Commander Air Force's mid-rank officers' ranks are modelled on those of the Royal Navy, the term wing commander is used as a rank, and this is the equivalent of a lieutenant colonel in the army or a commander in the navy. The rank of wing commander is above that of squadron leader and below that of group captain. In the former Royal Naval Air Service, which was merged with the Royal Flying Corps to form the Royal Air Force in 1918, the pilots held appointments as well as their normal ranks in the Royal Navy, and they wore insignia appropriate to
Royal Air Force Antarctic Flight Royal Air Force Antarctic Flight The Royal Air Force Antarctic Flight was an independent flight of the Royal Air Force organised to support the Norwegian–British–Swedish Antarctic Expedition in 1949-50. It was the first RAF unit to operate in Antarctica. The Flight was led by Squadron-Leader George Brian Walford, and had five personnel in total, selected from over 250 volunteers - two officer pilots and three non-commissioned officer mechanics. It operated two Auster Mark 6 aircraft, painted orange and modified for cold-weather conditions, with convertible ski/wheel and float undercarriages. The Flight was shipped to Antarctica from Cape Town aboard the "Norsel",