RAF plane

I always thought the RAF used Tucano as trainers but noticed they now use the Raytheon T-6C Texan T1 as do AFAIK the US air force.

And ZM328 is indeed a Texan T1 ;)
 
Slightly off topic but aren’t trainers usually white? I live very close to RAF Cranwell and Barskston heath and around here all the training aircraft are white:thinking: Just curious :)
 
Hadron said:
Slightly off topic but aren’t trainers usually white? I live very close to RAF Cranwell and Barskston heath and around here all the training aircraft are white:thinking: Just curious :)
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I thought/think RAF Cranwell is the training college, whereas the likes of RAF Valley are full time operational bases with a training function.

Also, that the Texan is a precursor trainer for fast jets training. I once read that the Tucano and presumably the Texan have fast jet equipped (type) cockpits.
 
Hadron said:
Slightly off topic but aren’t trainers usually white? I live very close to RAF Cranwell and Barskston heath and around here all the training aircraft are white:thinking: Just curious :)
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MAYBE trainers are white but conversion/advanced trainers are black? IIRC, the Hawk "trainers" are black.
 
I was unaware of white-painted aircraft at Cranwell. Curious. They changed to black some years ago for better conspicuity. Cranwell may have Grob's, basic trainers which are (I think) constructed from composite plastics and glass fibre, requiring to be white to minimise ultra violet light caused deterioration
 
lindsay said:
I was unaware of white-painted aircraft at Cranwell. Curious. They changed to black some years ago for better conspicuity. Cranwell may have Grob's, basic trainers which are (I think) constructed from composite plastics and glass fibre, requiring to be white to minimise ultra violet light caused deterioration
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Exactly this @lindsay, the Grob Prefects at Cranwell and Barkston Heath plus the UAS Grob Tutors are all white. A single Tutor was changed to a yellow trial scheme in 2020 but not heard any outcome yet.
 
Thanks. The problem with composite construction is the risk of delamination, hence you need reflective colouring not dark,. I wonder about the service life of B787's for this reason.
 
Nod said:
IIRC, the Hawk "trainers" are black.
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I took this shot in the early 1990s, during a press session.

At the time, Hawk trainers were matt grey. This particular aircraft was (allegedly) part of a project to identify the least visible colour for daylight operations. Being painted with a particularly slippery paint, it was also claimed to be around 25 knots faster than the rest of the Hawk fleet.

The funny story about this was that I was using a Mamiya C330 and getting rude remarks, from my "colleagues", about it being the twentieth century and not the nineteenth. Oh how I laughed, all the more so when this shot was used across the top half of page three (not, I hasten to add, in "the Sun"). The biggest show that the rest of the gang got was a 4 inch treble, after the fold. :naughty:

RAF Black Hawk and Pilot.jpeg
 
There are the fast jets at RAF Valley, I've been told this as the noise at Nefyn when the plane are on the runway and the engines are roaring to start and then take off. It sounds like a deep rumbling almost like an earth quake. Then you don't really hear the planes coming but you certainly hear them pass overhead and away. No one complains as the pilots have to practise.:)
 
RAF training aircraft have sported a number of colour schemes over the years. The basic idea was to improve visibility of training aircraft and therefore reduce the number of potential accidents.
 
The Hawk has certainly been on service a fair while.

I saw this one at the 2009 Jersey International Airshow.

IMG_9195.jpg

PS incidently, I used to be on the Fighter Control Forum back then and submitted this to one of their competitions. It won and was well received by the Squadron.................I got a signed Hawk poster (from the Squadron) and few other FC souvenirs :)

PPS seeing this again I wonder if I should revisit the PP'ing and see what I can do now ???
 
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FlyTVR said:
RAF training aircraft have sported a number of colour schemes over the years. The basic idea was to improve visibility of training aircraft and therefore reduce the number of potential accidents.
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That was my understanding at the time.

I don't think anyone present on the day believed the story but that's the thing about military press days: they give you a chance to find an interesting filler in return for giving the service a bit of publicity. There's always a press officer who'll over-egg the pudding, in the belief that a white lie will get him more space and better prominence.

In the case of that particular picture, it only worked because we had a half page advert cancelled at the last moment and that shot fitted the space nicely! :naughty:
 
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