Hunting Percival Jet Provost T.4 - The Red Pelicans

The highly successful Jet Provost provided the RAF with a training solution for over 30 years. During this period many RAF stations operated aerobatic display teams and the Central Flying School's 'Red Pelicans' were amongst the most distinctive, often flying in the same programme as the Red Arrows.

In 1957, when the Jet Provost entered service, there were 29 air display teams representing their respective RAF squadrons, flying such aircraft as the de Havilland Chipmunk, Vampire and Venom, English Electric Canberra, Hawker Hunter, Gloucester Meteor, and now the Hunting Percival Jet Provost. There was no single official RAF team and their shows covered a standard 'Box' display, so as to best show off their formation flying skills, though unlike those pioneers of the 1930s, they did not go as far as to connect their wingtips with lengths of rubber cord! 

CFS The Red Pelicans XN468, RAF Little Rissington, Gloucestershire, 1966

The RAF's Central Flying School (CFS) received its first Jet Provost T.1 in November 1957. AOC-in-C RAF Flying Training Command, Air Marshal Sir Richard Atcherley, requested the CFS form a team with these jets and appear at the 1958 Farnborough Air Display. 

Norman Giffin, who was selected as leader of the CFS's first Jet Provost team, initially had five of his aircraft painted in a red and white scheme to emphasis the difference between the top and bottom surfaces. This was in anticipation of being able to do part of the display inverted.  The T.1 was, however, not ideal for display flying, being underpowered for formation aerobatics thus limited the team's early routines, and disappointingly also made inverted display impractical!

The team wanted to call themselves 'The Red Pelicans' but as the Meteor team of previous years had ambitions to continue into 1958 and were already using the name 'Pelicans', they had to settle for the rather uninspiring name - 'The CFS Jet Aerobatic Team'.

Airfix's 1:72 Hunting Percival Jet Provost T.4 in the Signal Red colour of The Red Pelicans 1966

In July 1959 the first batch of the more powerful Jet Provost T.3s were received and the team of four jets developed a show where, in addition to the standard 'Box Four' display, they would split into two pairs to carry out synchronised, mirror image manoeuvres; very different to what other teams were doing.

In March 1962, the number of display aircraft was increased to five and the team became the first to operate the newly-delivered Jet Provost T.4. This season also marked the occasion that would have greatly pleased Norman Giffin 5 years earlier, when the team, now lead by Flt Lt Ian ' Snowy' McKee, was finally allowed to be renamed 'The Red Pelicans'.

In 1963 The Red Pelicans was nominated as the official RAF aerobatic team. A sixth aircraft was added to the CFS team, which were repainted in a new all-over day-go red colour scheme. The Red Pelicans were the first teams to ever have put on a display rolling six aircraft in line abrest. by the end of the season, the Air Ministry eventually decided that the English Electric Lightening fighters, which at the time formed the Fighter Command's display team, were totally unsuitable for the type of aerobatics that an aid display now demanded  and so, The Red Pelicans was then nominated as the RAF's premier aerobatic team for 1964.

Head to Head - The Red Pelicans, Yellowjacks and Red Arrows

At the Farnborough Airshow in September of 1964, The Red Pelicans gave a series of synchronised displays with the RAF's first team of Folland Gnat aircraft - the 'Yellowjacks' from No.4 Flying Training School (FTS) RAF Valley. The success of the swept wing manoeuvrability and increased performance of the Yellowjack's Gnat, lead to the subsequent formation of the RAF Aerobatic Team - 'The Red Arrows' - in 1965 and the stepping down of The Red Pelicans as the premier team.

Although The Red Arrows had replaced the Jet Provost team, four enthusiastic volunteers, led by Flt Lt Bill Langworthy, convinced the authorities of the need to maintain a second team. While officially approved to fly the 1965 season, the team of four were denied the use of the Red Pelicans title and thus were called 'The 1965 CFS Jet Provost Aerobatic Team'. Common sense and the Red Pelican title was restored for the 1966 and subsequent seasons.

In 1966 The Red Pelicans receive delivery of a batch of new Jet Provosts finished in a new Signal Red colour scheme, a look they would keep for the next 4 years. 

When the new pressurised Jet Provost T.5 came into service in 1969, and The Red Pelicans received their aircraft in preparation for the 1970 season, they were in the standard training colour scheme of red, white and grey. The only concession allowed to the team was the addition of a Pelican motif in red on the fin and The Red Pelican title on the rear of their fuselage.

The Red Pelicans continued to perform with their JP.5s through to the final show of 1973 season at Linkenheim near Karlsruhe, Germany on 23 September 1973, following which they were disbanded as part of the Government's economy measures. 

For my build, I managed to get hold of Airfix's current starter kit of the The Red Pelicans'  Jet Provost   from 1966, when they changed  to the Signal Red colour scheme, the same colour as used by the Gnat Red Arrows. 

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The model kit ..

Brand: Airfix
Title: Hunting Percival Jet Provost T.4 Starter Se
Number: A55116
Scale: 1:72
Type: Full kit
Released: 2017 | Rebox (Model set)