raf cosford Archives - Page 8 of 15

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 During the 1960s, the type was withdrawn from RAF service in favour of its jet-powered successor.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.

de Havilland Devon C.2

This de Havilland Devon C.2 was on display at RAF Cosford.

The De Havilland Devon was a military version of the de Havilland Dove short-haul airliner, one of Britain’s most successful post-war civil designs.

The de Havilland DH.104 Dove was a British short-haul airliner developed and manufactured by de Havilland. The Dove was a popular aircraft and is considered to be one of Britain’s most successful postwar civil designs, in excess of 500 aircraft being manufactured between 1946 and 1967. Several military variants were operated, such as the Devon by the Royal Air Force and the Sea Devon by the Royal Navy, and the type also saw service with a number of overseas military forces.

Jet Provost T1

This Jet Provost T1 is on display at RAF Cosford.

The Hunting Percival Jet Provost was initially developed as a jet engine modification of the piston-engine Percival P.56 Provost, retaining to original wing structure mated to a new fuselage. It was built as a private venture by Hunting Percival Aircraft Limited at Luton Airport.

V2 Missile

This V2 missile was on display at RAF Cosford.

It is one of several rockets prepared by the British with support from German troops during Operation Backfire. It so happened that this rocket was not launched during the Backfire tests. Operation Backfire was a military scientific operation during and after the Second World War that was performed mainly by British staff. The operation was designed to completely evaluate the entire V-2 rocket assembly, interrogate German personnel specialised in all phases of it and then to test and launch missiles across the North Sea.

The V2 was the world’s first long range guided ballistic missile. he missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was developed during the Second World War in Germany as a “vengeance weapon”, assigned to attack Allied cities as retaliation for the Allied bombings against German cities.

Avro Vulcan

The Avro Vulcan is a jet-powered tailless delta wing high-altitude strategic bomber, which was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) from 1956 until 1984.

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

XJ824 is on display at Duxford.

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.

Handley Page Victor XH648 is being restored at Duxford.

SEPECAT Jaguar ACT

The SEPECAT Jaguar is an Anglo-French jet attack aircraft originally used by the British Royal Air Force and the French Air Force in the close air support and nuclear strike role.

A single Jaguar was converted into the Jaguar Active Control Technology (ACT) with fly-by-wire controls and aerodynamic alterations to the airframe; the aerodynamic instability improved manoeuvrability and the test data was used in the development of the Eurofighter. That plane is now on show at RAF Cosford.

British Aerospace EAP

The British Aerospace EAP (standing for Experimental Aircraft Programme) was a British technology demonstrator aircraft developed by aviation company British Aerospace (BAe) as a private venture.

It was designed to research technologies to be used for a future European combat aircraft, and eventually formed the basis for the multinational Eurofighter Typhoon.

It is now on display at RAF Cosford.

Sopwith Pup

The Sopwith Pup is a British single-seater biplane fighter aircraft built by the Sopwith Aviation Company. It entered service with the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps in the autumn of 1916. With pleasant flying characteristics and good manoeuvrability, the aircraft proved very successful and was regarded by many pilots at the perfect flying machine.

This Pup was at RAF Cosford. Built in 1916 and flew on the Western Front. It was extensively rebuilt this plane was recovered from France around 1960.

It last flew in 1976.

Many thought the name “Pup” was undignified and wanted the aircraft to be referred to as the Sopwith Scout, which did more than anything else to ensure the name Pup was used.

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.

Forward view of preserved Vickers Valiant XD818 at RAF Museum Cosford.