Trainer Aircraft of the RAF (Past & Present)
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So now that I have the new toy, where do I start? I’m afraid of it, or maybe I am afraid that I’m too daft to figure it out on my own. If anyone has anything to say about this camera PLEASE be my guest.
This is one of the main production batch; it was used by the RAF College Cranwell and Central Flying School (CFS) and then as a communications aircraft. It was ‘demobbed’ in December 1946 and in February 1947 was restored to the Civil Register, as G-AHSA, to become part of the Darlington & District Aero Club fleet. It was later owned by Wing Commander Heywood at Burnaston, Derby and suffered crankshaft failure when taking part in the film Reach for the Sky. It was then bought by the Shuttleworth Collection. The engine was rebuilt by Armstrong Siddeley at Coventry from the best parts of three non-working units.
In 1979 major engine problems resulted in the aircraft being grounded. A worldwide search failed to produce a suitable replacement engine so the existing Lynx was painstakingly rebuilt by a senior engineer. The cylinders were sent to the USA to be refurbished.
It was completely re-covered in 2005/6 and is now painted in CFS Aerobatic team colours as K3241. It is the sole survivor of its type.
Avro tutor G-AHSA at Old Warden during one of the drive-in Air Shows 2020. Owned and operated by the Shuttleworth Collection, this is the only surviving example of this type and is painted to represent K3241 of the Central Flying School aerobatic team circa 1936.
Shuttleworth Collection's Avro Tutor K3241/G-AHSA in the colours of the RAF Central Flying School aerobatic team at Old Warden in May 2006.
The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada collection.
CANADAIR CL-114 TUTOR RCAF #114004
Introduced in 1960, the Tutor was designed by Canadair to serve as the Canadian Forces’ primary jet trainer.
Powered by a single turbojet engine, the aircraft features docile handling characteristics and side-by-side seating with tandem controls for a student and instructor.
The Tutor was officially adopted by the Canadian Forces in 1963.
190 were built for Canadian use, serving in the primary training role until 2000.
In 1971, the Tutor was adopted as the official aircraft of 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Snowbirds. These aircraft were modified for aerobatic displays by fitting them with external tanks for diesel fuel, which is injected into the engine to produce smoke trails.
In the early days a special dye was mixed with the fuel to produce red smoke, but this proved highly corrosive to the engine and was soon discontinued.
Though most Tutors have been retired, 25 are retained by the Snowbirds in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, and the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment in Cold Lake, Alberta. Several others are privately operated.
The Museum’s Tutor, CT-114004 was one of the earliest aircraft of the fleet to be taken into the Air Force inventory as a pilot trainer.
It was stationed at 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School at Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw (now 15 Wing Moose Jaw) from the mid-1960s to the phase out of the Tutor as a training aircraft in 2000.
During its career, it was also used as a ground trainer for ab-initio pilots. It was intended to be mounted on a pedestal in Winnipeg before being permanently loaned to the RAMWC for display.
Safely hanging the aircraft without damaging it proved a challenging task. Engineering firm F.A. Roberts & Associates solved the problem by separating the front and rear fuselage and sandwiching a thin suspension “diaphragm” between them.
Two panels in the nose were also replaced with new versions incorporating reinforced suspension points; the original panels are preserved in the museum’s archives.
Tons of Math Tutoring happening at the local coffee shop. Sketched on tan paper with ink, markers, colored pencils and white gel pen. #uskseattle #usk #urbansketchers #urbansketching #urbanstyle #coffeeshop #starbucks #starbuckscoffee #ink #inkdrawing #inksketch #artistsoninstagram #mathtutor #math #mathteacher
G-AHSA (above) was used for communication duties during WWII, struck off December 1946 and purchased by a Wing Commander Heywood. After suffering engine failure in the early stages of the filming of Reach for the Sky, it was purchased by the Shuttleworth Collection and restored to flying condition.
Up to the end of 2003, G-AHSA was still flying as K3215 in RAF trainer yellow. Since January 2004 it has flown painted as K3241 in the colours of the Central Flying School. (The real K3241 built in 1933, served RAF College Cranwell, until transferred to the CFA in 1936.)
Seen during the Shuttleworth Collection's 50th Anniversary Air Show.
A V Roe's Type 621 Tutor was a two-seat British radial-engined biplane from the inter-war period. It was a simple but rugged initial trainer that was used by the RAF as well as many other air arms worldwide.
The Avro Model 621 was designed by Roy Chadwick as an Avro private venture metal replacement for the Avro 504. Conceived as a light initial pilot trainer, the biplane design featured heavily staggered equal span, single-bay wings; the construction was based on steel tubing (with some wooden components in the wing ribs) with doped linen covering. A conventional, fixed divided main undercarriage with tail skid was used in all but the latest aircraft, which had a tail wheel.
The Model 621 was powered either by a 155 hp Siddeley Mongoose or Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV (180 hp) or IVC (240 hp) engine; later Lynx-powered models had the engine enclosed in a Townend ring cowling. The Mongoose powered version was called the 621 Trainer and the more numerous Lynx-engined aircraft the Tutor. The Tutor also differed by having a more rounded rudder.
The first flight of the prototype G-AAKT was in September 1929, piloted by Avro chief test pilot Captain Harry Albert 'Sam' Brown. Production was started against an order for three from the Irish Free State and 21 Trainers from the RAF. The RAF required a replacement for the wooden Avro 504 (see elsewhere in my stream), and after three years of trials against other machines such as the Hawker Tomtit it was adopted as their basic trainer, supplanting the 504 in 1933 and remaining in this role until 1939. As well as the 21 Trainers a total of 381 Tutors and 15 Avro 646 Sea Tutors were eventually ordered by the RAF. RAF units to operate the type in quantity included the RAF College, the Central Flying School and Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 5 Flying Training Schools.
Subsequently, the Model 621 achieved substantial foreign sales. A V Roe and Co exported 29 for the Greek Air Force, six for the Royal Canadian Air Force, five for the Kwangsi Air Force, three for the Irish Air Force (where it was known as the Triton) and two for each of the South African and Polish Air Forces. In addition 57 were licence built in South Africa, and three licence built by the Danish Naval Shipyard.
A total of 30 Tutors were exported to the Greek Air Force and at least 61 were licence built in Greece by KEA. A number of Greek Tutors was incorporated in combat squadrons after Greece's entrance in WWII, used as army co-operation aircraft.
Known for its good handling, the type was often featured at air shows. Over 200 Avro Tutors and five Sea Tutors remained in RAF service at the beginning of WWII.
The 621 was designed as a military trainer and few reached the civil registers. In the 1930s, in addition to 10 prototypes and demonstrators, two were used by Alan Cobham's Flying Circus and two trainers were retired from the RAF into private use. One 621 was used from new by Australian National Airways. After the war another four ex-RAF 621s appeared on the civil register.
Another larger, and I think improved, version of an earlier image on my stream from many years ago...