Fly Past

April 2018 FLYPAST 87

PROVOST TRIO
When Shuttleworth
acquired XF603 in
November 2001, it
was not the Collection’s
first example. In fact, it’s
even owned a Jet Provost:
in February 1961 the
sixth of the jet-powered
trainers, demonstrator
G-AOBU, was donated to
the Shuttleworth Trust.
Not an entirely appropriate
addition to the museum, it was
part of a trade with Loughborough
College, Leicestershire, that also
brought Sea Hurricane I Z7015 and
Spitfire V AR501 to Old Warden.
Bravo-Uniform pops up in the story
again later.
In April 1969 former CATCS
Provost T.1 XF836 was donated
to the collection. Civil
registered as G-AWRY
it was displayed until
sold to Alan House –
more of him later – in
December 1983.
Like all piston-engined
Provosts, XF603 was
produced just down the road
from Old Warden at Percival’s
Luton factory. Built in 1955,
it spent three years in storage
before being issued to the RAF
College at Cranwell, Lincs, on
January 13, 1958. It transferred to
the RAF Flying College – later the
College of Air Warfare – at Manby,
Lincs, on the last day of March
1960.

Retired from flying in April 1964,

XF603 was disposed of to Filton,

Bristol, in September 1967, where it

was used as an instructional airframe

by trainees for the British Aircraft

Corporation and Rolls-Royce.

COLLEGE INMATE

Tim Manna, a long-time

benefactor of Shuttleworth,

also has a background in

Provosts. When he moved

to the UK in 1989 he

stopped flying with the

US Naval Reserve and

began a hunt for an

aircraft so that he

could continue

aviating.

Initially he

was looking

for a DHC

Chipmunk,

but settled

on Provost

T.1

XF690,

which

was

registered

as

G-MOOS

in April

1991. He takes
      up the story:
      “Having bought
      the aircraft, our
      issue was what to do
      for spare parts.
      I met up with
      Alan House
      who was ‘Mr Piston Provost’ in the
      UK, having restored and operated
      two himself. I decided to move
      XF690 to near Reading, where Alan
      was based.
      “I started looking around for
      additional airframes for spares. The
      first I bought was from the former
      Strathallan collection. This was
      WW453 [registered as G-TMKI in
      July 1992], a good aeroplane.
      “Someone mentioned to me there
      was also a Provost project for sale at
      Filton. I went down with Alan and
      found [XF603] sitting in a room

at the technical college covered

in dust. One wing was off and

propped against a wall, the other

was jacked up.

“I made an offer to buy it, which

was accepted. The problem was we

had to knock a wall down to get the

aircraft out!”

On August 1, 1995, the Provost

went by road to Cranfield,

Bedfordshire, where Tim had

established Kennet Aviation.

Registered as G-KAPW in September

1997 it was soon airworthy.

Meanwhile Tim acquired Jet

Provost T.1 G-AOBU from

Shuttleworth. Loughborough

College no longer had a use for it

and it wasn’t considered a suitable

exhibit for the Old Warden

collection, which focuses on pre-

war aircraft.

The jet was flown again following

restoration in May 1994 and often

displayed alongside piston Provost

XF690. Sadly, Bravo-Uniform is no

longer airworthy as

Kennet decided

to move away

from vintage

jets, but have

retained

ownership.

The

camouflage

scheme

(which XF603

still wears) was

carefully chosen

because, as Tim

states: “There were plenty

of silver aircraft with

coloured bands on

the wings at that

time.” Although

not authentic for

XF603, the team

at Kennet

researched

a unique

export

scheme

used

on

Provosts

being

ferried to

Oman.

On November 2,

2001, XF603 touched

down on the grass at

Old Warden to start a

new life. At the time, the

Shuttleworth Collection was

looking to increase the number

of RAF trainers on its books. Its

ambition was to represent all the

different types used by the RAF in

this role, the Provost proving to be a

significant piece in the jigsaw.