Hartlepool College of Further Education
BAC Jet Provost T5
Ex-Royal Air Force Training Jets XW309 and XW404
In the 1950s the Royal Air Force issued a requirement for a dedicated aircraft to train pilots who would be flying a new and ever-advancing generation of jet fighters. The Hunting Percival company, later to become part of the Government-merged British Aircraft Corporation (BAC), developed the Jet Provost from its piston-engined basic trainer the Percival Provost. The resulting design was responsive, reliable and inexpensive, and Jet Provosts were operated by the RAF in a training role from 1955 to 1993. Our two examples are T.5s, a mark introduced in 1967 and the first Jet Provost model to feature a pressurised cockpit.
Prototype XD674
BAC Strikemaster
Luck of the Draw
On 26 June 1954, the prototype Jet Provost XD674 made its maiden flight from the factory at Luton Airport, flown by Dick Wheldon. It was the first of 741 aircraft built in total across a range of marks and variants, including machinegun armed versions for export designated the T51, T52 and T55.
The BAC 167 Strikemaster is essentially a heavily armed version of the Jet Provost T5, modified with an up-rated engine, wing hardpoints, a strengthened airframe and other combat-ready features. First flown in 1967, the Strikemaster’s excellent low-speed characteristics made it a superb counter-insurgency aircraft.
Jet Provosts were withdrawn from RAF service in the early 1990s and replaced by turboprop Short Tucanos. Many have since been scrapped or left to decay, while others, like XW309 and XW404, have been luckier and found a new lease of life.