Hawk 40th Anniversary
On the 21st August 1974 the first Hawk T Mk1, XX154, flew for the first time from Dunsfold in the capable hands of Duncan Simpson. Therefore, today is the 40th anniversary of that notable event.
XX154 is still flying from Boscombe Down, mainly used by ETPS for training test pilots and Flight Test Engineers. As of today it has flown 5516 hours, and it did fly today from Boscombe and I believe it was seen in the skies over both Dunsfold and RAF Valley.
The RAF took delivery of the first aircraft in November 1976 and the first course to fly the Hawk at 4 FTS, RAF Valley, commenced in July 1977. That is an interesting timescale when compared to some later procurement programmes.