Category: raf cosford

Percival Provost T.1

The Percival P.56 Provost is a basic trainer aircraft that was designed and manufactured by British aviation company Percival.

The Provost entered service with the RAF during 1953 and quickly proved to be more capable than the preceding Prentice. It was a relatively successful aircraft, being exported for multiple overseas operators. Various models were developed, both armed and unarmed, to meet with customer demands. The Provost later adapted to make use of a turbojet engine, producing the BAC Jet Provost. During the 1960s, the type was withdrawn from RAF service in favour of its jet-powered successor. It continued to be used for decades after with various export customers.

Vickers Varsity T Mk I

The Varsity was a versatile twin piston-engined aircraft brought into RAF service in 1951 for crew training as a replacement for the Wellington T10. This Vickers Varsity T Mk I was on display at RAF Cosford.

The aircraft had been designed three years earlier in response to an Air Ministry specification and had been put into production once proving trials and operational tests had been completed. To adapt the successful Valetta design for a general purpose crew trainer, the Varsity was given a nose-wheel undercarriage and an under fuselage pannier bomb-aimer’s station. The Museum also has an example of the Valetta which is awaiting major restoration.

The most outstanding quality of the Varsity was that it could provide excellent training for pilots, flight engineers, radio operators, navigators and bomb aimers simultaneously. The latter were seated in a very large ventral gondola which contained bomb aiming equipment and a small quantity of training bombs.

The prototype Varsity T MkI made its maiden flight on 17 July 1949. The RAF took its first deliveries in October 1951 which went to No.201 Squadron, Advanced Flying School at Swinderby, Lincolnshire. Production of the Varsity T MkI for the RAF ceased on 28 February 1954 after a total of 163 had been built.

WL679 was built by Vickers Armstrong at Bournemouth and released from their factory on 25 September 1953. This was the last Varsity to fly with Royal Air Force Insignia, but in the very distinctive livery of the Royal Aircraft Establishment. It landed at RAF Cosford on 27 July 1992 and signalled the end of an era spanning over 43 years.

Vickers Valiant

The Vickers Valiant was a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons, and in the 1950s and 1960s was part of the Royal Air Force’s “V bomber” strategic deterrent force. It was developed by Vickers-Armstrongs in response to a specification issued by the Air Ministry for a nuclear-armed jet-powered bomber. The Valiant was the first of the V bombers to become operational, and was followed by the Handley Page Victor and the Avro Vulcan.

This Vickers Valiant was on display at RAF Cosford.

The Valiant was the only V bomber to have dropped live nuclear weapons (for test purposes).

The Valiant was the first of the V Bombers and to me looks like an aircraft of the 1950s, compared to the much more futuristic look of the Victor.

Handley Page Victor XH672

The Handley Page Victor is a British jet-powered strategic bomber which was developed and produced by Handley Page, and which served during the Cold War. It was the third and final V bomber to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. The Victor had been developed as part of the United Kingdom’s airborne nuclear deterrent. It was retired from the nuclear mission in 1968, following the discovery of fatigue cracks which had been exacerbated by the RAF’s adoption of a low-altitude flight profile to avoid interception.

Handley Page Victor XH672 is on display at RAF Cosford.

Another photograph of the Handley Page Victor XH672.

Handley Page Victor XH648 is being restored at Duxford.

XM598 Vulcan Bomber

XM598 Vulcan Bomber

XM598 is at RAF Cosford. Completed on 30 August 1963, it was delivered to 12 Squadron at RAF Coningsby on 4 September. Was the originally designated bombing aircraft for Black Buck 1, but which had to turn back minutes into the flight.

Withdrawn with disbandment of 44 Squadron, the last bomber unit, on 21 December 1982. Performed its last flight on 20 January 1983, being delivered to Aerospace Museum Cosford.

XM598 Vulcan Bomber

Another photo of XM598.

XJ824 is on display at Duxford.

English Electric Lightning F1/P1B

The English Electric Lightning is a British fighter aircraft that served as an interceptor during the 1960s, the 1970s and into the late 1980s. It remains the only UK-designed-and-built fighter capable of Mach 2.

This English Electric Lightning F1/P1B was suspended from the ceiling of the Cold War exhibition at RAF Cosford.

Following the successful demonstration of supersonic flight by the two P1 research aircraft WG760 and WG763, English Electric was contracted to develop the P1B fighter aircraft. It was known as the Lightning and was capable of supersonic interceptions of enemy aircraft; it remained in front line service for nearly three decades. The first P1B Lightning flew on 4 April 1957, the day the Government published a White Paper forecasting the end of manned aircraft and their replacement with missiles. As a result, several British military aircraft projects were cancelled, but the Lightning survived.

The Lightning was designed, developed, and manufactured by English Electric, which was later absorbed by the newly-formed British Aircraft Corporation.

English Electric Lightning F.6 at RAF London.

English Electric Lightning Mk1 at Duxford.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota  is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front-line service with various military operators for many years. The Douglas C47, known as the Dakota in the Royal Air Force and Commonwealth services, became the world’s best known transport aircraft. The type saw widespread use by the Allies during the Second World War and by Air Forces and airlines post-war.

In the Cold War Exhibition at RAF Cosford, suspended from the ceiling is a Douglas Dakota.

More photographs of the Douglas C-47 Skytrain at RAF Cosford.