On 13 July 2011, the Wednesday before that year's 40th
Anniversary Royal International Air
Tattoo,
Paul Mellor kindly invited me to travel with him to Whelford on
the morning of
Monday 18 July. His aim was to park at Townsend Farm in the normally-quiet
south east Gloucestershire village and walk the half mile or so to the eastern
end of RAF Fairford's main runway where, from experience, he knew that we would
have a good view of the aircraft that had been on display over the weekend
flying home.
Although I had been aware of opportunities to see these
departures - and arrivals on the Friday before the Royal International Air
Tattoo (RIAT) - I had never had the chance of a lift down to these events.
In fact I had only been to RIAT once before, on a Saturday in 2002 with
Marchant's Coaches when I managed to obtain a free ticket.
Why did I not go to the World's biggest air show more often?
Firstly, because the RIAT at Fairford IS the World's biggest air show.
For an ever increasing ticket price - nearly £ 40 per adult for Saturday or
Sunday in 2011 - there are so many aircraft, so many flying displays and so much
other stuff that I always had the feeling that I was missing something. In
2002 for example, I took over 100 photographs - a personal record - and it was
my own endurance that ran out rather than the supply of interesting aircraft.
In fact in 2011 I also filled up the memory card of my camera but thanks to the
kindness of Paul, who also took a number of brilliant photographs for this
article, we swapped memory cards and I used his spare capacity to continue.
For this, his knowledge and driving I offer my thanks.
Secondly, although RIAT is to be admired for raising millions of pounds for
charity and massively stimulating the local economy, RAF Fairford sees
relatively little activity on the other 51 weekends of the year ( US foreign
policy permitting ). This, and its rural location away from railways,
means that all RIAT visitors have to arrive en masse either by car or coach.
Given the amount of road traffic - involving special one way systems to minimise
traffic jams - I would consider it anti-social behaviour to travel to RIAT alone
in a car without good reason and as a number of my friends who might otherwise
accompany me are busy in July the alternative would be coach.
In 2002 I was
lucky enough to secure the last seat on a Marchant's of Cheltenham coach to
Fairford although more recently coach excursions have been sold on a
ticket-plus-seat package basis. These in turn have to be booked a long
time before RIAT which would make refunding difficult if any unforeseen event
occurred nearer the time. In either case, too, excursion coach travel
means arriving and departing at fixed times which may or may not be convenient
for all events, particularly late night concerts.
Similarly, public transport
to RIAT involves trains to Swindon and shuttle coaches from there to Fairford.
Although given priority routes across the Wiltshire / Gloucestershire border,
these too have an ultimately fixed timetable and from Gloucester would also
require the extra expense of a train journey over the currently still single
line from Kemble to Swindon.
For these reasons I tend to prefer smaller
village-fete type atmosphere air shows such as the ones at Walney Island in 2005
or the Staverton event recorded on silent 8mm cine film by my father thirty years ago at
walking distance from our home. In fact, looking at the footage above, it
is interesting to note how many aircraft types are still flying today -
especially the ones that were considered to be veterans even then!
Common to
Staverton in 1981 and Fairford in 2002 and 2011 were the Lockheed C-130
Hercules, Westland Sea King, British Aerospace Hawks of the Red Arrows and the
venerable Avro Lancaster of the Battle of Britain Memorial flight: "City of
Lincoln" now having spent decades longer in preservation than any of Roy
Chadwick's Merlin engined "viermots" in operational RAF service.
However, after walking south west along the road from Whelford
to Kempsford, Paul, his daughter Stephanie and I found that it was possible to pay
£ 20.00 each to enter a
fenced compound via the gate at the right hand side of the aerial picture above.
This afforded us a much closer view of the aircraft taxiing past as well as an
oblique rather than end-on view of the runway.
In the same way, as well as
making a contribution to charity, I was particularly keen to get closer to the
departing aircraft due to the characteristics of my current camera. As
readers of this website may have realised, the digital era coincided with my
interests shifting to taking pictures of models rather than
looking far "over the fence" at trains or aircraft.
As a result, my old camera box filled with a 35mm SLR and associated
telephoto lenses was replaced by a pocket Nikon which could also capture moving
images and sound. In practical terms this meant that I could move faster and my
shoulders did not ache at the end of the day - although my arms and back did
from holding my camera above the heads of the very serious aircraft enthusiasts
who lined the airside fence two and sometimes three deep!
Lessons thus learned from Monday 18 July 2011 were to arrive earlier next
time and / or bring a box to stand on! Prominent notices advised that step
ladders were only to be used in designated areas, and having experienced the
efflux from the single seat Eurofighter Typhoon as it turned round I can imagine why!
Having said that however, the atmosphere was more calm than on one of the
weekend days due to the low number of children relative to adults ( mainly men )
and it also proved relatively easy to switch between my camera's still and
motion picture modes, thus allowing me to make both the videos that are embedded
below and the accompanying images for aircraft identification and
interpretation.
However, although I remain happy with the day's pictorial harvest, I do now
see a requirement for a possibly slightly larger higher resolution digital
camera combining macro close-up capacity with a longer lens - especially if I
want to record smaller aircraft starting out along a distant runway!
Cameras and logistics notwithstanding however, RIAT does what it
says on the tin and displays aircraft from around the World to all those who
love them. Starting the first part of "Back to Fairford" - and illustrated
by some of Paul's stills above and below - is the Panavia Tornado, first in its
interdictor strike guise and then as a grey liveried air defence variant.
First conceived in 1968 as a replacement for the Blackburn Buccaneer
and Avro
Vulcan, what was originally known as the Multi Role Combat Aircraft (MRCA) became the
first variable geometry aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and was designed to
fill the gap left by the cancellation of both the BAC TSR2 in 1965 and then its
American swing-swing substitute the General Dynamics F-111.
The high-wing
tall-tail design was established by the concept of the Dassault inspired post-TSR2 Anglo
French Variable Geometry aircraft although the Tornado was eventually built by
Panavia, based in Munich and jointly supported by British Aerospace, MBB,
Aeritalia, Rolls Royce and FIAT. International co-operation in advanced
aircraft manufacture to reduce costs had by that time been proved by the
Concorde and SEPECAT Jaguar projects and both West Germany and Italy were keen
to find replacements for the
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter.
Britain made the nose and rear fuselage of the new MRCA, Italy made the wings
and Germany the centre fuselage while Rolls Royce designed the RB-199 turbofans
built by Turbo-Union.
From conception to operational service took twelve years, but what was
remarkable
about this was that the Tornado and all its systems were delivered on time and
on
budget. In contrast, there were no BAe Nimrod MR4s on show at Fairford in
2011 although some earlier marks were noted in 2002.
The Tornado was originally designed for close battlefield air
support and more strategic interdiction including strikes against shipping with
a vast amount of weaponry including 500-kiloton nuclear bombs, BL755 cluster
bombs, 1,000 lb high explosive bombs, laser-guided bombs and
anti-radiation missiles.
Indeed, the Tornado was also designed to land and take off in
a space of only 3 000 feet on roads or undamaged parts of runways and be very
easy to service and "turn round" under combat conditions. As such, it was
chosen ahead of the BAe Systems Harrier
for retention by the RAF under the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Italy and Germany also procured the dedicated GR1A Electronic
Combat Reconnaissance (ECR) variant fitted with High Speed Anti Radiation
Missiles (HARM) while the RAF purchased the F3 Air Defence Variant of the
Tornado to replace its McDonnell Douglas Phantom IIs and
English Electric Lightnings.
The first British assembled MRCA flew from Warton in
Lancashire on 30 October 1974 and the first production Tornado GR1 followed on 10 July 1979. A
total of 228 GR1′s were built for the RAF, 36 of these were dual control and
designated GR1(T).
The Tri-National Tornado Training
Establishment at RAF Cottesmore opened for business in July 1980 and this unit was followed in August 1981 by the Tactical Weapons Conversion
Unit based at Honington.
Originally the MRCA was to be a NATO aircraft with Canada, Belgium and The
Netherlands expected to contribute. However, although these countries elected to go for
cheaper US
built, single seat General Dynamics F-16s instead the Panavia Tornado was
exported to Saudi Arabia and Oman.
Tornados are currently being converted to GR.4 standard; this will include
new equipment such at thermal imaging laser designator, forward looking infra red and a new navigational sub-system.
Paul also photographed these two Panavia Tornados taxiing past a USAF C-17
Globemaster four-jet transport and an older Boeing aircraft strongly associated
with Fairford, the eight engined B-52 Stratofortress.
Although built in 1944 for British and American troop transports and gliders
en route to the D-Day landings in Normandy, RAF Fairford, along with aerodromes
at Upper Heyford and Greenham Common, were transferred to the USAF's Strategic
Air Command in 1950 and the 9 993' long runway was completed in 1953, ready for
use by B-36 Peacemaker and B-47 Stratojets. Indeed, this impressive
facility prompted the use of RAF Fairford by both the Concorde testing programme
from 1969 to 1977 and as an alternative landing ground - albeit never used - for
NASA's Space Shuttle from 1981 to 2011.
The USAF however returned with KC-135 and KC-10 tanker aircraft in the 1980s
with B-52s being based at Fairford for the first Gulf War in 1991, Operation
Allied Force ( against targets in the former Yugoslavia ) in 1999 and the Iraq
War of 2003. Also flying from Fairford in this period were Lockheed U-2
spy planes, Rockwell B-1 Lancer bombers, and Northrop B-2 Spirit stealth
bombers. Indeed, from 2000 to 2008 Fairford was upgraded in the largest
NATO funded airfield construction project within a NATO country since 1989 and
as well as runway and fuel supply improvements the only dedicated B-2
maintenance hangar outside the USA was constructed.
Also
caught by Paul's lens and the B-52 before taxiing to the runway was this
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle operated by the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF
Lakenheath in Suffolk.
Although a 40 year old design, McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle has only
been challenged as the U.S. Air Force's premier fighter by the
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor from 2005. It remains the only
aircraft in the U.S. Air Force arsenal capable of launching
anti-satellite missiles and also serves with the air forces of
Israel, Japan and Saudi Arabia.
The Eagle's air superiority is due
to its advanced avionics, its range and weaponry, and its
unprecedented manoeuvrability. One person can effectively perform
air-to-air combat using its advanced systems to detect, acquire,
track and attack enemy aircraft.
Like the earlier Avro Vulcan, the F-15's low-wing loading (the
ratio of aircraft weight to its wing area), combined with its high
engine thrust-to-weight ratio, allows it to turn tightly without
losing airspeed. Under any light conditions, data from the
integrated avionics system is projected on the windscreen, so the
pilot can track and destroy an enemy aircraft without having to look
down at cockpit instruments.
Between 16 January and 1 February 1975, an F-15A nicknamed
"Streak Eagle" broke eight time-to-climb world records, reached an
altitude of 98,425 feet just 3 minutes 27.8 seconds from brake
release at takeoff and coasted to nearly 103,000 feet before
descending.
The first Eagle entered service in November 1974 with the 58th
Tactical Training Wing at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona while the
first F-15 equipped air defence squadron was the 48th
Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia in
January 1982. By 1989, more than 1,200 Eagles were in service; most
were built by McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, Missouri, and more
than 110 were built by Mitsubishi of Japan.
The single-seat F-15C and two-seat F-15D models were followed by
the two-seat, dual-role F-15E "Strike Eagle" which flew for the
first time on 11 December 1986. The F-15E Strike Eagle can fly
higher than 50,000 feet at more than Mach 2.5 and perform fly
air-to-air, air-to-ground, long-range, day or night missions, in any
kind of weather.
One noticeable feature of this fly-home Monday at Fairford was the way in which
helicopters followed fixed wing aircraft in either taxiing along or hovering low
above the ground to the end of the runway before take off - rather than
just ascending vertically from their display positions.
Just getting airborne below was this Boeing AH-64 Apache, the principal
attack helicopter of the US Army and now being built for the British Army Air
Corps under licence by Westland of Yeovil. Designed as a replacement for
the Hughes AH-1 Cobra of Vietnam war fame, this original Hughes design was
selected in 1976 and the first production example rolled out in 1983. The
company was taken over by McDonnell Douglas in 1984 and the ultimate AH-64D
Apache Longbow - distinguished by its circular rotor-top radome - is now a
Boeing Integrated Defence Systems product.
Even without the AN/APG-78 millimetric radar fire control system however, the
Apache can still make short work of enemy vehicles with the 30mm chain gun seen
under the cockpit and a range of laser guided missiles.
Following the order of the video once again, the F-16 -
easily recognisable by its cropped delta wings with long root extensions
blended with the fuselage - was the most successful fighter of its
generation and the most numerous jet fighter in the Western world today with
3 600 delivered to 17 air forces by the end of 1997. Not bad for a research
project for a very light fighter optimized for dogfighting!
Despite its
minimalist origins, the Fighting Falcon has evolved into a versatile and
effective multi-role workhorse. First flown on 20 January 1974, the
service-test YF-16 defeated Northrop's YF-17 in a fly-off competition. The
first of eight Full Scale Development F-16A airframes flew in 1975, the
first FSD F-16B in 1977. The two-seat version retains wing and fuselage
dimensions of the single seater while sacrificing 1,500 lb (680 kg) of fuel.
Nicknamed the 'Viper', the F-16 has a shock-inlet air intake located
under the forward fuselage below its pilot and offers enhanced lift at high
angles of attack. While its high Alpha capability is limited by comparison
with that of the F/A-18 and the latest Russian 'super-fighters' its very
high thrust to weight ratio, fast roll rate and high wing lift make it a
very agile fighter. Among its once novel characteristics, the F-16 is
statically unstable, relying on a central computer and electronic 'Fly By
Wire' controls to remain controllable.
The F-16A pilot sits on a zero-zero ejector seat canted to recline 30°.
This improves average g tolerance and necessitates provision of a limited
movement pressure-sensing sidestick controller in place of a conventional
joystick. The cockpit has HUD and multifunction displays, and a one-piece
canopy of blown polycarbonate with no windscreen and thus no framing forward
of the pilot's shoulder line. This gives an incomparable all-round view: a
great boon for dogfighting.
The F-16A/B is armed with a General Electric M61A1 Vulcan, 20-mm cannon
with 511 rounds, located on the port side at the blend between wing and
fuselage. On a typical mission, an F-16A/B can carry as much as 16,700 lb of
ordnance, including Mk 20 Rockeye and CBU-87 cluster bombs, Mk 83 and Mk 84
500-lb and 1,000 lb bombs, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, and GBU-10 and GBU-15
guided weapons.
As discussed above within the context of the Panavia Tornado,
NATO's search for a
Lockheed F-104
Starfighter replacement led in June 1975 to the 'sale of the
century' in which Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway selected the
F-16A/B. SABCA in Belgium was responsible for the manufacture of 221
aircraft mainly for Belgium and Denmark, as seen moving, while F-16C/D Block
40/42 Night Falcon aircraft began to come off the Fort Worth production line
in December 1988. This version introduces LANTIRN navigation and targeting
pods, Navstar GPS navigation receiver, AGM-88B HARM II, APG-68V radar,
digital flight controls, automatic terrain following and, as a consequence,
increased take-off weight. Greater structural strength increases the Night
Falcon's 9-g capability from 26,900 lb (12201 kg) to 28,500 lb (12928 kg)
The heavier all-up weight has resulted in larger landing gear to accommodate
LANTIRN, bulged landing gear doors and the movement of landing lights to the
nose gear door. Block 40/42 Night Falcons have been delivered to the USAF,
Israel, Egypt, Turkey, and Bahrain. An AMRAAM-equipped Block 42 F-16D became
the first USAF 'Viper' to score an air-to-air victory by downing an Iraqi
Mig-25 on 27 December 1992. In 1994 F-16s shot down three Serbian aircraft
over Bosnia.
The USAF Europe F-16 pictured above belongs to the 52nd Fighter Wing
based at Spangdahlem AFB in Germany while the "Solo Turk" seen below had its
gold engine and nose covers applied all the time we were there. Like
the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Avro Lancaster seen behind it, F-16C
91-0011 of 141 Filo Turk Hava Kuvvetieri must have been scheduled for a
later departure.
More information about the F-16 Fighting
Falcon can be found elsewhere on this website and
Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16s like RIAT attendees J-512 and J-015 also
have their own site at
www.f16demoteam.nl
The Short Tucano T1 is a modified version of the
Brazilian Embraer EMB-312 Tucano two seat basic trainer
aircraft, built under licence by Shorts of Belfast and
also used by the air forces of Kenya and Kuwait.
The
turboprop Tucano was chosen to replace the RAF’s
Jet
Provosts because of its greater fuel efficiency and
lower operating costs. Its two-seat tandem cockpit
also makes it an ideal lead-in to the BAe Hawk, and
despite being propeller-driven the Tucano handles like a
jet and is fully aerobatic.
The Tucano is operated primarily from No 1 Flying
Training School at RAF Linton-on-Ouse to provide basic
fast jet flying training to RAF and RN student pilots,
and basic Weapons Systems Operator training to all
potential RAF WSOs. Student pilots fly around 130 hours
during their training course on the Tucano before
progressing to the Hawk T1 aircraft at RAF Valley.
The 1 FTS syllabus also includes general aircraft
handling, formation flying and low-level navigation and,
due to its comprehensive avionics and ice-protection
packages, the Short Tucano can be flown in all types of
weather, by day and by night. Should weather conditions
be poor at RAF Linton-on- Ouse, students can thus fly
low-level sorties to locations as far away as Wales or
the north of Scotland.
Developed to meet Air Staff Target 412 and having
been selected for production in 1985 ahead of the
Pilatus PC-9, Hunting Firecracker, the Short Tucano is
powered by an 1 150 shp Garrett Turboprop engine - as
opposed to the original Embraer Tucano's 750 bhp gas
turbine - and has a maximum speed of 300kts (345mph) and
can maintain 270kts (310mph) at low level. It can
operate at up to 30,000 feet and has an initial climb
rate of 4000 feet per minute.
Other Belfast-built improvements included a
strengthened airframe, four as opposed to three bladed
propeller, ventral airbrake and restyled wingtips,
Martin Baker MBL8C ejector seats and new oxygen system,
flight recorder and canopy.
The Tucano has recently undergone a wing and fuselage
strengthening programme to overcome aircraft stress
problems and will remain as the RAF’s primary fast-jet
basic flying-training aircraft until well after 2011.
ZF 287 - seen above - belonged to 72 ( Reserve) Squdron at 1 FTS and was
named 'City of Leeds' named after Spitfire Mk V W3181 that flew with 72
Squadron and failed to return after encounter with a Bf-109 on 19 July 1941.
ZF 342 - pictured below - was also based at RAF Linton on Ouse.
Both as support aircraft for jet display teams and as
exhibits in their own right, Lockheed C-130 Hercules have had a long
association with the Royal International Air Tattoo. Recorded flying
above the heads of the crowd as it came in to land, for example, was HZ-128,
an L-100-30 Hercules of the Saudi Arabian Royal Flight while 344, pictured
above, was from the Royal Jordanian Air Force..
However the recent
death of actor Nicholas Courtney - Brigadier Alastair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart
in the long running BBC TV series "Dr Who" - revived memories of another
link between the 1954 vintage four engined turboprop and Fairford itself.
Although he had played other roles in Dr Who - including Colonel Lethbridge-Stewart
in "The Web of Fear", Nicholas Courtney's first appearance as The Brigadier
( pictured below with some sage advice) came late in 1968 when Douglas Camfield directed him in "The Invasion"
pitting Cybermen against the newly formed United Nations Intelligence
Taskforce (UNIT). This worldwide alien-hunting organisation purported
to be based in Geneva, Switzerland, but its first onscreen headquarters was
a flying command post in the back of RAF C-130K XV300 on the apron at
Fairford!
36 Squadron had received its first Hercules in August 1967 to replace the
antiquated Blackburn Beverley although monochrome TV could only suggest that
XV300 and a sister aircraft parked in the background were painted in the
same two tone desert camouflage with a white cockpit roof as XV196 – the
Hercules in the Airfix kit of the time. Until the oil crisis of 1973 pushed
up prices dramatically, this and the Boeing B-29 Superfortress were the only
Airfix kits to cost more than a pound! However, that one pound did also
include a
Bristol Bloodhound missile on a trailer towed by a short wheelbase
Landrover – both of which also feature in “The Invasion”!
Indeed, RAF Fairford also saw the first instance of Doctor Who driving a
vehicle other than his TARDIS – which was shot materialising at Williamstrip
Farm in nearby Coln St Aldwyns in Gloucestershire to start the story -
when Patrick Troughton took the wheel of Land Rover 72 EN 40 to leave the
Hercules. UNIT's Captain Turner ( actor Robert Sidaway ) then drove
out a second Land Rover en route to catching a “hypersonic aircraft” to
Russia to commandeer a rocket to shoot down a hostile Cyber ship. The RAF
Hercules fleet was maintained and upgraded by Marshalls of Cambridge,
founded by Sir Arthur Marshall, who in 1960 devised the drooping nose of
Concorde, the supersonic jetliner that would take up residence at Fairford
in March 1969.
After a long RAF service, including several more returns to Fairford, XV300
was withdrawn on 28 December 2001, swapped with Lockheed for a more recent
airframe and scrapped at Georgetown Air Force Base in Delaware.
However, in 2007 the C-130 became the fifth aircraft type - after the
English Electric Canberra,
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, Tupolev Tu-95 and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker -
to mark 50 years of continuous use with its original primary customer. The
C-130 is also the only military aircraft to remain in continuous production
for 50 years with its original customer, as the updated C-130J Super
Hercules with
Dowty R391 composite scimitar propellers.
At RIAT 2011 Sikorsky CH-53G Sea Stallion 84+72 wore the
dark green colours of the German Army Air Corps, which chose the single
rotor machine - first flown at Stratford, Conneticut in 1964 - over the
Boeing Vertol Chinook in 1966. However, all but two of the service's
110 Sea Stallions were built in Germany by VFW-Fokker, the first of these
flying in 1971. Thirty years later Eurocopter upgraded all the CH-53Gs
with additional fuel capacity for longer range, missile warning and self
protection apparatus and cockpit instrumentation compatible with night
vision goggles.
Back in the USA, the CH-53 Sea Stallion was developed into
the more powerful armour plated Sikorsky MH-53M Pave Low to drop off,
supply, and pick up special forces behind enemy lines as well as engage in
combat search and rescue missions. Low-level penetration was made possible
by a state-of-the-art terrain following radar and infrared sensors that
allow the helicopter to operate in bad weather. An example a Sikorsky
MH-53M Pave Low of the United States Air Force Special
Operations Command 21st SOS / 352nd SOG numbered 70-1625 and named
"Deliverance" is pictured above at RIAT in 2002
The ancestry of both these single rotor machines
evolved from the forward
fuselage of Sikorsky's earlier S-61 ( which in turn was the basis for the
Westland Sea King ) and the rear
fuselage and tailplane of the Sikorsky CH-54 Tarhe flying crane.
The design
was formulated in response to a United States Air Force requirement of the
early 1960s for a long range transport helicopter to resupply the "Texas
Towers" radar stations located off the shore of the southern USA. For this
role, the new helicopter was given an hydraulically powered rear door and
loading ramp, twin wheeled forward tricycle undercarriage and auxiliary
power unit for self sufficiency in remote areas.
The HH-3 "Jolly Green Giant" variant of what Sikorsky had originally
termed the S61R was introduced from 1966 and became famous for rescuing
aircrew shot down behind enemy lines in Vietnam. The very similar HH-3F
Pelican was likewise used for search and rescue duties by the US Coastguard
and HH-3 "Jollies" were also employed to insert US Special Forces for
clandestine operations until finally being replaced by later Sikorsky
helicopters in the 1990s.
Between 31 May and 1 June 1967, two HH-3Es of the
United States Air Force made the first nonstop flight across the
Atlantic Ocean by helicopter. Departing from New York in the early
hours, the two helicopters arrived at the 1967 Paris Air Show at Le
Bourget after a 30 hours 46 minutes and nine in-flight refuellings.
Both helicopters were later lost in combat operations in Southeast
Asia in 1969 and 1970.
The Jolly Green Giant flew 251 combat missions
during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and examples were also
stationed in Florida, Africa and Spain from the 1980s to rescue
astronauts from any forced Space Shuttle landings.
In 1977 Hawker Siddeley Aviation - which had previously absorbed
the
Gloster Aircraft
Company - merged with the British Aircraft Corporation to become
British Aerospace (BAe), renamed BAe Systems in 1999 after a further merger with
Marconi Electronic Systems. This further concentration of Britain's aircraft
industry yielded more work for the former English Electric airfield at Warton,
Lancashire, and - with the appearance of the Hawk single engined twin-seat jet
trainer in 1974 - forged links with the former Blackburn Aircraft base at Brough,
Yorkshire.
In 1964 the Royal Air Force specified a requirement (Air Staff Target (AST) 362)
for a new fast jet trainer to replace the Folland Gnat. The SEPECAT Jaguar was
originally intended for this role, but it was soon realised that it would be too
complex an aircraft for fast jet training and only a small number of two-seat
versions were purchased.
Accordingly, in 1968, Hawker Siddeley Aviation began studies for a simpler
subsonic aircraft, initially as special project (SP) 117. This project was
funded by the company as a private venture, in anticipation of possible RAF
interest, and the design was conceived of as having tandem seating and a combat
capability in addition to training, as it was felt the latter would improve
export sales potential.
In 1969 the project was first renamed P.1182, then HS.1182. By the end of the
year Hawker Siddeley Aviation had submitted a proposal to the Ministry of
Defence based on the design concept, and in early 1970 the RAF issued Air Staff
Target (AST) 397 which formalised the requirement for new trainers of this type.
The RAF selected the HS.1182 for their requirement on 1 October 1971 and the
principal contract, for 175 aircraft, was signed in March 1972.
The new trainer was named "Hawk" - breaking an RAF tradition of University
themed titles - and first flew on 21 August 1974. It is still in production with
over 900 Hawks sold to 18 customers around the world.
The Hawk is
characterised by a low-mounted swept cantilever monoplane wing and is powered by
a non-augmented two-spoolRolls
Royce Turbomeca Adour turbofan fiited to the aft fuselage and fed by air inlets
above the roots of the wings.
The stepped cockpit, allowing the instructor in the rear seata good forward view, was
an innovation subsequently adopted by many other training aircraft.
The low-positioned one-piece wing was designed to allow a wide landing gear
track and to enable easier maintenance access. The wing is fitted with
wide-span, double-slotted, trailing-edge flaps for low-speed performance.
Integral to the wing is 836 litre (184 imperial gallon) fuel tank and room for
the retractable main landing gear legs. Designed to take a +8/-4 g load, the
original requirement was for two stores hardpoints but Hawker Siddeley designed
the Hawk with four hardpoints.
The fuselage design was led by the need to get a height differential between
the two tandem cockpits which enabled increased visibility for the instructor in
the rear seat. Each cockpit is fitted with a Martin-Baker Mk 10B zero-zero
rocket assisted ejection seat. The centre fuselage has an 823 litre (181
Imperial Gallon) flexible fuel tank. A ram air turbine is fitted just in front
of the single fin as well as a gas turbine auxiliary power unit above the
engine. The nose landing gear leg retracts forwards.
The Hawk was designed to be manoeuvrable and can reach Mach 0.88 in level
flight, and Mach 1.15 in a dive, thus allowing trainees to experience transonic
flight before advancing to a supersonic trainer.
The The Hawk entered RAF service in April 1976, replacing the Folland Gnat and
Hawker Hunter. Hawk T1 (Trainer Mark 1) was the original version used by the RAF
and deliveries commencing in November 1976 with 176 being ordered.
In RAF
service the Hawk can be fitted with a 30mm Aden canon in a centreline pod and
Sidewinder air-to-air missiles under the wings. From 1983 to 1986, Hawks so
fitted were given the designation T1A and in the event of war would have worked
with Panavia Tornados, whose Foxhunter airborne search radar sets would have
vectored non-radar-fitted Hawk T1As - flown by instructor pilots - against enemy
targets. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s Hawks are no longer
tasked with this role although they have played aggressors in simulated air
combat with Tornado ADVs.
The Hawk subsequently replaced the English Electric Canberra as a target tug
while the Royal Navy acquired a dozen Hawk T1/1As from the RAF, for use as
aerial targets for the training of ships' gunners and radar operators.
Eighty Hawk T1/1A aircraft have been upgraded under the Fuselage Replacement
Programme (FRP), which involves the replacement of the aft, centre and rear
fuselage sections, using new build sections derived from the export Mk. 60
version of the Hawk.
In 2009, the RAF began receiving the first Hawk T2 aircraft - of which ZK025
pictured above is an example - which will replace T1s ( such as XX307 and XX245,
also noted at RIAT 2011) in the advanced trainer
role. Based on versions exported to Australia and South Africa, the T2
features a glass cockpit similar to that found in the Eurofighter Typhoon.
However, the most famous RAF operator of the Hawk T1 is the Red Arrows
aerobatic team, which adopted the plane in late 1979. The first display season
with Red Arrows Hawks was in 1980.
The Red Arrows badge shows the aircraft in their trademark diamond nine
formation, with the motto Éclat, meaning "brilliance" or "excellence". They were
formed in late 1964 as an all-RAF team, replacing a number of unofficial teams
that had been sponsored by RAF commands.
The Red Arrows were originally equipped with seven Folland Gnat trainers
which were inherited from the RAF Yellowjacks display team. The Folland Gnat
aircraft - designed by W.E.W. Petter, who had also designed the English Electric
Canberra - was chosen because it was less expensive to operate than front-line
fighters such as the English Electric Lightning.
The first ever Red Arrows display was on 6 May 1965 at RAF Little Rissington,
Gloucestershire, home of the Central Flying School and parent to their own
satellite airfield at RAF Kemble. Later in 1965 The Red Arrows flew at 65 shows
across Europe and were awarded the Britannia Trophy by the Royal Aero Club for
their contribution to aviation.
In 1968 the team was increased to nine
members, enabling them to develop their trademark Diamond Nine formation under
the command of Squadron Leader Ray Hanna, who would later receive a bar to his
AFC for leading The Red Arrows for a record four seasons.
In 1983 the Red Arrows left Gloucestershire for a number of bases in
Lincolnshire as the Central Flying School moved from RAF Little Rissington to
Scampton.
Normally each pilot, including the Squadron Leader, stays with the Red Arrows
for three seasons and in this way maximum expertise is retained from year to
year. The Synchro Pair, Reds 6 and 7 , perform the highly popular solo
manoeuvres
within the second half of the display. They provide extra excitement and ensure
that there is always some activity going on in front o the crowd while the Team
Leader is repositioning the remaining aircraft for the next flypast.
The Team Manager is Red 10 and flies the tenth Hawk to displays away from
Scampton, making the spare aircraft ready to use in case one of the others
becomes unserviceable. Rather than flying in displays however, the Team Manager
stays on the ground and commentates on the Red Arrows performances.
Sadly, 21
August 2011 marked the first loss of a Red Arrow at an air display when Red 4 -
flown by Flight Lieutenant John Egging - failed to land at Bournemouth
International Airport after a sea front display. Rather than ejecting
however, "Eggman" sacrificed his own life to steer his stricken Hawk away from a
Dorset village. By August 2012 however a memorial to Flight Lieutenant
John Egging had been established on Bournemouth sea front.
The green
and white Saudi Hawks formation team - supported by the Hercules seen arriving
beyond the heads of the crowd in the video - fly BAe Systems Mark 65 Hawks and
belong to 88 Squadron RSAF based at King Faisal Air Base, Tabuk.
After much dispute with the US Army, the United States Air Force
was tasked with close air support (CAS) over the battlefields of the Vietnam war
and concluded that it needed a new aircraft for the job with a particular talent
for destroying enemy tanks.
As a result, the Fairchild Republic Thunderbolt II
was first flown on 10 May 1972 and entered USAF service in 1977. Named
after the Republic Thunderbolt piston engined close support fighter bomber of
World War II but also known as the Warthog, the straight winged A-10 was built
around a powerful 30mm 7-barrel General Electric GAU-8/A Gatling gun and its
enormous ammunition magazine. The 22' long gun itself weighs 4 091 lb and can
fire 2lb high explosive or armour piercing rounds at a maximum rate of 4 200 per
minute. However, in practice this rate of fire is limited to ten
two-second burst with 60 seconds left in between to let the gun cool.
The two turbofan engines in pods on top of the fuselage and twin tailfins
helping to shield their infra-red signature are all designed to be easily
replaced or even dispensed with to keep the A-10 flying after suffering serious
damage while the pilot sits in an armoured titanium "bathtub" - designed to
resist 23mm rounds - for maximum survivability. The A-10 can also land in
only 4 000 feet of runway and many parts are interchangeable between the right
and left sides of the aircraft.
The "Hog" can carry 16,000lbs of external weaponry and from 2005 all A-10s
were due to be upgraded to A-10C standard with glass cockpits, digital stores
management and new multi-functional throttles and joysticks. More
electrical power was also envisaged to allow the deployment of smart weapons
such as Joint Direct Attack Munitions and Wind Corrected Munitions Dispensers.
The A-10 proved its value in the 1991 Gulf War and the example seen at
Fairford - 82-0649 belongs to the 52nd Fighter Wing based at Spangdahlem AFB in
Germany .
Proving that grey and green disruptive camouflage does
work, this French Air Force Mirage 2000 almost succeeded in hiding a
Rockwell OV-10 Bronco!
The development of the Mirage 2000 can be traced
back to Marcel Dassault's Mirage III, first flown on 17 November 1956 and
based on a 1953 specification for a lightweight fighter capable of climbing
to 59 000' in six minutes and achieving Mach 1.3 in level flight.
Like the
Fairey FD2 which had taken the
World Air Speed Record on 10 March 1956, the Mirage III featured a low, thin
delta wing, vertical fin without separate horizontal tail. The low
loaded delta wing shape, also used on the Avro Vulcan, necessitated a long
takeoff run and high landing speeds but was robust, and offered plenty of
fuel storage space, high straight-line speed and low radar cross section.
Dassault's design also had half-cone shock diffusers ( known as "souris", or
mice ) to regulate the air flow of the wing root intakes and slow supersonic
air to the point where it could be breathed by a gas turbine.
The Mirage III was widely exported to customers including Israel, South
Africa, Argentina and also Australia - which until then had either mainly
bought or licence built British aircraft. The concept was further
developed into the Mirage IV nuclear bomber for France's Force De Frappe,
the Balzac V vertical take off and landing aircraft and the high-swept-wing
Mirage F1, itself related to the Anglo-French Variable Geometry concept
which spawned the Panavia Tornado.
The multi-role Mirage 2000 first flew on 10 March 1978,
was introduced to French air force service in November 1982 and also gained
export customers as a single engined lightweight alternative to the General
Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon described above. Like the F-16 it was a
fly-by-wire inherently unstable design with computer control overcoming the
poor low-speed handling of delta wings while retaining all its advantages.
Most clearly defined by the fluorescent orange
strips on its twin tail booms, wings and nose in the picture above, the
Rockwell OV-10 Bronco first flew on 16 July 1965 in response to the need of
the United States Marine Corps for a rugged lightly armed low-level
reconnaissance platform.
Also adopted by the United States Air Force, the Bronco - designed by W.H.
Beckett and Colonel K.P. Rice USMC - was well liked for its high visibility
cockpit and rear cargo compartment. It could carry up to three tons of
external stores too, and despite the production model gaining a 40' wingspan
which limited its off-runway forward base use, it could still operate offer
more loiter time over a target than a jet fighter.
Although 157 OV-10As were fitted with machine gun turrets for used in
Vietnam from 1968, seventeen airframes were converted to OV-10D Night
Observation Surveillance standard by 1980 with engines more powerful than
the original Garrett turboprops carrying 20mm canon, infra red equipment and
laser target designators aloft.
Other versions have been supplied to Indonesia, Thailand, Morocco, The
Philippines and Venezuela and although officially retired from the USAF in
1994, the Bronco is still used as a civilian fire-spotting aircraft in the
USA.
The grey liveried side view above
depicts OV-10A Bronco 14699 of the 20th Tactical Air Support Squadron, 601st
TCW, USAF Sembach, West Germany in 1980 while the former Luftwaffe
OV-10B target tug -
99+32 - seen at Fairford in 2011 is
privately preserved an has its own website, as does Colonel K. P. Rice USMC
who is now working on his own
Volante flying car.
The Patrouille Acrobatique de France (PA.F) - commonly
referred to as the Patrouille de France - are based at the French Air Force
Academy at Salon de Provence and fly eight Dassault-Bregut / Dornier Alpha Jets,
all finished in a red, white and blue scheme with Armee de l'air inscriptions
under the wing.
Formed in 1953, The Patrouille de France are one of the oldest display teams,
originally flying the Republic F-84G Thunderjet before converting to the
Dassault Ouragon in 1954 and Dassault Mystere IV in 1957. Although four
different wings which were allowed to use the name Patrouille de France between
1955 and 1963, Salon de Provence became the team's permanent home from 1964 when
the butterfly tailed Fouga CM 170 Magister became the aircraft of choice until
the Alpha Jet took over in 1981.
The Patrouille de France - which, like the Red Arrows boasts a synchro pair -
are supported on the air show circuit by either a Lockheed C-130 Hercules or
twin engined C-160 Transall of French Transport Command ( COTAM ) which carries
their support equipment and personnel.
The twin engined high wing Alpha Jet first flew in 1974 as a collaboration
between Dornier
and Dassault-Bregut, becoming a standard NATO basic trainer. Portuguese
Air Force Alpha Jet 15220, below, was seen at RIAT in 2002.
A deeper appraisal of the RAF's air sea rescue Westland Sea King
helicopters can be found elsewhere on this website with a walk round XZ592's
close comrade
XZ589.
Meanwhile, following lessons learned in the 1982 Falklands
Campaign - 10 HAS2s were converted to AEW2A standard to provide airborne early
warning cover for Invincible class aircraft carriers - sadly withdrawn and
scrapped in 2011. The AEW2A Sea Kings - like the one seen in Part Two of the
video - can be distinguished by a large black thimble shaped radome - carrying a
Thorn EMI Searchwater radar antenna - mounted on a rotating arm on the starboard
side just behind the sliding fuselage door. This is positioned alongside the
fuselage when on the ground but is rotated so that the curved end faces downward
- below the level of the tail wheel - when the helicopter is flying.
Italian AF C-27J
Spartan CSX 62119 is a joint Alenia / Lockheed Martin development of the
1970 vintage Aeritalia G222 with many Lockheed C-130J features including
glass cockpit with liquid crystal displays, avionics allowing low level night
flight, and Rolls Royce Defence North America ( formerly Allison ) 5 000 shp gas
turbines providing the torque for
Dowty R391 composite scimitar propellers.
Designed as a rugged, medium-size all-weather transport and aeromedical
evacuation aircraft particularly suited for short-to-medium range tactical
operations into semi-prepared airfields as short as 1 800 feet (549m), the twin
engined C-27J is crewed by a pilot, co-pilot and loadmaster and has a cargo
capacity of more than 2 000 cubic feet, or 12 000 pounds (5 443kg).
The Spartan is constructed with a floor strength equal to that of a C-130J
and the large pressurised cargo cabin cross section is able to accommodate
standard 463L pallets. Without modification, HMMWV (High Mobility Medium Wheeled
Vehicle), AML-90, Perentie 6x6 armoured vehicle, M113 armoured
personnel carrier or similar military vehicles can be
driven on and off the Spartan via a hydraulically operated rear-loading ramp.
The aircraft is constructed to off load vehicles quickly while taking fire and
an upward opening door is installed in the underside rear fuselage which is used
for airdrops of pallets or CDS (Container Delivery System) units.
In the aeromedical evacuation role, the aircraft can carry 24
casualties on litters (stretchers) and 4 medical attendants. The cargo
compartment is equipped with a dedicated aeromedical oxygen supply and 12 power
centers for medical or auxiliary equipment. For the paratroop role, the
aircraft is equipped with door jump platforms and static lines and can carry up
to 24 fully-equipped paratroops. Paratroop jumps can be carried out from the
paratroop doors on both sides of the cargo compartment or from the cargo ramp
and rear door. Standard passenger capacity is 34 ground troops.
In August 1990 the USAF selected the G222 as its Rapid-Response Intra-Theater
Airlifter (RRITA) which was designated C-27A Spartan and procured from Alenia by
Chrysler, the prime U.S. contractor, and modified for USAF operations with the
installation of mission-specific communications, navigation and mission systems.
An initial order for five aircraft led to a fleet of 10 C-27As, stationed at
Howard AFB, Panama, to support U.S. Southern Command operations in Latin
America. However, the aircraft did not prove popular in service and by
1999 all had been placed in storage.
First flown in September 1999 though, the much improved C-27J variant Spartan
won an order for 12 airframes from the Italian Air Force with Alenia Aerospazio
taking responsibility for the certification process and for most of the
manufacturing, final assembly and flight testing operations. Lockheed Martin
meanwhile is responsible for the propulsion and avionics and takes lead
responsibility for product support and worldwide marketing. Sister
C-27J Spartan MMCSX 62127 is pictured below at RIAT in 2002.
The
Bell 412EP Griffin ZJ237 - seen hovering in the movie between the departures of the
C-27J Spartan and that of the single seat Eurofighter Typhoon - is a development
of the Bell UH1 "Huey" famously used by the United States armed forces in
Vietnam
Griffon
HT1 ZJ236 - alternative civilian serial is G-BXBE - of Shawbury based 60
Squadron Defence Helicopter Flying School was on show at Fairford in 2002 and is
pictured above.
Student
pilots either join the Royal Air Force directly or as graduate entrants and
complete a 30 week officer training course at Cranwell, Lincolnshire. This is
followed by 60 hours of Elementary Flying Training which leads to a Final
Handling Test and streaming into further traing specific to fast jets,
mutli-engined aircraft or helicopters.
At the
DHFS, rotary wing students spend around 70 hours on the Eurocopter Squirrel
before 65 hours learning to fly the multi engined Griffin. Prospective Sea King
pilots then spend a further 15 hours on the Griffin.
Eurofighter Typhoon is a multi-role combat aircraft,
capable of being deployed in the full spectrum of air operations, from air
policing and peace support to high intensity conflict as a replacement for
the RAF’s Tornado F3 and Jaguar aircraft. One major advantage of the
fly-by-wire Typhoon over both the Tornado and Jaguar is its ability to
undertake "swing role" missions switching between air-to-air and
ground-to-air modes within a single sortie.
Its two Eurojet EJ200 turbojets each yield 20 000 lb of thrust, taking the
15.96m long, 11.09m wide canard delta aircraft to Mach 2 and a maximum
altitude of 65 000 feet. Missile armament includes Advanced Medium Range
Air-to-Air Missile ( AMRAAM ), Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM),
Brimstone, Storm Shadow, Enhanced Paveway and Paveway IV
Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain formally agreed to start development of
the aircraft in 1988 with contracts for a first batch of 148 aircraft – of
which 55 were for the RAF – signed ten years later. Deliveries to the RAF
started in 2003 to 17 Squadron, based at BAe Systems
Warton Aerodrome in Lancashire,
alongside the factory in which the T1 two seat trainer - as represented by
ZJ802 ( constructors number 1011/BT003) , pictured above, one of the first
RAF Typhoons delivered - and single seat F2 aircraft are assembled, while
detailed development and testing of the aircraft was carried out.
17 (Reserve) Squadron, the Typhoon Operational Evaluation Unit was
officially reformed with the presentation of the Squadron Standard at RAF
Coningsby on 19 May 2006
Following the 55 Tranche 1 aircraft, the RAF is due to receive 89 Tranche 2
aircraft with capacity to be upgraded to deliver further enhanced
ground-attack capability and the mixed powerplant rocket and jet propelled
Meteor Beyond Visual Range Air-to-Air Missile. Earlier Tranche 1 aircraft
will be upgraded to this standard.
Negotiations were concluded in late 2004 on a contract for the Tranche 2
batch and the placing of a £4.3 billion contract for 89 aircraft was
announced that December. Commitment to Tranche 3 procurement is not expected
for some years. The MoD planned for the introduction of multi-role Tranche 2
aircraft with improved ground-attack capabilities, introduced under a
planned upgrade programme, to enter service after 2010.
The Typhoon airframe is largely constructed of carbon fibre composites
and light alloys to save weight while the aircraft is equipped with the
advanced ECR90 radar, which can track multiple targets at long range. The
pilot can carry out many functions by voice command while aircraft
manoeuvre; weapon and defensive aid deployment is done through a combined
stick and throttle. All of these innovations dramatically simplify operation
of the aircraft in combat. Combined with an advanced cockpit that is fully
compatible with night-vision goggles, the pilot is superbly equipped for air
combat.
Eurofighter is easily recognisable from any angle. The engine intake is
mounted on the bottom of the fuselage and Typhoon also has canards (foreplanes)
mounted before the main wing. These come to rest at an oblique angle when
the Typhoon is inactive.
The delta mainplane is very deep at the point it
joins the main fuselage while the tail fin is tall and sharply swept just
above the twin jet pipes. The two-seat version has a large bubble cockpit
for the additional pilot and a deeper upper fuselage giving a more humped
appearance.
The appearance of preserved Avro
Vulcan B Mk 2 XH558 at RIAT in 2002 reinforced my strong connection between
Fairford, Concorde and the delta winged bomber because I saw the British
prototype supersonic airliner for the first time - or rather a part of it -
at the Gloucestershire airfield in 1972.
After much pleading, Dad agreed to drive his ten year
old son down one sunny afternoon only to find the object of his hard-won
income tax parked behind a hangar on the far side of the main runway. Only
the tail with the word "Concorde" was visible, although there was an
unexpected surprise in store.
A squadron of Vulcan bombers were using Fairford while
their usual runway in East Anglia was being resurfaced and they all - bar
one - took off one after another as we watched. This was not just a lone air
show Vulcan rolling past with the bomb bay open - impressive though that
always was - but nine or ten Rolls Royce Olympus quartets powering up
together. Mother - knitting in the front seat of the car - was unimpressed
by the noise but I can hear that crackling, channelled thunder even now:
each delta winged giant - by now camouflaged for its low level penetration
role - dipping out of sight for a while at the end of the runway before
leaping skywards.
In fact remembering that procession of Vulcan howls I think the Drewett
family must have parked not far from where Paul, Stephanie and I stood in
2011, and I have since been reminded that during the 1970s this part of
Fairford was not only open to the public but had a board publicising the
anticipated flight time of the prototype and pre-production Concordes.
Gloucestershire Transport History has taken more general looks at the
Avro Vulcan in
Bristol and the Bomber Gap and
Terminal 1 Aircraft but
specifically XH558 was the first Vulcan B.Mk2 to be delivered to the RAF -
on 1 July 1960 - and she is now the oldest complete Vulcan in the world.
XH558 was also the last Vulcan to leave RAF service, flying on from 1986
to 1993 as the single RAF Display Vulcan, a career of 33 years. Her final
flight was on 23 March 1993 to Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome in Leicestershire,
having been sold off by the Ministry of Defence to C Walton Ltd, a family
firm who purchased and maintained her, with the thought that one day, she
might be returned to fight.
In 1997, a small team headed by Dr Robert Pleming started to put together an audacious plan to return her to flight,
but it was clear from the start that the project would be technically
challenging & enormously expensive. Never deterred, the team set off down
the path that led to XH558's return to the air.
Over 1998-2000, the start-up team confirmed the formal
support of all the manufacturers needed to help XH558’s
restoration, and completed a technical review which showed
there were no show-stoppers. The real challenge was money
–first estimates were that over £3.5million would be
required to pay for the restoration - but eventually a
successful bid was made to the Heritage Lottery Fund, who in
December 2003 announced a grant of £2.7million for XH558’s
restoration.
An engineering project team, some of whom had
repaired Vulcans in the RAF, eventually started work on the aircraft
in August 2005, by which time XH558 had been purchased for the Nation by the
Vulcan to the Sky Trust, a Registered Charity. On 31
August 2006, XH558 rolled out of the hangar for the first
time in 7 years.
After extensive tests, XH558's Rolls Royce Olympus engines were started up for the
first time in August 2007. A further two months of testing on the ground
followed, to ensure that XH558 was 100% ready for flight. Finally, 14
years after its last flight & with over £7 million spent, Vulcan XH558
roared into the air again on Thursday 18 October 2007.
Beech B200S Super King Air ZK456 has the constructor's
number BB-1837 and was previously on the civilian register as G-RAFP.
It has been operated by Serco Group PLC on behalf of the Royal Air Force
since 2004 as an advanced, multi-engine pilot trainer with 45(R)
Squadron, which is part of No 3 Flying Training School
based at RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire.
Prior to flying
the King Air, students who have been streamed to fly
multi-engine aircraft at the end of elementary flying
training undertake survival training and personal
development training to prepare them for the rigours of
operational service. They then join No 45(R) Squadron,
and receive an additional 30 hours training on the
multi-engine lead-in (MELIN) course, flying Firefly 260
aircraft. During the MELIN course, students are taught
crew co-operation and procedural flying skills to
prepare them for their advanced flying training on the
King Air.
The King Air course is split into basic and
advanced phases. In the basic phase, students learn
essential multi-engine techniques such as general
handling, asymmetric flying, emergency handling and
radio-aids navigation, and consolidate the multi-crew
skills acquired on the MELIN. In the advanced phase, the
emphasis shifts towards developing captaincy, crew
resource management, and managing the King Air's
advanced avionics systems. Students learn advanced
skills such as formation flying, low-level flying and
airways navigation, and are expected to plan and manage
composite missions involving several aircraft.
On completion of the course students are awarded
their coveted pilot’s wings, and then undertake
conversion to their frontline aircraft type at an
Operational Conversion Unit.
A variety of courses are available using the King
Air, based mainly on the student’s previous flying
experience. This experience can be as little as 100
hours for a student arriving straight from elementary
flying training, to a few thousand hours for a qualified
pilot transferring to the multi-engine role. In addition
to its flying training role, the King Air can be used to
carry up to 6 passengers or freight.
The Beech B200 Super King Air was originally made by
the Beech Aircraft Corporation from from 1974 although
in 1980 the Wichita, Kansas, based company became part
of Raytheon and is today known as the Beechcraft
Division of Hawker Beechcraft. Similarly, the
"Super" soubriquet - used to distinguish more modern
twin turboprops from the older King Air with a
horizontal tail set below the fin - was dropped in 1996.
Around the World, other Beech B200 derivatives fly with Australia's Royal
Flying Doctor Service, as the Beech 1900 airliner and as the USAF RC-12D
Guardrail V battlefield reconnaissance aircraft.
However, my own connection with the Beech B200
Super King Air began at the Walney Air Show, Barrow in Furness, in 2005 when
I photographed Vickers Shipbuilding (now BAe Systems) G-VSBC,
constructors number BB-1290, pictured below.
The smallest wheeled helicopter I recorded in motion at
Fairford on 18 July 2011 was twin engined Agusta A-109BA H38 ( constructors
number 3038 ) of the Belgian Air Component.
The first of four A-109
prototypes flew on 4 August 1971 with production beginning in 1974 and the
first deliveries being made in 1976, by which time the original name of
Hirundo ( Latin for Swallow ) was dropped.
The base A-109A was superseded by the upgraded A-109A Mk.II from
September 1981. Improvements incorporated in the Mk.II included a greater
transmission rating, redesigned tailboom and a new tail rotor driveshaft,
improved rotor blade life and modern avionics. The Mk.II was also available
in widebody configuration with increased internal volume courtesy of bulged
fuselage side panels and reshaped fuel tanks under the cabin floor. The
Mk.II Plus had the more powerful 250-C20R1 engines, as did the A-109C. The
109C also has composite rotor blades.
The A-109K first flew in April 1983 and is powered by two 470 kW (640
shp) max continuous operation rated Turboméca Arriel 1K1 turboshafts. The
latest A-109 model is the PW-206C powered (477kW / 640shp takeoff rated)
A-109E Power, which first flew on February 8 1995 and was certificated in
August 1996. Based on the A-109K-2 it also features a strengthened landing
gear and improved main rotor. The engines feature full authority digital
engine control.
The A-109 has been developed into a number of mission specific
configurations. Aside from executive transport it is used widely in medevac,
police and patrol roles worldwide. Previously medevac configured A-109As
were based on the standard airframe, but modifications engineered by the US
firm Custom Aircraft Completions resulted in the A-109 Max, with transverse
stretcher stowage and bulged side door transparencies.
The Belgian Air Component - formerly the Belgian Air Force - was created
in 2002 when Belgium emulated the integrated military organisation structure
of Canada while the acquisition of Agusta A109s by Belgium in 1988 created a
scandal when it was alleged that Agusta bribed the Belgian Socialist Party
to confirm the sale. As a result, NATO Secretary General Willy Claes
resigned.
2011 marked the 60th anniversary of the Hawker Hunter, and representing Sydney
Camm's widely exported swept wing jets at Fairford were both
Team Viper, the World's only
five-Hunter display team making their RIAT debut, and G-PSST which is discussed
further below in order of apearance.
British based
Team Viper is named after the Rolls Royce Viper engine
found in its original Strikemaster jets and is also unique
in being both privately owned
and flown by military pilots from the British Royal Air
Force.
The Team Viper Hunter line up includes A&AEE Boscombe Down liveried FGA9 XE601 (G-ETPS,
the World's last "blue note" Hunter, pictured above at Walney
Island in 2005), Royal Navy grey GA11 G-GAII ( XE685,
VL-861) , camouflaged T7 ( originally F4) WV372, black T7 G-VETA (XL600) and
black G-PRII -XG 194 - the only remaining Hunter PR11 in the World.
The CH-47
Chinook was designed for the US Army in 1959 and is the largest twin rotor
helicopter outside Russia. Weighing 46 000 lb it can fly at nearly 200 mph
and carry either 44 fully armed troops or a 12 ton external load. During the
war in Vietnam, Chinooks recovered no less than 10 000 crashed aircraft and
the type has also served with the Royal Air Force in the Falkland Islands
and Afghanistan. However, on 31 March 2007 the Daily Mail reported:
A £ 260 million
fleet of RAF helicopters which has never flown because of technical hitches
is to be made operational - by being downgraded. The eight RAF Special
Forces Chinook Mark 3 aircraft were ordered 12 years ago. They cost £ 32.5
million each. But the project ran into problems. Now the Ministry of Defence
is to spend £60 million and two years ripping out the special equipment and
fitting standard instruments, Defence Secretary Des Browne announced
yesterday.
Meanwhile, the
most powerful twin rotor helicopter remains the
Mil Mi-12 which, on 18 June 1967, lifted a 40 tonne load. The
Mi-12 uses the same engines and many components of the Mi-6 "Hook"- also
designed by Mikhail Leontevich Mil and the World's biggest single rotor
helicopter. Mil is also responsible for the load carrying Mi-26 "Halo" Mi-8
"Hip" and Mi-10 "Harke" as well as the Mi-24 "Hind" assault helicopter.
The Chinook I filmed at Fairford in 2011 belonged to
the Royal Netherlands Air Force and is seen above parked next to the twin
turbofan Airbus air tanker MR TT 016.
847 Squadron Royal Marines was represented by XZ612, one of two
grey and green camouflaged Westland Lynx AH7 helicopters. Built in 1993
with Westland constructors number 159, XZ612 served on HMS Ocean (L12) from 2003
and was one of a variant developed for the British Army Air Corps for the
anti-tank role, now being taken over by the Westland AH-1 Apache discussed
above.
Until the consolidation of the British helicopter industry during
1959-61, with
Westland absorbing the rotorcraft
operations of Bristol, Fairey and Saunders Roe,
the Yeovil based firm had spend most of the years after 1945 manufacturing
modified Sikorsky-designed helicopters under license.
However, in 1964
project WG13 began as a replacement for the Army and Royal Navy's Scout and Wasp
helicopters and as a more easily maintainable alternative to the Bell UH-1 Iroquois seen previously.
The WG13 rotor - made from composite materials around a honeycomb core - was
a completely new semi-rigid type with blades of constant chord and cambered
section. With these characteristics, it was possible to achieve very high tip
speeds, as well as enhancing lift and reducing drag.
First flown on 21 March 1971, the prototype helicopter that became known as
the Lynx was followed by four more examples in AH Mark 1 configuration
with skids for army use and in HAS Mark 2 format with four non-retracting wheels
on oleo-pneumatic shock absorbers for the Navy.
The Lynx also marked the start
of international collaboration between Westland and Aerospatiale of France which
would also lead to the production of Gazelle and Puma helicopters.
The Lynx demonstrated its capabilities by the records
achieved in the summer of 1972. Piloted by Westland's chief test pilot Roy Moxam,
it broke the world record over 15 and 25km by flying at 321.74km/h, also setting a
new 100km closed circuit record shortly afterwards by flying at 318.504km/h.
A specially modified Westland Lynx
ZB-500 with British Experimental Rotor Programme blades and the civilian
registration G-LYNX set the absolute speed record for helicopters in 1986. The
aircraft was piloted by Trevor Egginton and reached a
speed of 249.09 mph (400.87 km/h)
The British Army ordered over 100 Lynx AH.1 for a
variety of roles, from tactical transport to armed escort, antitank warfare
(with eight TOW missiles), reconnaissance and casualty evacuation. A Marconi
Elliott AFCS system was fitted to the Army's version of the Lynx, which gave
automatic stabilization on three axes and could also be used as an autopilot
during extended flights.
The initial Westland Lynx HAS Mk.2 version was ordered
by both the Royal Navy and the French Aeronavale, although they differed in
their avionics, ASW equipment, and their armament (the former has four Sea Skua
anti-ship missiles and the latter AS.12 missiles). Uprating and other changes
subsequently resulted in two distinct new variants, the HAS Mk.3 for the
Royal Navy and the Mk.4 for the Aeronavale. Similar uprating for the
British Army version has resulted in the AH Mk.5.
The 50' long British army Lynx AH 7 with 42' diameter rotor
blades has a maximum speed of 201 mph ( 324 Km/h ) and a range of 328 miles (
528 Km ) with standard tanks.
The Lynx has also met with considerable export
success. After careful evaluation, it was chosen by the German Navy (12 ordered
in 1981) for use on their new frigates, and six SAR and 18 ASW models have been
ordered by the Royal Netherlands Navy. Other operators of the Lynx
include Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Norway, Nigeria and Qatar.
One of the joys of visiting an air display is having your
knowledge stretched by unfamiliar types, such as G-HAEF, a Czech Republic built
Evektor EV-97 Eurostar ( constructor's number 3322 ) owned by RAF Halton
Microlight Club and bearing the legend "Royal Air Force Charitable Trust" on the
duralumin fin. Other parts of the low wing fixed-undercarriage nosewheel
single propeller two-seater are made of composite material. A choice of 80
or 100 bhp four cylinder four-stroke Rotax engines can be installed to turn a
fixed pitch two blade wooden propeller and folding wings for minimal hangar
storage are an option.
At the other end of the learning curve was Patrulla Aguila -
Eagle Patrol - of the Spanish Air Force, based at San Javier airbase near La
Manga, Murcia and famous both for their formation takeoffs and landings and for
being the only jet aerobatic display team to use yellow smoke. The
numerical sequence above was captured at Fairford in 2002.
Although
the Spanish Air Force has a history of display teams going back to 1954 and
using, in turn, North American T-6 Texans, Lockheed T-33 Shooting Stars,
North
American F-86 Sabres and Dassault Mirage F-1s, Eagle Patrol was formed on 4 July
1985 with Air Force Academy instructors flying CASA C-101 Aviojets.
This
single jet two seat trainer was designed in response to a Spanish Air Force
requirement in 1975 to replace its aging fleet of Hispano HA-200s and HA 220s.
To do this, CASA sought help from MBB of Germany with Northrop of the USA
designing the low-set straight wings.
Like the BAe Hawk and Dornier Alpha Jet already discussed, the C-101 was to
have a limited attack capability and also has a large internal weapons bay
beneath the rear cockpit, allowing for a wider variety of armament to be carried
than the underwing pylons alone would allow. Alternatively, this bay can be used
to carry reconnaissance equipment and the C-101 Aviojet is designed in a modular
fashion to ease manufacturing and maintenance, and enjoys a great range since
its initial requirement called for autodeployment to the Canary Islands from the
Spanish mainland.
The first C-101 Aviojet flew on 27 June 1977 and entered Spanish Air Force
service on 17 March 1980. It has since been exported to Honduras, Chile and
Jordan.
Also cutting the mustard in their dark blue and yellow livery were the seven
Aero L-39 Albatros trainers of the Dijon based Breitling Jet Team, the World's
only professional civilian jet display team. Formerly sponsored by Khalifa
of Algeria, the Breitling Jet Team, like Gloucestershire's own Rendcomb-based
Breitling Wingwalkers, deliver a
display which is mastered, synchronised and fine tuned down to the smallest
detail like a Breitling Chronometer.
The Aero L-39 Albatros was first
flown on 4 November 1969 as both a replacement for the company's T-tailed L-29
trainer - standard in Warsaw Pact air forces - and as the World's first turbofan
jet trainer, power coming from a Soviet built Ivchenko AI25TL. The
straight wing two seat L-39 was also easily recognised by its large D-shaped
over wing jet intakes designed to minimise the risk from foreign object debris
when using rough airfields.
2828 examples of the light-attack trainer were delivered, the majority to the
USSR, and the Aero L-39 Albatros remains the most widely used jet trainer in the
World. As newer versions were introduced, older models became popular with
private jet pilots in the USA.
The Czech Air Force machine seen above at RIAT Fairford in 2002 is a
modernised L-159A number 6006 ( constructors number 156006 )
G-PSST,
better known as Miss Demeanour, was instantly recognisable by its decade old
bright paintwork, captured here by Ken Guest.
G-PSST was originally built for the Royal Air Force in 1956 as XF947, part of
the first production batch of Hunter Mark F4s, and initially
delivered to 5 Maintenance Unit at Kemble in Gloucestershire before entering
active service with 3 (Fighter) Squadron at RAF Geilenkirchen, Germany, as
part of 2 Allied Tactical Air Force.
XF947 was
later allocated to 229 Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Chivenor in Devon
before being transferred to the Fleet Air Arm at Arbroath (HMS
Condor) as Ground Instructional Airframe A2568 before being
classed surplus to requirements and offered
for disposal.
The Hawker Hunter Mk 4 was then purchased by Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1971 as G-9-317 for conversion to a
Mk58A as part of a contract for the Swiss Air Force.
Re-serialled as J-4104, the former XF947 was delivered to the Swiss
Air Force on 2 February 1972 and spent most of her
remaining military career as a target tug carrying the
Swedish MBV-2S winch which was carried under the starboard
wing. However, on being retired from military service
for a second time in 1996, sold to a private owner and
ferried to the British Aerospace airfield at Dunsfold in
Surrey, J-4104 had just 1 659 hours on the airframe!
In 1997 J-4104 was acquired by Jonathon Whaley’s Heritage Aviation
Developments Ltd, registered as G-PSST and was ferried to Hurn Airport near Bournemouth to undergo
restoration by Jet Heritage Ltd.
In honour of former Royal Navy pilot Jonathon
Whaley’s self-confessed "enthusiastic" approach to using Sea
Vixen landing flaps in air combat manoeuvres, J-4104 was
originally going to be registered as G-FLAP but G-PSST was
finally chosen not only to represent "Personal Super Sonic
Transport" but the phrase “psssst, look at this!” when
restoration was complete in mid 1998 and AIM Aviation for
surface applied the unique colour scheme by January 1999.
With a long standing interest in aviation art and
liveries and realising that there are already enough ex
military aircraft in squadron markings, Jonathon Whaley
chose to celebrate the beautiful shape of the classic jet
fighter with a scheme based on a Space Shuttle re-entering
the Earth's atmosphere with a white hot nose leading back
through cooler flame colours to a starry sky. In fact
the constellations on the rear of G-PSST represent the birth
signs of Jonathan, his wife and children. As Jonathan
says, it’s not a felony to
paint a Hunter like this, just a Miss Demeanour!
Incidentally G-FLAP was later allocated to a
piston engined Cessna A152 Aerobat which
crash landed, thankfully without injury, in 2006.
Like the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt discussed above, the
Raytheon (Hawker Beechcraft) AT-6B Texan II is named after a classic piston
engined aircraft of World War II and just as the Thunderbolt was a ground attack
fighter the North American Texan - known as the Harvard in RAF service - was the
basic trainer for thousands of Allied aircrew.
The American civilian registered N610AT seen at Fairford is an experimental
light attack aircraft with six underwing hard points based on the single
turboprop T-6A Texan II two-seat primary trainer, adopted by both the USAF and
US Navy.
In turn this was developed from the Swiss-built Pilatus PC-9 Mk.II as a
replacement for both the Navy's Beechcraft T-34C Turbo Mentors and the Air
Force's
Cessna T-37B "Tweety Bird".
The first operational T-6A arrived at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, in May
2000 with Joint Primary Pilot Training beginning a year later. As well as
being a new standard trainer for two of America's armed services, the T-6A Texan
II was designed to need a minimum amount of maintenance for a given number of
flying hours with such specific features as an 18 720 hour fuselage fatigue life
and 4 500 hours between engine overhauls. As such the T-6A Texan II makes
an interesting comparison with the Short Tucano seen above.
While the newer EADS Multi Role Tanker Transport 016 of the Royal Air Force is pictured above next to the
Dutch Chinook, an original Airbus Industrie A310-300 Multi Role Transport
belonging to the Luftwaffe was recorded taking off.
Launched in July 1978, the medium to long range Airbus 310 was a shortened 245
seat derivative of the earlier Airbus Industrie ( now EADS ) A300, the World's
first twin engined wide body airliner. Both A300 and A310 Airbuses officially
ceased production in 2007 and between 1983 and the very last aircraft produced
in 1998, 255 A310s were delivered by Airbus.
The A310 was originally designed
for operators either with not enough traffic to justify purchasing the A300 or
requiring higher frequency of operation or wanting lower aircraft-mile costs at
the expense of higher seat-mile costs.
It was also a competitor for
Boeing's new 757 and 767 airliners, favoured by British Airways, and as such the
French Government demanded a British Airways order for the A310 before the
British Government - which had withdrawn support from Hawker Siddeley as wing
subcontractor in 1969 - would be allowed to rejoin Airbus Industrie from 1979.
In fact British Aerospace became a 20% shareholder in Airbus Industrie and
played a full part in the development and manufacturing of the A310 which was
eventually purchased by Swissair, Lufthansa, Air France, Iberia, Martinair,
Sabena and Air Afrique.
Indeed, the A310 was marketed as an introduction to widebody
operations for developing airlines and was eventually replaced in Airbus' line up by the
highly successful A330-200 which shares its fuselage cross-section.
Similarly, the transatlantic range A310-200 - first flown on 3 April 1982 -
proved much more popular than its lighter, shorter range -100 series
alternative. Within the Airbus family, only the A300-600 had a longer
range and thanks to a strong commonality of design it was easy for aircrew to
convert from one Airbus to another.
Today, EADS can build on the success of
the A300 and A310 jetliners to challenge the dominance of Boeing in the World
market.
At the smaller end of the military jet transport spectrum was
this Brazilian built Embraer ERJ-135 (LR) with the Belgian Air Component CE-01.
Cousins of the Tucano turbo-prop trainer, the ERJ-135 and more recent ERJ-140
are shortened developments of the 50 seat ERJ-145, while the Legacy is a
corporate development of the ERJ-135.
Embraer launched the ERJ-135 on 16 September 1997 and just nine and a half
months passed before first flight on 4 July 1998 (following rollout on 12 May
that year). A second prototype first flew in October 1998, US FAA certification
was awarded on 16 July 1999 and first delivery was to Continental Express on 23
July 1999.
The speed of the development program showed that the ERJ-135 was a fairly
straight forward development of the 145. Both 135 prototypes were converted from
ERJ-145 prototypes, requiring little modification other than the removal of two
fuselage plugs totalling 3.50m (11ft 6in) in length.
Other changes compared with the -145 were minor, both being powered by
Rolls-Royce (Allison) AE-3007 turbofans with the ERJ-135's prime movers derated
by around 5%, through a slight software change to the engines' Full Authority
Digital Engine Control (FADEC) system. The only other notable change was new
valves in the air-conditioning system. The ERJ-145 and ERJ-135 also share a
Honeywell Primus 1000 avionics suite with five large multifunction displays in
the cockpit, a Sundstrand APU and three abreast seating in the main cabin.
Also in common with the ERJ-145, the 135 is offered in standard ERJ-135ER and
extended range ERJ-135LR forms. The LR features an additional fuel tank and
slightly more powerful AE-3007A4 turbofans.
Few new airliners have sold as quickly from their launch as the ERJ-135.
Building on the success of the 145, the 135's order book stood at 145 at late
1998, barely a year after launch. The aircraft's two biggest customers were
American Eagle which ordered 75 and optioned 75 at the 1998 Farnborough Air Show
to join 42 firm ordered ERJ-145s, and Continental Express with 25 firm and 50
optioned to complement 75 ERJ-145s it had on order.
In September 1999 Embraer launched the third member of its regional jet
family, the 44 seat ERJ-140. The ERJ-140 is also a minimum change development,
and differs from the 135 and 145 only in its fuselage length and seating
capacity. First flight was on June 27 2000 and deliveries began in late July
2001.
The 140 is largely aimed at US airlines who have to contend with pilot labour
agreement restrictions on the numbers of 50 seater jets they can operate and
American Eagle was the launch customer.
Meanwhile at Farnborough 2000 Embraer launched development of the ERJ-135
based Legacy corporate jet. First flight (of a converted ERJ-135) was in March
2001 and the Legacy features additional fuel giving a range with 10 passengers
of 5930km (3200nm).
Although the marketing designations are ERJ-135, ERJ-140 and Legacy, the
certification designations remain as EMB-135ER/LR for the ERJ-135ER/LR,
EMB-135KL for the ERJ-140LR and EMB-135BJ for the Legacy.
Interestingly, research for this article in August 2011 threw up the
Aviation Business Index website
offering for sale an Embraer Legacy with the registration G-SIRA: previous
careful owner Lord Sugar. Perhaps the association with his time as a mere
Knight of the Realm made him say "You're fired!"
The German built Grob G-115E with the civilian registration G-CGKB
(above) belonged to the University of Birmingham Air Squadron and similar
trainers - known as Tutors by the RAF - are used
for Elementary Flying Training by the 14 University Air Squadrons and 12 Air
Experience Flights throughout the UK. Grob Tutor G-BYXN was noted
at RIAT in 2002.
Unpressurised, and powered by a Textron-Lycoming 180hp piston engine driving
a Hoffman three-bladed, constant-speed propeller, the fixed tricycle
undercarriage Tutor is also used by the Central Flying School and for elementary
Weapon System Operator training at the RAF College, Cranwell. All of the Tutors
in RAF service are entered on the UK Civil Aircraft Register and are provided by
VT Group.
The Tutor - introduced in 1999 - is constructed mainly from
carbon fibre reinforced plastic, which combines high
strength with light weight. Like its predecessor, the
Scottish Aviation Bulldog, the Tutor has side-by-side
seating but the primary flight instruments are on the
right-hand side of the cockpit. This allows the student to
fly the aircraft from the right-hand seat with a right-hand
stick and a left-hand throttle so that future transition to
fast-jet aircraft is made easier.
The cost-effective Tutor can cruise at 130kts at sea level
and climb to 5,000ft in seven minutes. The aircraft has a
very clean airframe and has a three-minute inverted- flight
time limit, making it ideal for aerobatics where, unlike
previous RAF light aircraft, it loses little or no height
during a full aerobatic sequence. The aircraft has a very
modern instrument and avionics suite, including a
Differential Global Positioning System, which, apart from
giving excellent navigational information, can also be used
to generate a simulated Instrument Landing System (ILS)
approach for training use at airfields where ILS ground
equipment is not fitted for the runway in use.
Also on show at Fairford - and captured in the same
frames as the Avro Vulcan take off sequence among others -
was Grob-Werke's own turboprop G-120 TP development of the
Tutor. This largely white aircraft with shark's mouth
nose markings and retractable undercarriage bore the constructor's number 8562 and the
German civilian registration D-ETPG. It is also
remarkable for being fitted with lightweight Israeli built
ejection seats.
Pictured below meanwhile is Grob 109B ZH265, a self
launching motor glider first flown in 1980 and known in RAF
Air Cadet Volunteer Gliding Squadron service as the Vigilant
T1. Like the Tutor, the instructor and student seats
are side by side although access is via individual gull wing
doors rather than a one piece canopy as originally designed.
The Vigilant also has a T-tail, rear wheel undercarriage and
a Grob engine based on a Volkswagen car unit.
The low detachable wing cantilever motor glider was
the first of composite construction to be granted Federal
Aviation Administration approval and has a top powered speed
of 130 knots. With the propeller blades feathered
however, the Vigilant has a glide ratio of 1:28.
The Grob Vigilant T1 - also represented by ZH268
and ZJ967
at RIAT 2011 - replaced the Slingsby Venture motor glider to train ATC and CCF cadets to solo flight standard and
their RAF specification includes a landing light and a throttle for use
in the left hand seat. The initial order for 53 motor gliders has been
topped up by aircraft bought privately.
Fittingly, the last aircraft that I recorded taking off from Fairford was
Britain's oldest flying jet: Air Atlantiqe Classic Flight's 1949 built Gloster Meteor T7 WA591, now entered on
the British civilian register as G-BWMF which stands for Great Britain Whittle
and Meteor Flight.
As discussed in the article celebrating the 90th
anniversary of the
Gloster Aircraft Company, the
Gloster Meteor was first flown in 1943 and became the only Allied jet fighter to
serve in World War II.
The 1949 vintage T7 also became the World's first jet trainer and WA591 did
not make its final service landing until 3 May 1965 when it joined 5
Maintenance Unit's Apprentice School at Kemble as
instructional airframe.
By 1995 however it had become the gate guardian at RAF Woodvale in Cheshire
and was then bought by Colin Rhodes and like minded enthusiasts to form Meteor Flight
at Yatesbury airfield, Wiltshire. The Rolls Royce Derwent engines were rebuilt by CFS
aero engineering at Coventry and the airframe was moved to Cotswold Airport at
Kemble in October 2008.
Then, on 14 June 2011, G-BWMF made its first flight in 46 years and now calls
Airbase at Coventry Airport its home. Since appearing at RIAT 2011 WA591 has
also been repainted in its RAF silver livery and the FMK-Q lettering it carried
while on the strength of 203 Advanced Flying School at RAF Driffield, Yorkshire,
in 1951.
Continuing the connection with more northerly parts of
Gloucestershire, RIAT 2011 also featured Staverton based
Dornier 228 D-CALM of the Natural
Environment Research Council, although Paul's lens was drawn to an example of
its bigger sibling, the 30 seat Dornier 328. Seen approaching Fairford
above and on the ground below, Skyworks airlines Dornier 328-110 ( constructors
number 3021 ) was Swiss registered as HB-AES and visited on behalf of the Swiss
Air Force to support the Patrouille Suisse aerobatic team.
First flown on 6 December 1991,
the Dornier 238 combines the same basic supercritical wing of the Dornier 228
with an
all new fuselage section for three abreast seating (offering more width per
passenger than the 727/737). Market research in the mid 1980s identified a
need for such a modern fast-cruising regional turboprop airliner and development
work began in 1988.
Composite materials were used in a number of areas to reduce weight
including the tail and the blades on the Hartzell propellers while the flight deck featured a five screen Honeywell Primus 2000 EFIS avionics system
capable of Category IIIa landings with a head-up display.
Industrial partners on the 328 included Daewoo Heavy Industries (fuselage), Aermacchi (nose), Westland (nacelles) and Israel Aircraft Industries (wing),
accounting for 40% of the aircraft's construction.
Variants of the 328 were the initial production standard 328-100 - first
delivered in October 1993 - the standard
328-110 with a larger dorsal fin, heavier weights and greater range, the 328-120
with PW119C engines and improved short field performance and the 328-130 with
progressive rudder authority reduction with increasing airspeed.
The last 328 was delivered to Air Alps Aviation in Austria in October 1999
although in early June 1996.
Fairchild Aerospace - maker of the A-10 Thunderbolt described above - acquired 80% of Dornier to form
Fairchild Dornier GmbH with the Fairchild Dornier name becoming effective on 8 August 8 2000.
In contrast to the cost-effective designed two seat training
aircraft illustrated above, it is good to know that there is still a small but
vital place in the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight for the de Havilland
Canada Chipmunk T10, first flown in 1946. As tricycle undercarriages now
dominate aircraft design, new pilots often arrive on the BBMF without any
previous tail-wheel aircraft experience and WG486 is one of only two "Chippies"
left in the Royal Air Force inventory to help them convert to the Supermarine
Spitfire, Hawker Hurricane, Avro Lancaster and Douglas Dakota.
WG486 was
delivered to No 5
Basic Flying Training School in January 1952 before moving on to No 9 Refresher Flying School and No 2 Flying
Training School (FTS) and then serving with 651 and 657 Squadrons Army Air
Corps.
Constructor's number C1/0536 was issued to the Middle East Air Force in 1958 with 114 Squadron
before returning to the UK in 1961and was subsequently operated by units that
included the RAF College at Cranwell, Initial Training School at South Cerney
and Church Fenton, No 1 FTS, PFS, Liverpool and Bristol University Air Squadrons and No 3 Air Experience Flight. In
1987 WG486 moved to Germany to operate as part of the Gatow Station Flight in
Berlin, which was then surrounded by Communist Block territory. It therefore
became the most unlikely ‘spy plane’ and ‘Cold War warrior’ until the Berlin
Wall came down. When Gatow closed, the aircraft spent a year at Laarbruch before
being delivered to the BBMF in 1995.
Originally conceived as a replacement for the Nord Noratlas which equipped
French and West German transport units, the Transall C-160 was one of the first
successful joint European aerospace ventures, being produced by a consortium of
companies which was collectively known as the Transport Allianz group or
Transall for short. Members of the original production group included
Nord-Aviation, Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) and
Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke (VFW), all joining forces at the beginning of
1959.
Three prototypes were built, one by each of the three major Transall partners, and the first of these made a successful maiden flight on 25 February
1963. They were followed by six pre-production examples from May 1965, while
production-configured C-160s began to emerge in the spring of 1967. By the time
manufacture ceased in 1972 a total of 169 aircraft had been built comprising 50
C-160F models for France,110 C-160D models for West Germany and nine C-160Z for
South Africa. The only other air arm to
operate the original type was Turkey, which took delivery of 20 C-160T aircraft
(former Luftwaffe examples) in the early 1970s. However, four C-160F were later
transferred to Air France as overnight postal aircraft and known as C-160P.
The C-160 wings are high-mounted and equally tapered outboard of the two
Rolls Royce Tyne turboprop engines, which are mounted under and extend beyond
the wings’ leading edges and the aircraft wheels can be raised in order to lower
the fuselage for loading and unloading
The Transall's maximum payload is 35 275 pounds (16 000 kg), while 93 troops
or 62 litters can be accommodated. Loads up to 17 637 pounds
(8 000kg) can be air dropped either from high altitude or from as low as 10'
with parachute extraction.
In 1977 the Transall C-160 program was reinstated to produce 25 "new
generation" C-160 for France. The last of these new generation aircraft entered
service in 1987 and differ from their predecessors by virtue of additional fuel
capacity and improved avionics. Original range limitations were also
partly resolved by an extra centre-section fuel tank, and the newest C-160s
also feature inflight refuelling capability in the form of a probe above the
cockpit - as seen on the aircraft illustrated above.
Four more C-160NGs were added from 1982 to 1985.
Ten aircraft were completed with a hose-drum unit in the port undercarriage sponson for refuelling
tactical aircraft, and five more have provision for the fitment of this feature
so that they can be rapidly redeployed as tankers.
From 1994 to 1999 French Air Force C-160NGs were upgraded with new head-up
displays and an
upgraded electronic warfare suite with a radar warning receiver, missile
approach warning apparatus and chaff and decoy dispensers. The aircraft
were also fitted with a new EFIS 854 TF Electronic Flight
Instrumentation System, which includes Electronic Attitude Director Indicator (EADI)
and Electronic Horizontal Situation Indicator (EHSI). A flight management system
with two Gemini 10 computers and a new radio management system have been
installed. Three new sensors have been installed for aircraft position and
attitude control: an inertial reference unit (IRU) an attitude and heading
reference unit (AHRU) and a global positioning system (GPS).
German Air Force C-160Ds meanwhile have been upgraded with BAe Systems High Integration
Air Data Computer (HIADC), Litton ALR-68 radar warning systems and Rockwell
FMS-800 Flight Management and Global Positioning System.
More specialised French Air Force C-130NGs include the C-160G Gabriel
Signals and Electronic Intelligence gatherer identified by wingtip pods with UHF/DF blade antennas, a group of
five large blade antennas on top of the forward fuselage, a blister fairing on
each side of the rear fuselage, and a retractable dome under the forward
fuselage.
Four communications relay aircraft, designation C-160H Astarte (Avion STAtion
Relais de Transmissions Exceptionelles), have also been delivered to the French Air
Force since 1987. The aircraft’s main mission is communications with the
submerged nuclear ballistic missile submarines of the French fleet. The aircraft
are equipped with unjammable VLF communications including a Rockwell VLF
transmitter and a Thomson-CSF communications centre. The VLF system includes
dual trailing wire antennae.
Catching a burst of sunlight at the eastern end of Fairford's
runway was the plain pale anti-flash livery of United States Navy Boeing E-6B
Mercury 162782. Like the Transall C-160H Astarte described above, the E-6
Mercury was developed from earlier Lockheed EC-130Q aircraft both to relay
communications from the US Navy's National Command Authority to its nuclear
submarines and to become directly responsible for the ballistic missile carrying
fleet at sea if the established land based command structure was disrupted.
Such a mission profile is known as TACAMO - Take Charge and Move Out.
Also
like the Transall C-160H Astarte, the Boeing E-6 Mercury communicates with
submarines using a dual Long Trailing Wire Aerials (LTWA) measuring 1 525m and 8
500m long. By flying in a large circle, the LTWA acts as a 200 kW dipole
transmitter/aerial, capable of very-long-range Very Low Frequency broadcast.
The E-6 Mercury was derived from the Boeing 707-320 commercial airliner and
powered by four CFM-56-2A-2 (F108) turbofan engines. The first E-6A variant was
accepted by the US Navy in August 1989 with sixteen new build airframes being
delivered up to 1992.
The first E-6B meanwhile was accepted in December 1997 and the previous E-6A
fleet was modified to the E-6B standard, with the final delivery taking place on
1 December 2006. As well as the submarine communication and TACAMO roles,
the E-6B Mercury also replaced ageing EC-135 Airborne Command Post aircraft -
also derived from Boeing 707s - with additional battle staff work stations and
an airborne launch control system (ALCS). The ALCS is capable of launching US
land based intercontinental ballistic missiles and E-6B Mercury can be
identified by the SATCOM dome on top of the forward fuselage.
In June 2008, Boeing also received a contract to add integrated Internet
Protocol and Bandwidth Expansion (IPBE) Phase 1 on one Boeing E-6B Mercury
aircraft to enhance its data capabilities and global Communications/Navigation,
Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) by means of commercial
satellite and line of sight radio equipment.
Having seen the Red Arrows and Gloster Meteor T7 G-BWMF take off
and making our way back to Townsend Farm, the last view that Paul, Stephanie and
I had of RIAT in 2011 was of Sukhoi Su-27 fighter 75 ( constructor's
number 96310418207 ) and Ilyushin Il-76 transport UR78820 from the Ukrainian Air Force.
In 1981 it would have been difficult to think of these Soviet -era warplanes
making a friendly visit to RAF Fairford but with the fall of the Berlin Wall in
1989 and subsequent break up of the USSR into separate nation states Ukraine was
first represented at RIAT in 1996 and returned in 1999 and 2000.
Indeed,
Lt Gen Sergii Onyschenko of the Ukrainian Air Force met Prince Michael of Kent and Chief of
the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton at Fairford and showed his
special guests around the giant transport and invited them to sit in the Su-27.
Work on the Su-27 - known by NATO as "Flanker" - was allocated to the Sukhoi
design bureau in 1969 with the aim of producing a fighter to outperform the
McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and General Dynamics F-16 Falcon then being
developed in the USA. The project - known initially as T10 - also had to have a
lookdown/shoot down capability, and be capable of destroying targets at long
ranges.
However, the T10-1 prototype - first flown on 20 May 1977 - had less range
and agility than expected as well as engine and fuel consumption issues while a
second prototype crashed - killing its pilot - due to fly-by-wire software
failure. On 20 April 1981 though the revised T10S first flew and became
the basis for the highly successful Su-27: a masterpiece of engineering having
no equal anywhere in the world in range, manoeuvrability, and combat
effectiveness.
The twin-engined aircraft with a blended wing and fuselage and twin tail fins
was also soon demonstrating exceptional controllability at high angles of attack
during air show displays.
The huge Su-27 airframe is constructed from advanced
lightweight aluminium lithium alloys, making it light for its size while the
wing is designed using an ogival shape and wingroot extension with a 42 degrees
leading edge sweep and full span leading edge slats and trailing edge flaperons.
The flaperons combine the functions of conventional flaps and ailerons and move
in unison as flaps to provide lift and drag. They move out of unison to function
as ailerons.
Also making the Flanker's spectacular signature cobra and
tail slide manoeuvres possible are two AL31F turbofan engines designed by A.M.
Lyul'la, the MMZ Saturn General Designer. Highly economical and rated at 12 500
kg static thrust with afterburner and at 7 600 kg dry, the AL31F prime mover has
also been proven to be reliable in disturbed air, robust, and easy to maintain.
Meanwhile, the quadruplex fly-by-wire avionics limit the
angles of attack and G forces that the pilot can impose on the aircraft while
the weapons system includes coherent pulse-Doppler jam proof radar with a 240 Km
range which can simultaneously track up to 10 targets at 185 km away. The pilot
can simultaneously fire missiles at two targets and as a back up to the radar an
electro-optical system can be attached to the pilot's helmet mounted target
designator to allow the pilot to target by moving his head.
As such the Su-27 is equipped to operate autonomously in combat over hostile
territory, in escort of deep-penetration strike aircraft, in the suppression of
enemy airfields and in general air defence in cooperation with ground and
airborne control stations.
A shipboard version of the Su-27, also known as the Su-33, with canards and
folding wings, has been tested on Russia's first big carriers, and there also is
a two-seat attack version, the Su-27IB or Su-34, with side-by-side seating in a
reshaped nose.
In the mid-1960s, the Ilyushin design bureau were tasked with designing a successor to
the Antonov An-12 "Cub", a medium range turboprop transport with good rough
field capability. The new aircraft would possess twice the range and payload of
the An-12 without suffering any loss in field performance: more specifically
taking off from unprepared dirt airstrips with an 88 185 pound (40 metric ton)
load and carrying it 3 100 miles (5 000 Km) in under six hours, at a lower cost
than the An-12BP would be able to achieve.
The basic layout of the Ilyushin Il-76, conceived in 1967, was similar to the US built
Lockheed C-141A Starlifter - seen above at Fairford in 2002 - and also to the
McDonnell Douglas ( now Boeing ) C-17 Globemaster seen earlier in this article in 2011.
However, the new Ilyushin four-jet design had a larger cargo hold area and more
powerful engines than the C-141A to achieve the desired performance. Over thirty international
patents were obtained for the design, and the Ilyushin OKB later claimed that
180 new inventions were incorporated into the aircraft which featured a
multi-wheeled chassis and powered flying controls.
The first Ilyushin Il-76 (SSSR-86712) flew on 25 March 1971 and following an abbreviated test program
the aircraft made its public debut at Sheremetyevo Airport on 18 May 1971,
before flying to Paris a week later. Western observers were surprised by
the appearance of the Il-76 - NATO codenamed Candid - while in July 1975, a
pre-production machine established 25 new payload to altitude
records during four test flights, 24 of which were later ratified by the FAI.
They included lifting a payload of more than 154 590 pounds (70 metric tonnes)
to an altitude of 38 960 feet (11 875m), and a speed of 532.33 mph (856.7 Km/h)
around a 1 080 nm (2 000km) closed circuit with 121 253 pounds (55 metric
tonnes).
The cargo hold was fully-pressurized and had a titanium floor with fold-down
roller conveyors which could be quickly reconfigured by using interchangeable
passenger, freight or air ambulance modules. The hold was also compatible with
international standard containers and pallets with two internal overhead winches
for loading. The rear ramp itself could also be used as a lift, with a
capacity of up to 66 150 pounds (30 000kg).
Although operated initially as a passenger and cargo carrier for Aeroflot,
the military Il-76 was distinguished by having four ECM fairings on the nose,
different avionics and a rear gun turret, mounting two twin barrelled 23mm
cannons. Il-76s operating in Afghanistan were also fitted with flare dispensers
and could carry 125 fully-equipped paratroops.
Since 1971, more than 700 Il-76 airframes have been produced. Several Il-76
variants exist, including the
Il-78
"Midas" and a firefighting aircraft capable of carrying 42,000 litres of
retardant.