shortest service life
 

we can all think of long serving types, b52-c130-c47-etc, but what type holds the distincion of the shortest service career?
i should think 1 full squadron is the minimum amount to qualify!!

The Swift 1 & 2 must be close to the top.

First delivery to 56 squadron 20/2/54, and taken out of service 13 months later; over the last 6 months there were 12 aircraft on strength.

I knew they enetered service in early 1954 and AFAIR were grounded in August 1954.

I took the following photo of one of 56 Sqn's Swift F Mk 1's when it was flown in for static display at the 1954 Royal Observer Corps ‘Recognition Day’ held at Biggin Hill.
It was the custom for a variety of RAF, RN and USAF aircraft to be flown in so the Royal Observer Corps and the Army Anti-Aircraft Command (then an integral part of the UK’s air defences), could examine up close on the ground the friendly aircraft they were expected to recognise in the air.
As can be seen it was the object of attention for Biggin based airmen normally used to Meteor F Mk 8’s. In the background can be seen the tail-fin of a USAF B45 from Sculthorpe, and just visible the fins of two USAF F86 Sabres from Manston.

http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...qnSwiftMk1.jpg

As Henry Crun says Swift F Mk.1's didn't last long, although to be fair they redeemed themselves with some of the later marks.

I should have been more precise.

They were officially withdrawn from squadron service on 15/3/54, but Boscombe Down continued to fly trials with a few of them, including the F3 & F4, after that date.

Seamew
 

Is the Short Seamew a candidate or did it never actually serve the Fleet?

G'day ;)

And the Swift looked RIGHT didnt it? :uhoh:

Lerwick?
 

The Saro Lerwick would have to be a contender, serving operationally from 1940 (not sure which month) to May 1941.

He162 Salamander?
watp,iktch

Great question!!
Wikipedia has an interesting entry for List of aircraft of the RAF which contains an alphabetical listing of most of the RAF aircraft. No doubt someone will have a trawl through for a definitive answer.
A few come to mind: Bell Airacobra; Manchester, Buckingham, Welkin, but I feel that probably it will be a type introduced at the end of WW1 where rapid decommissioning of aircraft and squadrons occurred. Maybe a Martinsyde?
Found a Parnall Heck of which only one appears to have served in RAF, does this count??
Come on, love to know the answer!!

You can still see a Swift here:

upper hill,uk - Google Maps

She was in a buit of a state last time I saw her at Christmas.

Henry Crun - Re Swift F Mk.1's

I think you'll find they were flying from their introduction into service in February 1954 until grounded in August 1954.

Warmtoast: Apologies, that date of 15/3/54 was a typo. it should have read 15/3/55.

You are right, they were temporarily grounded in Aug 1954 after an major accident, but that was lifted the following month.
They were grounded again in Oct 1954 after yet another significant incident with the powered controls. This grounding was lifted later that month.

Mr Fish’s post asked about length of service of aircraft types, not specific models. The original A models of the B52, C130....... were progressively replaced throughout their operational life. On this basis the Swift was in service for some 7 years (1954 – 1961?) :confused:

I was steering clear of making a rotary entry as service lives generally stretch to decades, but if the Swift maaged high single figures as the previous post suggests, may I enter the Belvedere as the rotary short-life champion.

September 61 to March 69 (7½ years) squadron service with a bit of trials unit beforehand.

Not understanding bending loads on twin-rotor machines, the powers-that-be put a (completely unnecessary?) total life of 1500 hours (IIRC) on the airframe ... resulting in the scrapping of otherwise perfectly servicable aircraft :{

(Q did not specify UK, or manned vehicle). USAF Northrop SM-62A Snark SSM, operational Feb-June,1961. Failed launches caused waters off Florida to be Snark-infested seas.

Nimrod AEW3 would be a contender. No way was it really a derivative from Comet or Nimrod MR.

I don't think this lasted all that long in RAF service............

http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ter/Ident1.jpghttp://i243.photobucket.com/albums/f...ter/Ident2.jpg

But I don't know how long. Whatever it was, it should have been shorter.

The Percival Prentice T.1 was in RAF service from 1947 to 1953. Considering the aircraft's marginal performance, it was indeed in service way too long.

I should think the Blackburn Botha and the Westland Whirlwind would be close to qualifying ?

can't find any RAF aircraft with shorter service life than the Welkin... May to November 1944 so 6 months.... anyone do shorter than that?
Whirlwind June 1940 to Oct 43; Botha: Dec 30 to Sept 44