Flying Training On 1 April 1995, the Joint Elementary Flying Training School (JEFTS), which provided training to RAF and Fleet Air Arm (FAA) pilots, relocated to Barkston Heath from RAF Topcliffe in North Yorkshire. The school was equipped with eighteen civilian registered Slingsby T67M Firefly trainer aircraft. In 1996 the Army Air Corps (AAC) joined JEFTS and the school operated as a tri-service organisation until 2003 when the RAF decided to instead provide elementary flying training through its network of University Air Squadrons. JEFTS as a result was renamed the Defence Elementary Flying Training School in July 2003, with the FAA element re-establishing itself as 703 Naval Air Squadron (703 NAS) and the AAC element as No. 674 Squadron. In November 2009 the Fireflies were retired and replaced with the Grob Tutor T1. In April 2021, No. 674 Squadron was stood-down as ACC pilots will no longer be trained on the Prefect prior to rotary wing training at RAF Shawbury. Other units The following units were also here at some point: No. 1 Elementary Flying Training School RAF No. 2 Central Flying School RAF No. 2 Flying Instructors School RAF No. 3 (Coastal) Operational Training Unit RAF No. 7 Equipment Disposal Depot RAF No. 85 Squadron RAF RAF College RAF College Flying Training School RAF RAF College Service Flying Training School RAF Infrastructure and facilities The RAF Barkston Heath site extends to . It has three runways, 06/24 which is long, 10/28 which is long and 18/36 which is long, all constructed from asphalt. The airfield has limited facilities and relies on its parent station RAF Cranwell for support. The main building at Barkston Heath is the Operational Support Building which was re-opened in January 2018 after refurbishment as part of the UK Military Flying Training System (UKMFTS) programme. It was renamed the Esmonde Building in memory of Lieutenant Commander Eugene Esmonde, a distinguished Fleet Air Arm pilot who was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. Out of six T2 type hangar and one B1 type constructed during the Second World War, only two T2 type remain on the site. The airfield contains the decaying remains of an English Electric Canberra at the northern edge of the airfield site. Role and operations Defence Elementary Flying Training School RAF Barkston Heath is home to the Defence Elementary Flying Training School, comprising 57 Squadron RAF, operating the Grob Prefect T1 in