The Swedish Air Force’s Flying Training School, located at Malmen air base, is unlike any other, as Scoren Nielsen discovers.
Luftstridsskolan
SK 60A serials 60112 and 60141. The first student pilots began flying the SK 60 in July 1967 and the type marked its 50th anniversary last year. It remains the workhorse of the Swedish Air Force fixed-wing pilot school. All photos Søren Nielsen
The Luftstridsskolan (Flying Training School) at Malmen, near Linköping, does things differently. There’s no mandatory contract for new pilots, aircrew select the type of aircraft they are going to fly before they begin tuition, and the hierarchy is so ‘flat’ that it’s almost non-existent. The ethos here is that everyone is equal, to give students the best possible opportunity to become successful pilots in the armed forces.
