Aircraftin Profile - Vol.1 Issue 1.pdf

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E D I TO R I A L
A N D C O N T E N T S
CONTENTS
VOLUME 01
A
ircraft in Profile
is a twelve-page section that is produced
every month in
Scale Aircraft Modelling
magazine.
The section has appeared in a variety of formats and under
1.
Two Sticks Better:
The Jet Provost Marshalled
By
Richard Mason,
with colour profiles and scale drawings by
Mark Rolfe
Photographs from the collection of
Adrian Balch
a variety of names over the decades of the magazine’s publishing
history, but the intention has always been to focus upon a
specific aircraft and present it to the readership in a dedicated
article including historical notes, scale drawings and, in
particular, a selection of colour side view artworks. In the past
these articles have been extensive but the growth of Internet use
and the changing demands of the readership has altered the
shape and purpose of magazines and it is no longer possible to
focus between twenty and thirty pages on a specific subject.
This, in a world with wider options and free and instant access to
information, is not what a magazine is for.
Nowadays the intention of
Aircraft in Profile
is to provide an
initial ‘first step’ in researching an aircraft type, and is aimed
rather at those readers who have had little or previous interest in
its subject, rather than those with expert knowledge. The section
outlines the history and development of its chosen type
providing a context for a modelling project, while the plans and
drawings are designed to expand upon this and we hope offer
inspiration and ideas. The section is typically rounded off with a
brief page of notes on available modelling products. Not
intended to be all-encompassing the aim is to list those items
most readily available or offering the best alternative for a
successful build. This is, of course, subjective, and in a rapidly
expanding marketplace the lists cannot hope to remain up to
date for long but nonetheless they provide a starting point.
The section is designed to be removed from the magazine and
filed intact, hence it has no extraneous advertising included, and
indeed has no page numbers as the intention is to allow readers
to store and collate sections in slide binders, mixing and
matching to store and collect them by subject as required.
The six
Profiles
reproduced here, following a number of requests
to provide the material in book form, are loosely related and we
hope will be of use or interest to both modellers and aviation
enthusiasts alike.
2.
Triumph of Endeavour:
Avro Shackleton – the Lancaster’s Legacy
By
Richard Mason,
with colour profiles and scale drawings by
Mark Rolfe
3.
A Wayward Wind:
The Troubled Development of the Handley Page/BAe Jetstream
By
Richard Mason,
with colour profiles and scale drawings by
Mark Rolfe
4.
Sky Pirate:
Blackburn’s Buccaneer
By
Richard Mason,
with colour profiles by
Mark Rolfe
5.
Westland’s Best:
The Ubiquitous Wessex
Produced in association with Navy Wings
www.navywings.org.uk
By
Jan Zdiarsky,
with colour profiles and scale drawings by
Mark Rolfe
6.
The Wasp Factory:
Editor
Scale Aircraft Modelling
Little Choppers with a Big Sting – Westland’s Scout and Wasp
By
Richard Mason,
with colour profiles and scale drawings by
Mark Rolfe
2
W W W.
S C A L E
A I R C R A F T
M O D E L L I N G
. CO. U K
JET PROVOST
AIRCRAFT
IN PROFILE
ISSUE 09
The Jet Provost Marshalled
By
Richard Mason
Photographs from the collection of
Adrian Balch
A comparison shot of a
Piston Provost and Jet
Provost T.1 of No.2 FTS,
gives some idea of the
commonality of parts
that was attempted in
the jet’s development
unting Percival’s legendary
Provost trainer occupies an
unassuming place in the
history of post war British aviation.
Recognisable to all, its history is less
certain to many, and more than one
modeller will have stumbled upon
the considerable differences
between the T.3 and the T.5 half
way through a model build, the
latter, also doubling as the armed
Strikemaster, having been the
subject of an Airfix kit that seems to
have done the rounds for longer
than the earlier T.3.
So the subject is ideally suited to
closer scrutiny, especially now there
are more kits available - in 1/72 at
least. Fortune still favours the T.5,
but with mainstream
manufacturers running out of
spurious Luft’ 46 projects to milk
we can, perhaps, hope to see the
earlier marks better represented in
the larger scales.
Hunting Percival developed the
Jet Provost from the piston-
engined Percival Provost trainer. In
June 1954, the prototype XD674
made its first flight from the factory
at Luton Airport and the Air
Ministry ordered ten machines
designated Jet Provost T.1. This was
followed in due course by the T.3,
featuring a more powerful
Armstrong Siddeley Viper jet
engine, ejection seats, a redesign of
the airframe, and a shortened and
strengthened version of the
H
undercarriage. Deliveries took place
between 1958 and 1962 while the
T.4 followed in 1960, fitted with a
more powerful variant of the Viper
engine, leading on to the ultimate
T.5 in 1967. This was subsequently
developed by BAC as the
Strikemaster.
The history of the Provost is
simple. Entering service as a trainer
it did precisely that for more than
three decades, the only significant
events in its story being the
ongoing improvements and
upgrades to the original design.
Jet Provost T.1
On 26th June 1954 the
prototype XD674 made its first
flight, powered by the Armstrong
Siddeley Viper 5 engine. Impressed
by its flight characteristics and the
cockpit’s side-by-side layout, the Air
Ministry agreed to purchase the
initial batch of nine aircraft and the
first production machine flew in
February 1955. Three aircraft
subsequently went to Boscombe
Down to join the prototype for
development flying.
Trials began in earnest at the
Central Flying School at RAF Little
Rissington and 2FTS at RAF
Hullavington with an initial training
syllabus formulated to train
instructors, and the Provost’s long
career commenced in earnest in
July 1955 alongside the Piston-
A Jet Provost T.1 of the Central Flying School’s Jet Aerobatic Team in 1958
On the last of the batch of T.Mk 1s (XD 694), modi cations were made to make a T.Mk 2 version. It was
found unnecessary to retain the long undercarriage legs of the piston Provost, so these were shortened
and the engine uprated. The span of the aps was increased and at this point plans were made for the
provision of light armament for future use. The radio and electrical equipment were housed in the nose
area and the tail unit was redesigned to give a better installation for the jet pipe. First ight of the T.Mk 2
was September 1 1955 by XD694
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE
•
BRITISH CLASSICS
•
VOLUME 01
3
AIRCRAFT
IN PROFILE
engined Provost T.1, still then in
service.
The type proved so successful in
practice that a large order was
placed for an improved version of
the aircraft in June 1957,
designated the Jet Provost T.3 and
based on the interim Mk.2 variant.
The T.1s were withdrawn in
November of that year. Twelve T.1s
were built, ten for the RAF with two
being retained by Percival. In April
1961 Hunting presented G-AOBU to
the Shuttleworth Trust, and it was
subsequently loaned to
Loughborough University where it
was used as an instructional
airframe by the Transport
Technology department until 1991
when it was returned to
Shuttleworth at Old Warden. Once
back at Shuttleworth the aircraft
was placed in storage and
subsequently offered for sale to a
private collector.
JET PROVOST
examples, with acceptance trials
undertaken at Boscombe Down.
T.3s initially went into service
with 2FTS, now at Syerston,
followed by the CFS and the RAFC
at Cranwell and in the summer of
1960 the first all-jet training course
was completed. More schools
adopted the Provost, with 1FTS
based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, 6FTS
RAF Finningley, and 7FTS based at
RAF Church Fenton all equipped
with the type as production
expanded. Even the Tactical
Weapons Unit (TWU) at RAF
Chivenor used the new trainer
alongside the Hawker Hunter and
subsequently the BAe Hawk.
The T.3s, and latterly the
upgraded T.3A, served the RAF for
some thirty years, with 1FTS and
3FTS, retaining aircraft right up
until 1992 at Linton-on Ouse and
Cranwell, when they were finally
replaced by the Shorts Tucano.
The T.3 was exported to Ceylon,
Sudan, and Kuwait as the T.51, with
just over twenty units sold.
Jet Provost T.2 demonstrator, XN117
with underwing rockets tted
Jet Provost T2
The T.2 was a development only
interim type designed to improve
on the T.1. A shorter more robust
undercarriage was employed, along
with the more powerful Viper 8
engine capable of 1750lbs of thrust,
and XD694 first flew as a T.2 on
September 1st 1955, working with
2FTS at Hullavington alongside the
other T.1s, and proving such a
success that the T.3 was expedited
and went into production. Four
machines were converted to T.2s in
the programme, the other three
remaining with the manufacturer.
One of these, G-AOUS,fitted with a
Viper 1 engine and designated T.2B,
was evaluated extensively by the
Portuguese Air Force, but no orders
were placed. This airframe saw
subsequent use as a development
aircraft for the T.4.Trials were also
undertaken with the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) at Point
Cook Airfield with G-AOHD.
Although never making it into
production the T.2 proved an
important step in the development
and introduction of the T.3.
Jet Provost T3A
The T.3A was simply a modified
version of the T.3 with improved
avionics for the RAF that was
introduced towards the end of
production. Seventy machines were
produced and examples of these
were the last aircraft in RAF service.
Jet Provost T4
The next major development of
the Provost was the T.4, which
made its first flight in 1960 and was
conceived by Hunting-Percival to
encourage a further large order of
an improved design by the RAF.
Three existing airframes, including
one of the T.2s, were employed to
help develop the new concept.
The RAF ordered 185 units after
trials proved the upgrade’s worth.
The Mk.4 employed the Armstrong
Siddeley (later Rolls Royce) Viper 11
while the rest of the airframe saw
little change. Deliveries to the RAF
began in November 1961, initially
to the RAFC and CFS, operating
alongside the T.3 with further
schools receiving the type over the
next two years.
The T.4, like the T.3 before it, saw
use with various aerobatics teams,
including the CFS’s Red Pelicans
and the College of Air Warfare's
Macaws but unfortunately the T.4
suffered major fatigue problems,
which drastically reduced its time in
RAF service and saw the type
retired much earlier than planned.
This downturn saw many replaced
by T.3s and T.3As and while some
soldiered on at the Central Air
Traffic Control school at Shawbury,
the last being taken out of service
in 1989.
Iraq, Venezuela, Sudan and
Yemen received exports, with over
The T.Mk 3 kept the same power unit as before, the ASV8, but a new
bubble type moulded canopy was tted along with two 50 gallon
wingtip tanks. Martin Baker Mk 4 ejection seats were tted, and the rst
production aircraft, XM 46, ew on June 22nd 1958
Jet Provost T.3
T.4, XR650, of 3 FTS at Chivenor in August 1970
T.4, XR679, of 79[R] Sqn., 1 TWU at Fairford in July 1984
Thanks to the T.2 the aircraft had
seen some significant
improvements. The Armstrong-
Siddeley Viper 5 engine had been
replaced with the more powerful
Viper 8, an altered canopy afforded
better vision and Martin-Baker
ejection seats were fitted. One of
the most visible changes was the
addition of the tip tanks, without
which no Jet Provost really looks
the part. The wings had been
strengthened to accommodate
these and the shortened
undercarriage improved ground
handling. The first production
aircraft, XM346 flew in June 1958
and was followed shortly by further
4
W W W.
S C A L E
A I R C R A F T
M O D E L L I N G
. CO. U K
JET PROVOST
AIRCRAFT
IN PROFILE
AIRCRAFT IN PROFILE
•
BRITISH CLASSICS
•
VOLUME 01
5

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