Upgraded Pumas off to Afghanistan this month
 

That's handy with an SDSR just round the corner...;):p

Good luck to them.

I wonder those who drafted AST404 would think about a Puma OSD past 2025 (if you could fast forward them in time? ):rolleyes:

Is anyone in the loop as to the future of the Op Allowance? Relevant for the guys heading out there.

Great to see the RAF being provided with a Puma with a performance it has desperately needed.... since 1971.

Only took a mere 44 years to finally get them up to scratch!

Question for the historians amongst us:
Was the HC1 the longest serving Mk1 aircraft in RAF history?

Then the RAF Pumas will be coming up to their 55 year point. At that time they should be older than any of their pilots.

'Question for the historians amongst us:
Was the HC1 the longest serving Mk1 aircraft in RAF history?'

Think that the VC10 C.1 may have just squeezed it, unless you consider that the upgrade to C.1K disqualifies it. And the Hawk is fast catching up.

Dominie did 1965-2011 as a T Mk 1.

But I suspect the VC10 takes the prize.

Stan Smith?

CG

I've just had a thought... I was born in 1971. This thread has suddenly made me feel uncomfortable.:\

Canberra?.......I know the B Mk1 was only a prototype but T17 was really a B2 in disguise......

CG, I understand that Stan did his last sortie on this mortal coil many years ago. Last time I saw him he was delivering flowers, by van. That was over twenty years ago.

I still have an RAF reserve commitment (I think they would be extremely desperate to make the relevant search for my whereabouts) but both you and I predate the HC1 by quite some years. Clear for chock! :ok:

What is AST404?
 

I keep reading this term AST404, but can’t find any explanation about it.

What is/was it? An upgrade program? What does AST stand for?

Thanks in advance

Air Staff Target

I would say the longest service is the Chipmunk DHC-1 ( T10 in RAF speak.)

Entered RAF service in 1952 and is still serving on the BBMF as a conversion trainer come runaround hack in 2022. 65 years and counting...

https://www.memorialflightclub.com/b...5th-birthdays/

And I was working on them in 76.... :uhoh:

I think there are one or two other aircraft serving on BBMF which might be slightly older.:E

Not making top of the list yet , but I feel duty bound to offer the Viking T Mk1 ....I know its not a fast wizzy thing....but does have Mil serial numbering!
......1985 ish and still going, albeit after a little rest for a couple of years!

The only MK1 is the Lanc, it did time in Civi street but was loaned and retained her military serial number, so would qualify, it did have periods of storage but was built in 45

https://www.europeanairshows.co.uk/p...bbmf-lancaster

AST 404 was a requirement for a Wessex / Puma replacement in the mid 1980s. The Black Hawk was the obvious choice, but Westland offered the world—beating WG30…..it ran out of steam, reappeared a few years later as a Chinook buy but got politicked into Merlin. Lucky us……