British Aircraft Corporation Jet Provost T.4

INTRODUCTION

The Jet Provost is one of the most popular training aircraft used by the Royal Air Force. The series was introduced in 1955, and demonstrated the power of the jet engine after the industrial revolution. The Jet Provost was a successor to the percival provost, it's piston powered sister. The Jet Provost, known in military circles as the 'JP' was only retired from military service in 1993. Over its time it has been the most commonly used training aircraft in the R.A.F. The type has trained a whole variety of fast jet pilots, many of who will remember its forgiving flight characteristics and versatility. The aircraft is powered by the Rolls Royce Viper 202 jet engine 

OUR AIRCRAFT

XP642 has a positive history with the R.A.F, the aircraft is a T.4 variant, and entered RAF service in 1962, it has trained numerous pilots at 2 FTS Syerston where it was tail coded '39' The aircraft became part of The Vipers display team for the 1968-69 season airshows. It wore the traditional colour scheme of silver and day-glo orange with white tip tanks and tail fin. The team was disbanded in 1969, where XP642 went into storage at 27MU Shawbury. By 1971 it was declared non-effective and sold as scrap. Thankfully the front half of the aircraft has been preserved to allow the public to sit inside and look at the design behind one of the most popular training jet aircraft of the 20th Century.

WHAT'S NEXT

The aircraft is used by Exeter College for their aviation and engineering courses, where it continues to educate students on its military career. We intend to facilitate the college to connect the landing lights on the outside, together with the cockpit instrumentation and interior lighting to provide an even greater cockpit experience.