http://www.airforcesmonthly.comNEWS United Kingdom
8 // JUNE 2018 #
Last Hercules returns from Falklands
Above: Hercules C5 ZH888 arriving back at RAF Brize Norton from Mount Pleasant. MOD Crown Copyright/RAF Brize Norton
ROYAL AIR Force Hercules
C5 ZH888 arrived back
at RAF Brize Norton,
Oxfordshire, on April 5 after
completing its deployment
with 1312 Flight at Mount
Pleasant Complex, Falkland
Islands. It had left Mount
Pleasant on April 3, making
a stop on Ascension Island
before completing its
20-hour journey back to
the UK. This marked the
end of 36 years of support
to the British Forces South
Atlantic Islands (BFSAI) by
RAF Hercules aircraft.
As previously reported,the single Hercules of 1312
Flight has been replaced
by an Atlas C1 – see Atlas
arrives in the Falklands,
May, p9. The first Atlas to
deploy to the Falklands was
ZM415, which departed from
Brize Norton using callsign
‘RRR4600’ on March 25 andlanded at Mount Pleasant
on the afternoon of March- The Atlas has taken over
tactical airlift missions in
support of BFSAI, along with
maritime reconnaissance,
search and rescue and
humanitarian assistance
duties. Dave Allport
RAF Shadow
upgrades
ADDING TO our recent
report on RAF Shadow
R1 fleet upgrades (see
New King Airs delivered
for Shadow upgrade,
April, p9), it is reported
that the first aircraft to
undergo the work are
designated Shadow R1As,
prior to the definitive R
enhancements. Although
security considerations
mean that details of the
equipment fit on the RAF
Shadows are sparse,
incremental upgrades are
now under way on the
fleet. The first R1A to
be completed is ZZ417,
which left its base at RAF
Waddington, Lincolnshire,
on March 9 on its maiden
overseas mission since
being reworked.
Meanwhile, ZZ
is now at Raytheon’s
Broughton (Hawarden)
facility in North Wales for
R1A conversion, while
ZZ416, ZZ418 and ZZ
currently remain as R1s.
During April, both of
the newly delivered King
Air 350Cs, G-DAYP
and G-GMAD, were still
operating with No 14
Squadron at Waddington
as standard commercial
variants and had yet to
be converted to Shadow
configuration. The other
civilian-registered aircraft
with the unit, G-LBSB,
remains with Raytheon
at Broughton under
conversion to the next
Shadow and it is rumoured
that it will emerge as the
first R2. On completion
it will become ZZ507.
All of the current fleet
and new deliveries will be
modified to R2 standard.
Under current plans, the
type is expected to remain
in service until at least- Dave Allport
Phenoms begin instructor
pilot training
Above: Phenom T1 ZM334 at Cranwell. As well as UK serials, these aircraft have now received the No 45 Squadron ‘Flying
Camels’ badge on the door and the unit’s blue bar and red diamonds on the tailfi n. Peter R Foster
THE RAF began instructor
pilot tuition on its new
Embraer Phenom T1 on
April 16. The multi-engine
trainer is operated by the
Ascent consortium – which
includes the VT Group
and Lockheed Martin – as
part of the Military Flying
Training System (MFTS).
Ascent awarded Elbit
Systems and KBR a
contract to supply 38 new
training aircraft through
their joint company
known as Affinity Flight
Training Systems, which
received a $500m contract
to purchase the new
airframes. This included
five Phenoms, 23 Prefect
T1s (Grob G 120TP)and ten Texan T1s.
Ground school for the
RAF Phenom instructors
began after delivery of the
first aircraft, ZM333, to RAF
Cranwell, Lincolnshire, last
July. The last of the five
jets, ZM337, was delivered
to the base on January 29.
The Phenom replaces
the Beech King Air 200aircraft in the multi-
engine training role.
There will be a gap in
training capacity until
the instructors have
completed their courses
and in the meantime
the RAF is utilising CFE
Aviation at Kidlington
to provide multi-engine
training. Peter R FosterAbove: King Air B200GT ZK459 ‘X’, which retains the No 45 Squadron centenary livery applied
in 2016, was one of the last two aircraft to depart RAF Cranwell. Ian Harding
THE BEECHCRAFT King
Air B200/200GT was
withdrawn from service
with No 45 Squadron at
RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire
around March 28.
Although there was no
official confirmation of
the retirement, it appears
the final two aircraft,
ZK452 (B200) and ZK
(B200GT), departed for
Guernsey on this date.
Eight King Air B
(ZK450 to ZK457) and
three King Air B200GT(ZK458 to ZK460) aircraft
were delivered to No 45
(Reserve) Squadron (as
it was then known) from
2003, after Serco was
awarded a private finance
initiative contract to replace
the unit’s Jetstream T1s. In
2014, several earlier B200s
were returned to the UK
and US commercial register
and this pattern continued
in March this year when five
examples were transferred
to the UK commercial
register. Ian HardingRAF retires King Air