410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron 410 Tactical Fighter Operational Training Squadron , nicknamed the " Cougars " , is a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft squadron currently located at Canada ' s primary training base for the CF - 18 ( Canadian Forces version of the McDonnell Douglas F / A - 18 Hornet ) , at Cold Lake , Alberta . The squadron was formed during the Second World War as an RCAF squadron under the Royal Air Force ( RAF ) , at RAF Ayr , near Prestwick , in Scotland . The first official sortie of No . 410 Squadron was from RAF Drem , East Lothian , Scotland , on the night of 4 June 1942 , when twelve Beaufighter crews took off , and it went on to become the top - scoring night fighter squadron in the RAF Second Tactical Air Force during the period between D - Day and VE - Day . No . 410 Squadron supported the Allied forces during the Normandy Landings and the Battle of the Bulge , flew nightly patrols during this time and many of its pilots gained ace status . Two members of No . 410 Squadron , Flight Lieutenant ( F / L ) Currie and Flying Officer ( F / O ) Rose , were the first members of the RCAF to see the German V - 2 rocket in flight . The squadron was disbanded in 1964 but reformed again in 1968 . As No . 410 Tactical Fighter ( Operational Training ) Squadron , the squadron usually trains between 20 and 22 pilots a year on the CF - 18 , more than any other RCAF squadron . The Canadian documentary television series " Jetstream " was filmed with the squadron in 2007 and showed what trainees must endure to become fighter pilot s . Badge . No . 410 Squadron ' s badge depicts a cougar ' s face with a background decrescent ( waning ) moon . The cougar , a North American mountain cat , was chosen because of the speed and power of its attacks . The waning moon refers to the squadron ' s night operations . These two major devices are in reference to the squadron ' s Second World War night fighter activities , when the unit was renowned for its skill and number of victories . The squadron ' s motto is " Noctivaga " , which means " wandering by night " . History . No . 410 Squadron was formed at RAF Ayr , near Prestwick , Scotland in June 1941 , as a Royal Canadian Air Force " Article XV squadron " , under Royal Air Force operational control . Second World War . No . 410 Squadron was the third RCAF night fighter squadron to be formed and was equipped with the Boulton Paul Defiant . In May 1942 these were replaced by the Bristol Beaufighter , and in October of the same year these were in turn replaced with De Havilland Mosquito Mk IIs , with which the first victory for the squadron was claimed . No . 410 Squadron was acknowledged as the top - scoring night fighter unit in RAF Second Tactical Air Force in the period between D - Day and VE Day , although No . 409 Squadron RCAF can now make a similar claim , on the basis that there were many victories quickly counted up during 1944 and 1945 . Bases . From RAF Ayr , No . 410 Squadron was moved to RAF Drem in East Lothian , but returned to RAF Ayr 10 months later . On 1 September 1942 the squadron was moved to RAF Scorton in North Yorkshire , England , but just under two months after that it was relocated to RAF Acklington in Northumberland . In 1943 the squadron was placed at RAF Coleby Grange in Lincolnshire , then moved for the sixth time to RAF West Malling in the southeast of England , and then to RAF Hunsdon , just north of London . Later it was moved to RAF Castle Camps , and then back to RAF Hunsdon . On 18 June 1944 , the squadron was placed at RAF Zeals in Wiltshire , only to be moved again to RAF Colerne in Wiltshire . On 9 September 1944 , No . 410 Squadron RCAF was again moved to RAF Hunsdon . Thirteen days later , the squadron was relocated back to their sixth base , RAF Coleby Grange . On 3 November 1944 the Squadron moved to RAF Amiens - Glisy in northern France . Two months later , the squadron was relocated to RAF Lille - Vendeville in northern France , the first movement of the squadron in 1945 . From 5 April 1945 the Cougars were back at RAF Amiens - Glisy , and the final move of the war occurred on 9 June 1945 , when the squadron relocated to RAF Gilze - Rijen in the Netherlands . Operations . The first official sortie occurred on the night of 4 June 1942 , when twelve crews from No . 410 Squadron took off in Beaufighters , but the two scrambles that occurred were uneventful . The first German contact occurred on the night of 6 / 7 September 1942 , when a Beaufighter II from RAF Scorton flown by P / O R . R . Ferguson and P / O D . Creed ( navigator ) , intercepted a Luftwaffe Ju 88 . The Beaufighter was guided to the Ju 88 approximately northeast of Whitby on the Yorkshire coast . The attack damaged the Ju 88 , but did not destroy it . Since the aircraft was not destroyed , this did not count as the squadron ' s first outright victory . That came on 22 January 1943 , when Flight Sergeant B . M . Haight and Sergeant T . Kipling ( RAF , observer ) , flying a Mosquito II from RAF Acklington , were credited with a Dornier Do 217 , which was destroyed near Hartlepool . This was made possible because of " night readiness " , the ability to fly at a moment ' s notice at night . By the end of the war , victories had been claimed . The squadron flew 2 , 972 sorties and accumulated 28 , 150 hours of flight time . The squadron ' s victories included destroyed , 2 probably destroyed , and 9 damaged . The squadron had the following operational casualties : 17 aircraft and 32 aircrew , of whom 10 were killed , 20 presumed dead , and two were made prisoners of war . Non - operational casualties were : 14 aircraft and 30 personnel , of whom 29 were killed , 1 injured . D - Day and the invasion of Europe . Between November 1943 and May 1944 , the squadron was engaged in the night defence of Britain . On 5 June 1944 , No . 410 Squadron ' s Commanding Officer ( CO ) , Wing Commander G . A . Hiltz , flew a four - aircraft detachment to Colerne where they provided fighter cover for the initial airborne landings . Among the pilots who flew that operation was Flight Lieutenant Charles Emanuel " Pop " Edinger , who later became an ace . On the night prior to the Normandy Landings , all of the RAF Second Tactical Air Force ' s night fighter squadrons were working hard to ensure safety for the landing force . During June 1944 , 18 of the squadron ' s 22 fighters were available , the other four were out for periodic maintenance . At 01 : 00 , the first of four patrols took off , but the patrol was uneventful , with the pilots reporting clouds at 10 , 000 feet . A further five patrols were flown to help cover the 4 , 000 ships that were part of Operation Neptune . On 7 June two of the aircraft were fired upon by friendly Lancaster bombers , who assumed they were hostile . However , No . 410 Squadron claimed its first kill when Flying Officer s A . Mcleod and Bob Snowdon destroyed a Junkers Ju 188 . On 12 June the squadron claimed multiple bomber kills . The Cougars shot down 14 raiders with five more probably destroyed or damaged . But the success was overshadowed by the allied invasion of Europe . From June to August 1944 , the squadron was mostly occupied with nightly patrols over the beachheads to guard the Allied troops and shipping against German bombers . No . 410 Squadron ' s Mosquitoes brought down thirty - one German aircraft and damaged or destroyed three more , in less than 31 sorties . Then the squadron moved to France and in the next eight months added 25 " kills " and a " damaged " to its score . Immediately after D - Day . For several days following D - Day , the squadron flew patrols and received credits for many kills . In one instance , Warrant Officer ( W / O ) W . F . Price and P / O J . G . Costello shot down two Do . 217 aircraft in the space of twenty minutes . and the Cougars destroyed twelve German bombers in all . Following this success , however , it was five days before the squadron scored another kill . In the interval , the crews , still maintaining their schedule of nine sorties per night , had little to report . One night an engine in W / C Hiltz ’ s Mosquito failed on the take - off run and the aircraft , swerving off the runway , crashed into " A " Flight dispersal . The crews escaped injury , but many buildings went up in flames . During an operation that resulted in the thirteenth kill of the period , one aircraft crashed and its crew was unable to bail out . For the next week the weather was poor , which restricted night operations . Most of the crews that did go out had to be diverted to other bases on their return . German activity had also diminished by then and the beachhead was much quieter than it had been in mid - June . On the first two nights in July there were no sorties at all . Then the weather improved and the nightly round of nine patrols was resumed . F / L Currie and F / O Rose saw a V - 2 rocket in flight on the night of 10 / 11 September , the first Canadian pilots to do so . While on patrol from Brussels to Antwerp and Rotterdam they saw a bright orange light directly ahead and seemingly at their own altitude , . At first glance , Currie paid no attention to it , taking it for a bright star . Suddenly , Currie said : " It began to climb – hell it climbed ! " The light appeared to go straight up so rapidly that within a few seconds it had passed out of sight . On return to base , the crew reported the sighting as a V - 1 flying bomb , but their account of the spectacular rate of climb and other details aroused great interest amongst senior officers . That night , a few moments after Currie and Rose had made their sighting , a V - 2 rocket crashed onto the English coast . Two nights later , F / Os Fullerton and Gallagher saw a similar ball of yellow flame streak vertically into the night sky , and in the weeks that followed there were many other reports . Battle of the Bulge and the end of the war . In the middle of December , under bad weather conditions , the Nazis launched an offensive in the Ardennes . The Luftwaffe caught many squadrons off guard . No . 410 Squadron enjoyed a number of successes during this period , some of them even on Christmas Day . During the Battle of the Bulge , the entire RAF Second Tactical Air Force , including No . 410 Squadron , was on 48 - hour alert . Although the war was entering its final stages , the squadron still had to watch for anti - aircraft artillery . The fighter squadrons continued to make advances until February , while waiting for the Canadian push through the Reichwald . Although there was some aerial fighting , the major conflict with the Luftwaffe occurred when the Canadians started to cross the Rhine on 24 March 1945 . On the evening of 18 December 1944 , during the Battle of the Bulge , Edinger made contact with a Ju 87 , which he then fired upon . His navigator , C . C . Vaessen , confirmed the kill , stating that the aircraft had been hit in the starboard engine and had caught fire . The Ju 87 crashed into trees and was engulfed in flames . Flight Lieutenant Rayne Schultz had claimed his fifth kill of the war , a Ju 188 , on 13 / 14 February 1944 . After having returned from working at the Training Command , he claimed another Ju 188 on 10 / 11 April 1945 . He claimed his final kills on 21 / 22 April 1945 by downing two Ju 88s near Ferrbellen . A few days after the Squadron had moved to Lille / Vendeville , it was called upon to provide a special patrol of four aircraft as air cover for the Armistice Day ceremonies being held in Paris ; no German intruders attempted to intervene . Later in the month , there was an accident at base that took the lives of two pilots who had recently joined the Cougars . F / Os H . Connelly and J . Hunt had gone up together to practice circuits and landings . As they made a circuit , preparatory to landing , the Mosquito stalled and crashed from . A few days before Christmas 1944 , there was another accident , the heaviest suffered by the squadron in terms of lives lost . For several days the airfield had been fogbound and when the sky cleared somewhat in the afternoon of 21 December , S / L Fulton , " B ” Flight commander , took off for England in the squadron ' s Airspeed Oxford aircraft . With him were three officers and two airmen , all going on leave . Near Wrotham , Kent , the aircraft crashed and only one of its occupants survived . Killed with S / L Fulton were his navigator F / O A . R . Ayton ( RAF ) , who had accompanied him on posting to the Cougars in October , F / L F . G . Thomson , DFC ( RAF ) , who had arrived late in November to begin a second tour , and LACs E . Wahlers and R . Seefried . F / O W . Rumbold , another RAF navigator , was seriously injured ; he had been with the Squadron for two months . The squadron was disbanded at the end of the war on 9 June 1945 . Wartime commanders . The first officer to command No . 410 Squadron was Squadron Leader P . Y . Davoud , who was in charge between 30 June 1941 and 4 September 1941 . Wing Commander ( W / C ) M . Lipton took over command between 5 September 1941 and 30 July 1942 and the position was then given to W / C F . W . Hillock , between 19 August 1942 and 19 May 1943 , and then to W / C G . H . Elms , who commanded No . 410 Squadron between 20 May 1943 and 18 February 1944 . In the latter part of the war , W / C G . A . Hiltz was given command between 19 February 1944 and 1 April 1945 . The last commander of the war was W / C E . P . Heybroek , who was in charge between 2 April 1945 until the squadron disbanded in June of that year . Decorations . Unit awards . During the Second World War , No . 410 Squadron RCAF was awarded multiple battle honours . These honours are certified by the Canadian Air Force . Individual awards . At least 12 members of the squadron were decorated during the war , with the award of 11 Distinguished Flying Crosses ( DFC ) and one bar to the DFC , as well as a Distinguished Flying Medal ( DFM ) . The first DFCs went to Acting Flight Lieutenant Martin Anthony Cybulski and Flying Officer Harold Herbert Ladbrook on 9 November 1943 The citation does not mention that they had to return to base on a single engine , and with other damage to the aircraft . This was quickly followed by Flying Officers Rayne Dennis Schultz and Vernon Albert Williams on 14 January 1944 . Again , the citation does not mention the severe damage to their aircraft . At the close of an action with their third Do 217 , which the combat report describes as : " a long duel with the enemy pilot showing a high degree of airmanship , " they were hit by return fire , including a cannon shell that destroyed much of the instrument panel and which narrowly missed the pilot . The starboard engine almost died , then recovered , but then the port engine caught fire . They managed to return to RAF Bradwell with only the starboard engine working , landing at 19 : 45 on 10 December 1943 . Sergeant James Norman was awarded the DFM on 26 September 1944 . Squadron Leader James Dean Somerville and F / O George Douglas Robinson were awarded the DFC on 20 October 1944 . F / L Charles Emanuel Edinger was awarded the DFC on 5 December of the same year , for destroying four Junkers Ju 88 s and one unidentified German aircraft between June and October . He subsequently claimed one further Ju 88 and one Junkers Ju 87 in December . Flight Lieutenants Ben Erwin Plumer and William Warren Hargrove received the DFC on 15 December 1944 for shooting down a Messerschmitt Bf 110 on 6 October : F / O Dennis George Tongue was awarded the DFC on 29 December 1944 , and a bar to his DFC on 2 March 1945 . F / O Tongue was a member of the RAF , had been commissioned from sergeant and promoted to flying officer . On the night he won the bar to his DFC , on 25 November 1944 , his pilot was A . A . Harrington of the United States Army Air Forces . They destroyed three Junkers Ju 88 s , their own Mosquito having been hit by debris from the second Ju 88 , and during the fight that led to the downing of the third , Tongue was also having to keep track of a further Ju 88 which was endeavouring to attack their aircraft . F / O Donald Murdo Mackenzie was awarded the DFC on 27 February 1945 , having destroyed a Ju 88 on 30 July 1944 , and then two more in a single sortie on 24 December . 1946 – 1964 . No . 410 Squadron was reactivated on 1 December 1946 as an Air Defence squadron flying de Havilland Vampire F . 3 aircraft , and was re - formed from a defence role into that of a fighter role at St Hubert ( Montreal ) , Quebec on 1 December 1948 . From May 1949 to August 1951 , the " Blue Devils " aerobatics team formed , to demonstrate the abilities of the new Vampire aircraft at formation flying . The squadron later converted to Canadair Sabre s and was deployed to Europe , flying from RCAF Station North Luffenham in the UK , and then at RCAF Station Marville ( No . 1 ( Fighter ) Wing ) in France . The squadron had been the first regular force fighter unit to fly the Vampire aircraft and was the first to fly the Sabre and the first to join No . 1 ( Fighter ) Wing of No . 1 Air Division Europe . When No . 445 All Weather ( Fighter ) [ AW ( F ) ] Squadron arrived from Canada , however , No . 410 Squadron was deactivated at Marville on 1 October 1956 and reactivated as an all - weather fighter squadron at Uplands ( Ottawa ) , Ontario on 1 November of that year , flying Avro Canada CF - 100 s . When CF - 100s were removed from service in 1961 , the CF - 101 Voodoo interceptor was introduced for North American air defence . No . 410 Squadron converted to these aircraft and the squadron continued to fly Voodoos until defence cuts led to the squadron being deactivated on 31 March 1964 . 1968 to the present - day . In 1968 , No . 3 OTU ( Operating Training Unit ) at CFB Bagotville , tasked with training pilots and navigators for the three operational RCAF Voodoo squadrons , was later renamed No . 410 Squadron . No . 410 Squadron moved to Cold Lake , Alberta in 1982 , changing aircraft to become the training unit for Canada ' s new CF - 18 Hornet aircraft . Aircraft . Second World War . No . 410 Squadron began flying the North American Harvard training aircraft and then flew the Boulton Paul Defiant from July 1941 to May 1942 . The Boulton Paul Defiant was a " turret fighter " that was used as a night fighter . A problem with this aircraft was that it had no forward armament , and so it was exchanged for the Bristol Beaufighter II , long - range heavy fighter . The Beaufighter was used from April 1942 until January 1943 . The Mk II used the Rolls Royce Merlin engine which provided greater power than the original Beaufighter had had . No . 410 Squadron transitioned to the de Havilland Mosquito Mk II in November 1942 , and the Squadron then used the Mosquito exclusively until the end of the war . It used the variants VI ( July 1943 – September 1943 ) , XIII ( December 1943 – August 1944 ) , and XXX ( August 1944 – June 1945 ) . All of these fighters had the same basic design — that of a low - to medium - altitude daytime tactical bomber , high altitude night bomber , pathfinder , day or night fighter , fighter - bomber , intruder , maritime strike and photo reconnaissance aircraft . 1946 – 1964 . The squadron became a fighter unit in 1948 , flying the de Havilland Vampire , having already flown the aircraft for two years in an Air Defence role . No . 410 Squadron then re - equipped with the Canadair Sabre in 1951 and then with the Avro Canada CF - 100 Canuck in 1956 . On 20 December 1961 , No . 410 Squadron became Canada ' s first operational CF - 101 Voodoo squadron . The Voodoo was an all - weather interceptor aircraft ; its primary armament was the nuclear - tipped AIR - 2A Genie unguided air - to - air rockets , and was used as Canada ' s primary means of air defence . 1968 to the present - day . As a training unit , No . 410 Squadron used the Canadair CT - 133 Silver Star . No . 410 Squadron RCAF is currently equipped ( 2011 ) with the CF - 18 Hornet . The first two CF - 18s were formally handed over to 410 ( Operational Training Unit ) Squadron at CFB Cold Lake , Alberta on 25 October 1982 . Operational training . No . 410 Squadron is now ( 2010 ) a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft squadron located at Canada ' s primary CF - 18 training base at Cold Lake , Alberta . In 1982 , the squadron was renamed 410 Tactical Fighter ( Operational Training ) Squadron . It runs one fighter pilot course every year , training approximately 20 pilots . The training program consists of nine months of ground school , simulator flights , and operational flying . Students are taken from among the graduates of a Fighter Lead - In Training Course and are provided with the knowledge of basic skills in both air - to - air and air - to - ground combat . Areas covered in depth include aircraft handling , instrument flight , formation flying , night flying , navigation , air - to - air refuelling , and weapons delivery and tactics . There is also an annual Fighter Weapons Instructor Course ( FWIC ) run by No . 410 Squadron , and a Fighter Electronic Warfare and Advanced Radar ( FEWAR ) Course . The intense and highly challenging FWIC lasts for three months . Each operational CF - 18 squadron and tactical radar squadron sends candidates ( eight students per course ) who graduate with the leadership qualities and expertise required to return to their squadrons and design tactical training programs themselves . The Advanced Radar Course is conducted in two phases : ground school at 4 Wing , Cold Lake , and a flying phase at an electronic warfare range . This three - week course is designed to allow ten pilots annually to graduate and return to their squadrons as electronic warfare experts and instructors . Since No . 410 Squadron has always had some of the most experienced CF - 18 pilots in the fighter community , it is often charged with carrying out special fighter projects . The squadron conducted the operational testing and evaluation of the CF ' s precision guided munitions , and in 2010 was anticipating testing the use of night vision devices in the Hornet . Re - certification and curriculum . For the first seven years following 1988 , when the CF - 18 was being delivered , the squadron ran six - month full - squadron courses from which the graduating pilots formed new CF - 18 squadrons . Following this initial cadre of courses , No . 410 Squadron trained CF - 18 pilots at a rate of approximately 50 per year . In 1992 , with the closure of three squadrons in Germany , this was reduced to 25 . With the recent reduction in size of the remaining operational squadrons , No . 410 Squadron now trains approximately 20 fighter pilots annually . At the same time as the current work mandate , No . 410 Squadron is also responsible for training and re - certifying about five former CF - 18 Hornet pilots annually . These pilots are returning to the CF - 18 after a ground or exchange tour . No . 410 Squadron also trains newly arrived foreign exchange officers who will be joining one of Canada ' s two operational fighter squadrons . As backgrounds can differ significantly , each course is tailored to the individual , based on their experience and demonstrated competencies . Areas covered in depth in the Fighter Pilot Course ( FPC ) include basic and advanced aircraft handling , instrument flight , formation flying , night flying , all - weather interception , air - to - air refuelling , Basic Fighter Manoeuvres ( BFM – " dogfighting skills " ) and air combat . The latter half of each FPC comprises academic air - to - ground weapons delivery and Close Air Support ( CAS ) , as well as advanced Air Interdiction ( AI ) tactics , the former usually completed during a squadron deployment to the south - western United States in the late spring and early fall , due to the significantly better weather and the sheer number of bombing ranges available . Fighter Operational Test and Evaluation Flight . A sub - unit of No . 410 Squadron is the Fighter Operational Test and Evaluation Flight ( FOTEF ) , which is responsible for operational testing and evaluation . In 2010 , its efforts were seen as integral to the operational effectiveness of all aspects of core and CF - 18 capabilities . Some of the new systems being evaluated were Night Vision Imaging Systems ( NVIS ) , Multi - function Information Distribution Systems ( MIDS ) , the Advanced Multi - role Infra - Red Sensor , and the evaluation of new mission planning software and the Advanced Distributed Combat Training System . Working closely with a variety of key units across the Air Force , including the " Aerospace Engineering & Test Establishment " ( AETE ) , FOTEF enabled the integration of newly modernized CF - 18 ECP - 583 R2 aircraft into the Fighter Force . " Jetstream " and air displays . The Canadian documentary television series " Jetstream " was filmed in 2007 , showing life on the base at Cold Lake and what a trainee must endure to become a fighter pilot . The television documentary followed No . 410 Squadron ' s training course for the full nine months , and in that time some candidates did not graduate . The television show was given full access to the trainees ' lives from ground school to graduation and was allowed access almost everywhere . The series followed six members of the Canadian Air Force ' s " Class of 2006 " who had been selected to learn with No . 410 Squadron . The television show called the air base " fighter town " , but Cold Lake has two squadrons that use fighter / interceptor aircraft , the other being home to No . 409 Squadron , nicknamed " The Nighthawks " . In 2009 , No . 410 Squadron provided the CF - 18 Demonstration Pilot and the air display CF - 18 for the year ' s airshow season . Captain Tim " Donor " Woods , from Dundas , Ontario , was selected as the year ' s demonstration pilot and the paint scheme of his display aircraft was developed in honour of the " Centennial of Flight " in Canada .