I have never heard the term “waterfront” used on any front line station, so I confess that is new to me. However, I have certainly been led to believe that the term “waterfront” was introduced through the following historical story of the development of CFS.
CFS was formed at Upavon in Wiltshire on 12 May 1912. The primary aim was not to produce aviators as such, but professional war pilots. This was to be achieved by accepting for advanced training only men who already held a Royal Aero Club Certificate, although they were offered a refund of part of their expenses incurred in private tuition. Having obtained their Pilots Certificates in order to qualify for the course, the students were taught to fly all types of aircraft available at the school. CFS quickly became one of the main centres for experimental and research flying.
By the outbreak of war in August 1914 the CFS had contributed 93 pilots to the Royal Flying Corps. A rapid expansion took place and by the end of 1915 the basic training policy was for all pupils to do their ab-initio flying at one of the Reserve Squadrons, and then pass on to CFS or to a service squadron for advanced training.
A major fault of the Royal Flying Corps at this time was its lack of standardization. One of the main critics in the field was Major Smith-Barry, and in 1916 he put his thoughts on paper. He wanted a School for Instructors in flying where all instructors would have their flying brought up to a high standard necessary to enable them to teach with confidence and ease, and where they would be given definite lines upon which to instruct. He also recommended the introduction of dual controls so that pupils could learn to fly to the limits of their aircraft.
Smith-Barry was brought home from France and given command of a squadron at Gosport where he could put his ideas into practice. He soon had his school operating on dual controlled Avro 504Js, Bleriots and Bristol Scouts. The standard of flying improved still more after the introduction of the Gosport tube, which enabled the instructor to converse easily and comfortably with his pupil, a capability which had previously been restricted to the few moments of quiet before and during a stall.
Pilot training became both quicker and more efficient and the system was adopted throughout the training school. In 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the Royal Naval Air Service were amalgamated to form the Royal Air Force and as part of the reorganisation, in 1920 CFS became the Flying Instructors School tasked to carry on the work started at the School of Special Flying at Gosport.
Gosport was – literally – “on the waterfront” and the term came into common use to describe the operating area of the school. This term has stuck to and followed CFS ever since such that the hangar and line area of CFS has continually been known as “the waterfront”.
As a post-script ---- all I can say is “curse that bugger Smith-Barry”! 