HALF A CENTURY 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
June 2018 FLYPAST 85LONGEVITY AWARD
Setting aside the aircraft of BBMF
there was one operational aircraft at
Abingdon in 1968 that very nearly
was wearing roundels in an official
capacity 50 years later. Canadian-built
North American Harvard IIb KF183
was issued to 7 (Pilots) Advanced
Flying Unit at Peterborough’s
Westwood airfield in December 1944.
It was bashing another circuit by
1946, this time at South Cerney in
Gloucestershire with 3 Service Flying
Training School.
In November 1947 KF183 began
a career in test and trials that was to
keep it busy for the next 69 years. The
Harvard was issued to Gosport, in
coastal Hampshire, for duty with the
Airborne Torpedo Development Unit
(ATDU) as what would later be called
a ‘chase plane’ and a ‘photo-ship’. The
Harvard shadowed torpedo drops by
types such as Bristol Brigands into the
waters of the Solent.
In 1948 the RAF adopted Arabic
numerals for all of its designations
and KF183 became a Harvard T.2B.
In the first weeks of 1953 it moved to
Boscombe Down in Wiltshire, where
it joined fellow Harvard KF314.
Here it served the famous Aeroplane
and Armament Experimental
Establishment in much the same
manner as it had at ATDU. Another
Harvard, FT375, was added to the
Boscombe fleet in November 1954.
Another world-renowned unit
moved into the Wiltshire airfield in
January 1968. This was the Empire
Test Pilots’ School (ETPS), which had
been resident at Farnborough since- With this, the Harvard’s tasking
was expanded as airmen from all over
the world prepared reports on the
veteran’s flight characteristics as part
of the ETPS syllabus. For the RAF’s
50th, KF183 was chosen for the static
park.
On February 22, 1982, KF314 was
involved in a fatal accident and in May
1996 FT375 was sold to a civilian
owner. This left KF183 soldiering
on, although its utilization fell away
sharply in the new century.
After a record of 72 years of military
service, KF183 was disposed of and
flew to Duxford on November 24,
2016, becoming G-CORS with
Propshop. It would be great if Romeo-
Sierra could appear at some of the
celebrations this year.
MUSEUM SHOWCASE
Apart from marking the RAF’s
50th birthday, Abingdon was also a
showcase for all the work that had
been going on in readiness for the
RAF Museum. In 1968 the big day
was still a way off, the Queen opening
the transformed hangars at Hendon,
London, on November 15, 1972.
Two biplanes were handed over
to the RAF Museum just prior to
the event on June 10. Painted in
the colours of the Royal Afghan AirForce was a Hawker Hind that had
been salvaged from Kabul in January
and prepared by a team from 71
Maintenance Unit at nearby Bicester.
It was handed over by Colonel
Mohammed Akbar Khan on behalf of
the people of Afghanistan.
The other biplane had not travelled
as far, but had flown into Abingdon.
This was Vickers FB.5 Gunbus ‘2345’
which had been built by the Vintage
Aircraft and Flying Association and
had been flying since June 1966.
Test pilot Desmond ‘Dizzy’ Addicott
presented the replica to the museum
and he carried out its final flight on
the public day.
Until October 1967 Abingdon had
been home to the massive Blackburn
Beverleys of 47 Squadron, including
XH124 which returned to its former
base for the festivities. It was flown to
Hendon on June 19, 1968. With air
traffic long since gone at the former
airfield, it had been arranged that a
green flare would be fired to let the
crew know that the runway was clear.
The giant airlifter required less than
half the length and taxied to a stop,
having completed 4,478 flying hours.
At 38ft 9in (11.8m) tall, with a
wingspan of 162ft and an empty
weight of 79,000lb (35,834kg)
XH124 was impossible to house at
Hendon. By the late 1980s inspections
inside XH124 showed that 21 years
exposed to the elements had taken
its toll. In November 1989 theAbove,
left to right
Sea Balliol T.21 WL731
from Boscombe Down
was withdrawn from
use in early 1969.Vickers Gunbus
replica ‘2345’ was
fl own for the last
time at Abingdon
and joined the RAF
Museum’s collection.The former Afghan
Air Force Hind was
handed over to the
RAF Museum just
before the show.
Beverley C.1 in the
background.Below
Wellington T.10
MF628, part of the
RAF Museum line-up.