Airforces

Above: Texan T1 (ZM327)/N2856B (c/n PM-125) arrives at RAF Valley on August 20. Hywel Evans

A FURTHER two T-6C

Texan T1s have been

delivered to RAF Valley,

Anglesey, for the Military

Flying Training System

(MFTS) programme,

bringing the total at the

base to six. The latest

arrivals, (ZM327)/N2856B

(c/n PM-125) and (ZM328)/

N2857B (c/n PM-126), left

the Beech Factory Airport in

Wichita, Kansas, on August

16, initially routing to Des

Moines International Airport,

Iowa. They arrived at

Glasgow Airport, Scotland,

on August 19. Following

an overnight stop, they

flew the final leg of the

delivery flight to Valley

the following afternoon.

As previously reported, the

first two Texans arrived

at Valley on February 16

(see First T-6C Texan IIs

arrive at Valley, April, p9),

followed by the second

pair on May 15 – see MFTS

orders on track, July, p8.

All six have been

temporarily UK civilian-

registered to MFTS service

provider Affinity Flying

Training Services as

follows: ZM325/N2843B

was allocated G-CKGP

and ZM326/N2770B

became G-CKGW, both

on February 27; ZM324/

N2826B was registered

as G-CKGO on June 1;

ZM323/N2824B changed

to G-TBFT on June 7; on

August 29, ZM327/N2856B

became G-CKVL and

ZM328/N2857B became

G-CKVN. Dave Allport

Two more Texan T1s delivered

8 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com

NEWS

// OCTOBER 2018 #

United Kingdom

Second batch of Lightnings

arrives

FIVE MORE F-35Bs for No

617 Squadron ‘Dambusters’

arrived at RAF Marham,

Norfolk, on August 3.

Flown by both RAF and

Royal Navy pilots, the

jets crossed the Atlantic

from the United States

in an eight-hour mission.

The F-35Bs had taken off

from Marine Corps Air

Station Beaufort, South

Carolina, earlier that day.

The latest Lightnings –

ZM140 (BK-06), ZM

(BK-07), ZM142 (BK-08),

ZM143 (BK-09) and ZM

(BK-10) – join the first

four UK-based F-35Bs,

which arrived at Marham

on June 6: ZM145 ( B K-11),

ZM146 (BK-12), ZM147 (BK-

13) and ZM148 (BK-14).

With the exception of the

August 3 deliveries, there

were no F-35B sorties

from Marham between

July 26 and August 29, a

break of 34 days. Based

on social media reports,

just 21-22 flights were

achieved up to July 26 –

including nine sorties for

flypasts to mark the RAF’s

centenary. However, the

Ministry of Defence still

expects the ‘Dambusters’

to attain initial operating

capability (IOC) later

this year and attributed

the break in flying

operations to extensive

maintenance checks and

personnel on leave.

One of the second batch of UK F-35Bs to be fl own to the UK takes on fuel from a Voyager tanker on August 3. Crown Copyright

No 25

Squadron to

re-form on

Hawk T

THE RAF has announced

that No 25 (Fighter)

Squadron will re-form

at RAF Valley, Wales,

as a second Hawk T

unit. The squadron will

provide advanced fast jet

training (AFJT) for RAF

and Royal Navy pilots

alongside No IV (Army

Cooperation) Squadron

at the same base. The

latter will split into two

with the re-formed No

25(F) Squadron taking

on responsibility for the

first phase of AFJT.

The move was prompted

by increased demand

for fast jet pilots on

the front line to fly the

Typhoon and Lightning.

Meanwhile, Typhoon

squadron numbers

were boosted on July

24 with re-formation of

No 12 Squadron at RAF

Coningsby, Lincolnshire,

which followed an

announcement that

No IX (Bomber)

Squadron will stand up

on Typhoons at RAF

Lossiemouth next year.

No 25(F) Squadron is

expected to re-form by

the end of this year.

08-10 UKNews AFM Oct2018.indd 8 9/10/2018 1:07:26 PM