Hawker Hunter - The Black Arrows

The Black Arrows, one of the predecessors to the current Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team the Red Arrows, were an aerobatic demonstration team formed in 1956 by Squadron Leader Roger L.Topp, then Commanding Officer 111 Squadron (Treble One). One of the many memorable feats accomplished by the Black Arrows was the execution of a world record loop of 22 Hawker Hunters in formation at the Society of British Aircraft Constructors' show at Farnborough in 1958. This was a world record for the greatest number of aircraft looped in formation, and remains unbroken to this day. After the loop the Black Arrows performed the world's first 16 aircraft barrel roll. 

Treble One and the Black Arrows

Although best remembered for the Black Arrows, 111 Squadron's tradition for display flying can be traced back to the Hendon Air Display of 1926, when flying two Armstrong Whitworth Siskins they competed against 17 Squadron's Sopwith Snipes and 23 Squadron's Gloucester Gamecocks (Douglas Bader would be flying with 23 Squadron in the same aircraft in the 1931 display just months prior to his horrendous crash in Bulldog K1676).

In December 1937, Treble One became the first RAF squadron to receive Hawker Hurricanes and made further history on 10 February 1938 when its CO, San Ldr J W Gillan, flew from Edinburgh to RAF Northolt, London, in 48 minutes recording an average speed of 409 mph.

Throughout the Battle of Britain, in the summer of 1940, the squadron flew in almost continuous action, claiming 94 enemy aircraft destroyed. They were re-equipped with Spitfires in July 1941 and relocated to the Mediterranean where they were involved in support of Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa and Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. Treble One then moved on through Italy with the advancing Allied ground forces and remained there until the end of the war, before being disbanded in 1947. 

In 1953, the squadron were reformed at RAF North Weald, equipped with Meteor F.8s, however, any interest in reforming an aerobatic team on the squadron remained informal and while several pilots did indulge in the sport, being unofficial, their events were seldom recorded. When San Ldr Roger Topp took over the squadron in January 1955, he thought it a good idea. Finding the routine of squadron life to be dull, 'to bring back a bit of excitement' he took over the leadership of the Meteor team. The team continued following the squadron's conversion to Hawker Hunters.

The squadron's re-equipment with Hunter F.4s began in June 1955 and hit the headlines again in the following August when Roger Topp established a new Edinburgh to London speed record in 27 minutes 52 seconds at an average speed of 717.5 mph.

In April 1956, the 11 Squadron Hunter team had been nominated as the official aerobatic team of no.11 Group and made its debut at the French National Air Display at Bordeaux on 12 May. It received a great deal of praise for its precision aerobatics prompting one French commentator to refer to them as 'les Fleches Volantes' - 'The Flying Arrows'.

Training for the new season began in January 1957 with the squadron's new Hunter F.6s and with their appointment to the RAF's premier aerobatic team, the squadron was given permission to replace their standard grey/green day fighter camouflage scheme with a special display finish. After experimenting with various paint schemes, an overall gloss black was finally decided on. The colour was chosen for it was the colour of bar makings carried on various of the squadron's aircraft types between 1925 and 1937 and black would make the team highly visible and more impressive. 

Although the team had no official name other than that of the Squadron, it was a remark in a leading French newspaper, Le Figaro, following their appearance at the Paris Salon in June 1957 that referred to them as 'les Fleches Noir' - the Black Arrows - was considered an appropriate, albeit unofficial, name for the team by Roger Topp and quickly adopted. In October 1958, Roget Topp was succeeded as Co and leader of the team by San Ldr Peter Latham, a former member of 263 Squadron aerobatic team which flew in the 1950 Farnborough RAF Display. Following on from Roger Topp was going to be a challenge, but it was Peter Latham who increased the normal display number of aircraft from 5 to the 9 still flown today by  the Red Arrows. 

The Black Arrows marked their final appearance as the RAF's premier aerobatic team at Farnborough in September 1960 following which it stood down in readiness to reequip with the English Electric Lightening. 

The Model

For my model of the Black Arrows I struggled for 1/72 kit at a price which would not limit this serial model maker's ability to make another purchase. Airfix had moved it's Hunter into their 1/48 scale range and Revel's 1/72 kit was, for some reason, going for twice what I was prepared to pay. So a trawl of auction sites brought me an aged 1993 release of Airfix's Hunter FGA9.

The Black Arrows used the Hunter F.6 between 1957-1960. The FGA9 ground-attack fighter replaced the F.6 interceptor version in April 1963 and thus could never have been flown as Black Arrow. However, the visible differences are probably minimal. The FGA9 were all were modified from F.6 airframes to give it  better performance in its ground-attack role. It had strengthened wing to allow for a wider range of stores, 230 gallon inboard drop tanks (which I have left off), a tail chute a bobweight in its pitch control circuit to increase stick force in ground attack manoeuvres and increased oxygen capacity increasing its flying time.

I was also unable to acquire any aftermarket Black Arrows decals, the 1:48 scale model only currently being catered for. Most of the supplied Airfix decals were also unusable, the colour printer was was obviously not properly aligned on the day of production, as colour bleed and overtyping was awful. I therefore, improvised, using an old set of Lightening roundels and tail markings, the latter being a perfect match for the Black Arrows. The roundels would have been better had they had a thin white outline, a design which was added to the full sized aircraft in August 1957. I needed a Union flag for the starboard side of the nose, so cut one I had from a set of unused 1:32 scale Rally Mini Clubman decals and as I had no way of obtaining a 111 squadron badge - while admittedly I could have used another - I did have 2 flag and so applied one to both, and I think the symmetry at least works. The aircraft serial numbers should really have been in red, but having seen other models, may be, incorrectly wearing white numbers, I used the set which came with the kit - the only ones to be correctly printed due to probably being just one colour. 

Just out of interest, I looked up what may have happened to XJ673. It was converted to FGA.9 in 1960 by HSA. Joined 20 Sqn. on 7 September 1961 and was coded ‘XX’ as the OC’s machine. It met its end on 2 April 1969 when it was abandoned whilst on approach to Clark AB, Philippines. It had suffered an engine failure and loss of hydraulic fluid. The pilot, Flt. Lt. K.R. Barley, ejected safely.

The Kit

Brand: Airfix
Title: Hawker Hunter FGA.9
Number: 02073
Scale: 1:72
Type: Full kit
Released: 1994 | Rebox (Changed decals)