RAF Wyton 1990-1993 Part Deux

[papadolmio]

100 Sqn start to replace their Canberras with Hawks and the rundown of the Canberra force gathers pace...

Hawk T1A XX195 100Sqn RAF Wyton date unknown by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Date on this ones wrong....must have 1992 as I was in the Falklands in January 91 so must have needed a very long lens to take it.

Hawk T1A XX331 100Sqn RAF Wyton 6th January 1991 by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Hawk T1A XX285 100Sqn RAF Wyton 23rd September 1992 by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

A bit of an oddity, I think 164 was the only T1 100 Sqn had at the time, the rest being T1A's from Brawdy and Chivenor.

Hawk T1 XX164 100Sqn RAF Wyton date unknown by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Charlie Papa was one of the first to go....

Canberra E15 WH983 ex.100Sqn RAF Wyton 30th June 1991 by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Joined by others over the next few months

Canberra T17 WH664 ex.360Sqn RAF Wyton 17th June 1992. by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Canberra PR7 WT519 ex.100Sqn RAF Wyton 17th June 1992 by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Canberra T17 WF890 ex.360Sqn RAF Wyton 17th June 1992. by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Canberra E15 WH981 ex.100Sqn RAF Wyton 17th June 1992. by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

Finally, probably one of the last attempted flights by a 100 Sqn Canberra...Charlie-Julliette made her final attempt to fly during a gale sometime over the winter of 1992-93.
Canberra PR7 ex.100Sqn RAF Wyton Date unknown. by Ford Anglia, on Flickr

[binbrook87]

Great photos but really sad to see the Canberra fleet being disposed of

[paddyboy]

Top post, but.........

Those poor Canberras

Thanks for posting

Paddyboy

[The Phantom]

First Hawk is superb

....as for the Canberras

[stickshaker]

I was flying the Hawk at the time but don't recall exactly what was happening in the fleet. To be pedantic, and for anyone who is interested, they weren't all T1As from the TWUs.

There is a subset of the T1 fitted for practice weapons, often referred to as T1W, although that designation never officially existed. These were primarily designed for weapon training. The T1A was introduced to have an AIM9 capability, whilst retaining the training capability, specifically for the perceived war role of point defence and later the mixed-fighter-force concept which never really worked.

It became a huge mishmash of fits. All of the weapons trainers, and all the T1As, had gunsights. All of those initially had wet film cameras, some were later fitted with a video recording device. Some of the fleet had a banner towing attachment. When 100 Sqn first re-equipped with Hawks there was no need for any operational fit and they started with a mix of available aircraft. Aircraft were flown with 2 crew, and rear cockpit gunsights (where fitted) were removed to make way for a bolt-on GPS. On the move to Leeming, the role became single-seat, and everything, including non-weapons T1s, were fitted with front seat gunsights purely to mount the new moving-map GPS. Gunsights were not fitted to the rear cockpits, and were removed from some aircraft, as they were not required, and because the rear cockpit gunsight has always suffered from being very vulnerable to accidental damage - hence the gunsight cover sometimes seen. As the role expanded, 100 Sqn acquired more T1As to support a missile-based adversary role - T1As were also required to carry the RAIDS pod.

That red and white Hawk must have been a temporary allocation as it was back at Valley a few years later. Anyway, thanks for the memories!

[papadolmio]

I was flying the Hawk at the time but don't recall exactly what was happening in the fleet. To be pedantic, and for anyone who is interested, they weren't all T1As from the TWUs.

There is a subset of the T1 fitted for practice weapons, often referred to as T1W, although that designation never officially existed. These were primarily designed for weapon training. The T1A was introduced to have an AIM9 capability, whilst retaining the training capability, specifically for the perceived war role of point defence and later the mixed-fighter-force concept which never really worked.

It became a huge mishmash of fits. All of the weapons trainers, and all the T1As, had gunsights. All of those initially had wet film cameras, some were later fitted with a video recording device. Some of the fleet had a banner towing attachment. When 100 Sqn first re-equipped with Hawks there was no need for any operational fit and they started with a mix of available aircraft. Aircraft were flown with 2 crew, and rear cockpit gunsights (where fitted) were removed to make way for a bolt-on GPS. On the move to Leeming, the role became single-seat, and everything, including non-weapons T1s, were fitted with front seat gunsights purely to mount the new moving-map GPS. Gunsights were not fitted to the rear cockpits, and were removed from some aircraft, as they were not required, and because the rear cockpit gunsight has always suffered from being very vulnerable to accidental damage - hence the gunsight cover sometimes seen. As the role expanded, 100 Sqn acquired more T1As to support a missile-based adversary role - T1As were also required to carry the RAIDS pod.

That red and white Hawk must have been a temporary allocation as it was back at Valley a few years later. Anyway, thanks for the memories!

Thanks, interesting stuff- never realised there were so many mods. ISTR some sort of radar reflector? mounted on the centreline at times as well?

[stickshaker]

Yes, you're right - and that was 100 Sqn core business at the time, to provide radar targets for the F3 OCU. The pod was attached to the gun mounting points - it was entirely passive and could be fitted to any aircraft. It was a sort of Luneburg Lens, crumpled foil of the correct size to enhance the radar return and provide good solid radar targets for student training.

[Imac]

Nice set and great memories from you guys. Sad to see those great stalwarts waiting for the breaker. Quite a change of airframe for 100sq. Thanks for posting

[papadolmio]

Nice set and great memories from you guys. Sad to see those great stalwarts waiting for the breaker. Quite a change of airframe for 100sq. Thanks for posting

I don't think many Canberra guys transferred over to the Hawks, maybe stickshaker would know?

One thing for certain was the Hawks added another dimension to ATC at Wyton- the PFL profile and turn backs after takeoff took a bit of getting used to alongside the various Canberra oddities like icing letdowns, practice efato's and sim assymetrics.

[stickshaker]

I wasn't on the Sqn at Wyton but did a couple of examination visits. Some of the younger guys did switch across to the Hawk - remember most of them had been moved sideways to the Canberra, after not making it through TWU, as a sort of experience-gathering bridging tour back to the FJ front line. In the early days that was fine, but as the role expanded the Sqn really needed pilots with front line experience and/or more hours. The 18 Group staff didn't really get close formation or understand why they wanted to fly upside down either.

A unique Wyton EFATO technique, off the westerly runway, was to glide straight ahead (almost) into Alconbury. Fairly easy to fly but it took some quick ATC liaison to get the clearances.

The problem from Wyton was that the Hawk didn't have anything like the legs of the Canberra, so getting out and back to exercise areas in the North Sea and the north of England with any meaningful time-on-task was tricky.

[Imac]

Nice set and great memories from you guys. Sad to see those great stalwarts waiting for the breaker. Quite a change of airframe for 100sq. Thanks for posting

I don't think many Canberra guys transferred over to the Hawks, maybe stickshaker would know?

One thing for certain was the Hawks added another dimension to ATC at Wyton- the PFL profile and turn backs after takeoff took a bit of getting used to alongside the various Canberra oddities like icing letdowns, practice efato's and sim assymetrics.

Thanks 'papadolmio' for the further insight into the changes, its appreciated. Take care out there