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Ray Pilley with his Hawk aircraft
by Ray Pilley
chocks away for Ray
I was intrigued to read last month’s article headed Pirate in the Sky featuring Sqn Ldr Dolding whose aspirations to fly had been born and nurtured by watching visiting aircraft from his parent’s home at Marina Court. He was pictured in front of a British Aero Systems Hawk of 100 Sqn Royal Air Force. On returning home I retrieved one of my log books which unfortunately ended in August 1977. The second volume is not in Gibraltar. Be that as it may I wondered if I had instructed this young man and should he read this article perhaps he would be good enough to let me know. I certainly instructed the last Chief of the Air Staff which just about puts me in reach. After concluding my flying tour on the F4 Phantom, which was punctuated by an extremely low level ejection (rendering me permanently incapable of washing up or ironing!), I was posted to the Central Flying School from where I graduated in 1976. I never actually completed the course because there was a head on collision in south Wales involving two Folland Gnat aircraft which killed four instructors and the only two fast jet pilots on the basic instructors course were immediately packed off to RAF Valley in Anglesey to convert to the Gnat — one of whom was me. For those too young to remember the Gnat, it was for many years the RAF’s advanced trainer and the aircraft formerly displayed by the Red Arrows. The Gnat would certainly not have passed today’s health and safety legislation and crosswind landings in manual control from the back seat at night required all the skills necessary to hang wallpaper blindfold whilst standing on one leg. I had flown the aircraft previously on graduation from the Royal Air Force College Cranwell. It was a wonderful and exhilarating machine, but unforgiving in
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the hands of anyone not up to speed. Then one day in May 1977 and out of the mists or sea fog commonly associated with Valley appeared this strange dolphin nosed machine painted in red and white and numbered XX159 if my memory serves correctly. It was followed by two or three more during the course of the next week or so and soon three of us were elected/selected to become the first Hawk instructors. We continued flying the Gnat on a daily basis and would then do an hour or so in the Hawk with someone who had flown it before and thereafter we flew it around solo pitching against the Gnat and working out how we were going to teach students. It was so strange being able to see ahead of
The Hawk, now entering its 33rd year in RAF service, has proved to be a great success and although we said “you could teach your grandmother to fly it in a weekend” I have fond memories of the Hawk
the pilot in the front from the back seat, strange to be airborne without running out of fuel after an hour and it being so viceless and docile and almost as slow as a basic trainer coming in to land. I recall flying members of the Red Arrows team on familiarisation sorties who likened it to a GT version of the Jet Provost and indeed before it was accepted significant changes had to be made to the aircraft and in particular the engine management system. Our anxiety was that this aircraft was not going to be sufficiently demanding to meet the requirements of front line aircraft such as the Harrier, Jaguar and the Tornado which were then in, or coming into, service. With hindsight I think we were wrong because the Hawk, now entering its 33rd year in RAF service, has proved to be a great success and although we said “you could teach your grandmother to fly it in a weekend” I have fond memories of the Hawk and in particular displaying it at the Queen’s Silver Jubilee celebrations at RAF Finningley in 1977 as well as taking the first of its type to Germany in the same year. Sqn Ldr Dolding may take grave offence at the inference he might have reached an age where he could have been instructed by me but if I didn’t then he may have seen me as I made my first landing here in one of Her Majesty’s fighting machines in August 1969. In all events it has evoked pleasant memories for which I thank him and wish him well. n
GIBRALTAR MAGAZINE • FEBRUARY 2010