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Red arrows Gnats retired to 2Sof TT cosford


Selwyn

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When the Red arrows transitioned to Hawk some of their Gnats were then used for aircraft handling training at Cosford in  C. 1979. 

 

Can anyone tell me what RA airframes went to Cosford, and what was the final paint/marking scheme used on the RA Gnat?

 

Selwyn

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Can't help with the airframe numbers but the final Red Arrows scheme of '78-'79 was the nose lightning bolt replaced by a stripe including the sloped ROYAL AIR FORCE in white.

 

Cheers, Tony

Edited by Tony Edmundson
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maybe worth having a look on Airliners.net or ABPics etc if you haven't already, 'mazing what turns up there for retired airframes in my experience. Found this one after googling for red arrows gnat raf halton, maybe representative?

Steve.

Edited by stevehnz
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11 hours ago, stevehnz said:

maybe worth having a look on Airliners.net or ABPics etc if you haven't already, 'mazing what turns up there for retired airframes in my experience. Found this one after googling for red arrows gnat raf halton, maybe representative?

Steve.

I have done this,but they are are all Halton aircraft. the question was specifically about cosford airframes!

 

Selwyn

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Is there anything in the Red Arrows Special produced by the IPMS mag a few years ago? (I'm away from base at the mo' so can't check myself)

If memory serves it listed in quite a bit of detail all the schemes through the years backed with photos and drawings, it was a labour of love.

 

Dave

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Selwyn

According to my records, the RAFAT Gnats that were on strength in 1979 - the final year before transition to Hawk T1 - were disposed of as follows:

 

XP514 - to RAFC Eng Flt

XP535 - to RN SAH Culdrose

XR540 - to RAFC Eng FLT

XR572 - to RN SAH Culdrose

XR955 - to RN SAH Culdrose

*XR977 - to 2 SoTT Cosford

*XR987 - to 2 SoTT Cosford

XR991 - to RAFC Eng Flt

XR993 - to RN SAH Culdrose

XS101 - to RAFC Eng Flt

*XS107 - to 2 SoTT Cosford.

 

Hope this helps

 

Mark

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4 hours ago, Coors54 said:

Is there anything in the Red Arrows Special produced by the IPMS mag a few years ago? (I'm away from base at the mo' so can't check myself)

If memory serves it listed in quite a bit of detail all the schemes through the years backed with photos and drawings, it was a labour of love.

 

Dave

Yes, that was the reference I used for my post above.    No info of any disposal to Cosford, though.

 

Tony

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8 hours ago, Selwyn said:

I have done this,but they are are all Halton aircraft. the question was specifically about cosford airframes!

 

Selwyn

,I didn't find any refs to Cosford either, there may be a reason for that. :unsure: I think Tweeky's post above mine popped Halton into my head.

Steve.

Edited by stevehnz
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On 18/02/2017 at 3:27 PM, canberraman said:

Selwyn

According to my records, the RAFAT Gnats that were on strength in 1979 - the final year before transition to Hawk T1 - were disposed of as follows:

 

XP514 - to RAFC Eng Flt

XP535 - to RN SAH Culdrose

XR540 - to RAFC Eng FLT

XR572 - to RN SAH Culdrose

XR955 - to RN SAH Culdrose

*XR977 - to 2 SoTT Cosford

*XR987 - to 2 SoTT Cosford

XR991 - to RAFC Eng Flt

XR993 - to RN SAH Culdrose

XS101 - to RAFC Eng Flt

*XS107 - to 2 SoTT Cosford.

 

Hope this helps

 

Mark

Mark thats cracking Just the information I was looking for!

 The reason I asked this question is that I am presently modelling all  "My aircraft." Thats alrcraft that had a special meaning to me from my career.

Back in 1979 I was  training at Cosford and during the airfields phase, we were being taught aircraft starting. We were using a red arrows Gnat as our aircraft, and on the very first start  an instructor acted the part of the pilot and I was chosen from the course members to sit in the back seat. 

The start went very well using a paluste, and the "Pilot" throttled up, but suddenly there was a mad panic outside with the starter crew franticaly giving us the emergency shut down signal. There was a mad panic shutting down the engine and opening he canopy to get out ASAP!  

On vacating the aircraft we found  that the kerfuffle was down to the  jet blast from the aircraft, which  had torn up a great patch of the tarmac taxiway behind the jet, sending great lumps of black everywhere! That surprisingly was the end of the lesson for the day.

 

All I could remember was that the Jet was a red arrows Gnat, and the registration was XS something. Thanks to this list it looks like XS107 was the culprit as it was the only XS  reg  Gnat  present.

 

Therefore  a nice red 1/48 Airfix Gnat is in the offing!

 

Again Many thanks!

 

Edited by Selwyn
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4 hours ago, Selwyn said:

Mark thats cracking Just the information I was looking for!

 The reason I asked this question is that I am presently modelling all  "My aircraft." Thats alrcraft that had a special meaning to me from my career.

Back in 1979 I was  training at Cosford and during the airfields phase, we were being taught aircraft starting. We were using a red arrows Gnat as our aircraft, and on the very first start  an instructor acted the part of the pilot and I was chosen from the course members to sit in the back seat. 

The start went very well using a paluste, and the "Pilot" throttled up, but suddenly there was a mad panic outside with the starter crew franticaly giving us the emergency shut down signal. There was a mad panic shutting down the engine and opening he canopy to get out ASAP!  

On vacating the aircraft we found  that the kerfuffle was down to the  jet blast from the aircraft, which  had torn up a great patch of the tarmac taxiway behind the jet, sending great lumps of black everywhere! That surprisingly was the end of the lesson for the day.

 

All I could remember was that the Jet was a red arrows Gnat, and the registration was XS something. Thanks to this list it looks like XS107 was the culprit as it was the only SX  reg  Gnat  present.

 

Therefore  a nice red 1/48 Airfix Gnat is in the offing!

 

Again Many thanks!

 

Glad to be of service! That's an  interesting tale as well about the Gnat jet blast. Good luck with your model.  Mark

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Even better just seen that XS107 is one of the schemes in the airfix kit. It's the earlier RA scheme but by amalgamating it  with the late scheme it should come out perfect!

 

Selwyn

 

Being very happy today!

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2 hours ago, Britman said:

Does not reflect too well on your instructors Selwyn. Did they not assess the surroundings beforehand? Always drummed into me before starting an engine. :mellow:

In their defence Gnats had been taxying past (marshalling training) for the previous hour on the taxiway without problems, and there were no obvious obstructions etc  and the slot  was used regularly  for engine start training,  its hard to see what more  they could have done!

 

Selwyn

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2 hours ago, JagRigger said:

Funnily enough I had the same thought on 'my' aircraft, The Airfix JP 3 building at the moment will be an M serial from Halton, as it's the background machine to a course photo,

My "in production" model at this moment is a 1/48 Airfix Sea Vixen. Building it as  my first Weapon load training airframe at Cosford weapon school, Sea Vixen 8143M  (ex XN691).

 

Selwyn

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On 2/20/2017 at 1:16 PM, Selwyn said:

Back in 1979 I was  training at Cosford and during the airfields phase, we were being taught aircraft starting. We were using a red arrows Gnat as our aircraft, and on the very first start  an instructor acted the part of the pilot and I was chosen from the course members to sit in the back seat. 

The start went very well using a paluste, and the "Pilot" throttled up, but suddenly there was a mad panic outside with the starter crew franticaly giving us the emergency shut down signal. There was a mad panic shutting down the engine and opening he canopy to get out ASAP!  

On vacating the aircraft we found  that the kerfuffle was down to the  jet blast from the aircraft, which  had torn up a great patch of the tarmac taxiway behind the jet, sending great lumps of black everywhere! That surprisingly was the end of the lesson for the day.

 

Ah, the power of the mighty Orpheus!

 

And that's not something you can say often.

 

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