code uniquely identifies each airplane in a squadron, and is often spoken as "''x'' for ''y''" on the models "A for Aberystwyth," "G for George," ?L for Lloegr? and "N for November." Combined it creates something like "BS * E" for No. 1 Squadron "Gweriniaeth" or "HU * H" for No. 55 Bomber Squadron "Flying Squirrels," where the asterisk represents the roundel.
On either side of the cockpit and in small letters is the rank abbreviation and name of the usual aircrew, often combined with the nickname or callsign. These are constructed on the model F/L F.X. "Lightfoot" Jones, S/L Bob "Mad Dog" Llewellyn and F/S D.G. "Junior" Lloyd.
[[Category:Lloegr-Cymru]]
[[Category:Armed forces]]
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