RAF HUNTER AND HAWK FLYING: by Arthur Gatland
As we continue through Arthur’s memoirs of his aviation career, this is the last installment of his RAF flying days. based in Europe during the cold war, he tells of sorties against Russian interests and practising air to air combat whilst sustaining 8gs in rapid manouvers as he tussles with other fighters.
The floor is yours, Arthur…
In early 1976, after 3 years flying Harriers in Germany, I was posted to the Tactical Weapons Unit (TWU) at RAF Brawdy, South Wales, to join 234 Squadron on Hunters as an instructor.
I had already done the TWU course as a student, between fast-jet training on Gnats and conversion to the Harrier, so I had a good idea of the programmes. It was a great 70 hours of training on low-level attacks, air combat and various weapon firing (air-to-air guns, ground attack guns, rockets and bombs).
My first flight in a Hunter T7 had been in 1970 at Boscombe Down, where I had a 4-week holding job between courses. This was the airfield where the exciting new TSR-2 aircraft had been tested, and one was still flying despite the project’s cancellation by the UK Labour Government in 1965.
The Hawker Hunter was a very good aircraft. It first entered service as a fighter in 1954 and saw service with many air forces around the world. As it became superseded by more supersonic aircraft such as the Lightning, it became a specialist ground-attack aircraft and was used for weapons and combat training with the RAF until the mid-1970s. It had a maximum speed at low level of 620 knots and a good turning performance for air combat. Its maximum “g loading” while turning was 7g, so pilots spent a lot of time holding 6g during air combat.
The weapons and combat training course was great fun – whether as a student or instructor! The aim of the course was to teach operational skills such as low-level attacks, weapons firing and air combat; all involving formations of usually 2 or 4 aircraft.
The weapons phase included ground attack using cannon, anti-tank rockets and bombs, and air-to-air cannons. The Hunter had four 30mm cannons, which carried a fair punch against anything except heavily armoured tanks.
For training, we fired only one gun, using ball ammunition not HE (high explosive). The rounds were painted with different colours for air-to-air firing at a towed banner, so after landing the number of bullet holes could be counted and allocated to each pilot based on the paint colour that had rubbed off at each hole on the banner. In this technological age it seems very basic, but it worked.
Our air-to-ground weapons firing was scored electronically, so after each attack using guns, rockets or bombs, the Range Officer would immediately give you a score, such as “10 hits” for guns, or “Direct Hit”, or “180 degrees, 15 feet” for a rocket or bomb attack. This was also supported by gunsight movie film, used for debriefing with a QWI (qualified weapons instructor) after landing.
Hunter formation landing, RAF Chivenor, Devon 1971
AJG is flying the No. 2 aircraft
It was during the early stages of training as a TWU student, with about 20 hours on the Hunter, that I had suffered an engine failure. I was in a single-seat Hunter in a formation of three, with an instructor and another student, doing training gunsight attacks on the instructor’s aircraft.
I had just started an attack when the jet engine just wound down and stopped (a “flame-out”.) We were at 20,000ft and not far from the airfield, so it was no problem to glide back to base and carry out a forced landing. Part way through the glide down, I managed to restart the RR Avon engine. However, I continued with the glide approach in case it failed again. I do recall being very casual about the whole thing, and just calling my instructor on the radio to say “Red 2, I’ve had a flameout, going back to Chivenor, you guys just carry on”. The instructor was a bit surprised but equally relaxed and just said “Roger.”
A glide approach in a Hunter sounds dramatic but was actually quite a straightforward procedure, albeit a quite steep approach path. It could be successfully carried out with Air Traffic Control (ATC) radar directions, down to a cloud base of 800 feet. The technique was to glide at around 240 knots which gave the best glide performance, with radar instructions to line up with the landing runway by around 10 nautical miles if possible.
Ideally the aircraft would arrive at this point at 10,000 feet, and then fly a “one-in-one” profile, and descend at a rate of 1,000ft per 1 nautical mile, with the pilot lowering the landing gear and selecting half the available flaps to give suitable extra drag and reducing speed to 180 knots. ATC would provide instructions such as “You are at 7 miles, you should be at 7,000 feet. Maintain heading 235 degrees. Now 6 miles, you should be at 6,000ft.”
When the pilot is clear of cloud, and assured of landing, he lowered the rest of the landing flaps, and carried out a glide landing, touching down around 145 knots. The final approach angle is around 9.5° compared with a normal airline approach of 3° (and a Space Shuttle approach of 20°). On touchdown the pilot could release the small brake-parachute to help stop the aircraft.
Returning to Hunters after Harriers was a change, but still incredible fun and a rewarding job. I did a QWI (Qualified Weapons Instructor) course early in my tour and was then qualified to teach every aspect of the TWU course.
One interesting point - students had been taught low level flying on the Gnat at 360kts (being 6nm per minute – easy for route planning) and we used 420kts at the TWU. Some students had trouble getting their brain to “speed up” to the higher speed at 250ft AGL. Solution? I took them over the sea and we flew around at 600kts at 100ft for a few minutes. Then pulling up to 250ft and 420kts, it felt like a snail’s pace! Works every time.
Gnats at RAF Valley, Anglesey Wales 1970
Hunter TWU instructors – three at a time – also had an operational task of spending 3 weeks in Gibraltar to protect “The Rock” against possible Spanish helicopters interfering with scheduled airline arrivals or departures from Gibraltar. I did this detachment twice, and although we had no issues with Spain, I had a number of interesting experiences.
The Russian Navy had an anchorage just off the coast of North Africa, where navy ships sat for several months undergoing re-paint or servicing. We would regularly fly past at high speed – because we could – and take recce photos to allow Intelligence gurus to analyse the photos for information about the ships. On one occasion a Hunter flew right over the ships at 600kts, and the Russians showed disapproval by firing a few warning shots. We were subsequently instructed to fly no closer than a quarter of a mile.
One day we learned that there was a Russian floating dry-dock being towed down the Mediterranean, and I was tasked with taking photos to see if there was anything inside.
The dry dock had a solid roof but the stern was open, so I had to fly across its stern at 30ft above the water, with 18° bank on (the recce camera looks down at 18° and we needed a level photo). I only took a quick glance inside the dry-dock, I was more concerned about not flying into the sea – but the photos showed there was nothing inside.
We occasionally did exercises with the Royal Navy while in Gibraltar. My experience during these exercises was completing a 4-gun attack against a “splash target” towed behind the HMS Mohawk, a Tribal-class frigate. I had only fired the Hunter’s four 30mm cannons altogether on one previous occasion, so I was looking forward to the opportunity.
I duly came in at low level at 450 knots and pulled up and tipped in, and lined up the target, and fired a 1-second burst of high-explosive 30mm cannons. I had forgotten how much the aircraft shook, and the noise created, as all four guns fired at once (and the vibration popped a couple of electrical circuit breakers!) I pulled out at 6g, turned away and the RN Fire Control Officer said, “Good shooting” and I headed away back to Gibraltar. That evening the frigate came into port, and we were invited on board for drinks with the RN officers. One Lieutenant said to me “So you were the Hunter pilot who did the live firing today?” I confirmed that I was. He said, “Did you realise you hit our splash target?” Yes of course, isn’t that the whole idea? “Well, you sunk it. You’re actually supposed to miss it.” #inadequate briefing, #oops, #awkwardmoment
One day, flying across the Med at low-level, my Low Fuel Pressure light came one. Memory actions – reduce thrust until the light goes out, which it did. But it came on again, so I pulled up and turned back to Gibraltar, and it came on at lower and lower thrust until it was back at idle – and it stayed on. I was now up at 15,000ft, effectively with an engine failure. So (another) glide approach. My glide angle looked tight, so I jettisoned my two 230-gallon fuel tanks over the Med. The glide approach worked out fine, and after stopping on the runway it was found that the fuel line had cracked and there was a puddle of fuel in the rear fuselage floor! Luckily no sparks. 💥
My final Gibraltar story involves three RAF Hunters doing low level air combat against US Navy F-14s from a US aircraft carrier in the Med, which should have been an uneven contest (in their favour). However, the F-14s tried to engage in close air combat (guns) instead of using their superior speed, radar and missiles – and got comprehensively beaten by the RAF Hunters. The next morning at the end of Briefing, the lights were turned out and someone rolled several minutes of gunsight film showing F-14s in Hunter gunsights. The US Admiral was unimpressed and stormed out of the room.
Gibraltar airport and Rock, with Spain nearby.
A relatively short runway (5800ft, 1770m)
Air combat has been called “the sport of kings” and is awesome fun! I loved teaching air combat principles, such as how to reduce the turn radius by pulling up high, then diving down to regain speed and close rapidly, when to reverse the turn and when NOT to, etc. It required pilots to have a 3-dimensional situation awareness, and an ability to predict where the enemy aircraft will be in 30 seconds’ time – and how to use your speed, energy, altitude and turn performance to get behind him, while he is trying to do the same to you. Of course, one of the essential requirements is good eyesight! Never lose sight of your opponent if possible. This involves loosening your shoulder harness and contorting your body in all directions while pulling 6g, to keep sight of your opponent behind you, above or below you. Not surprisingly, physical fitness helps.
In 1977 the Hawk replaced Hunters for TWU training (and it also replaced Gnats at RAF Valley for fast-jet training). It is an outstanding aircraft. It was capable of 550kts at low level; not quite as fast as the Hunter but it was stressed to 9g – and it could sustain 7g at 400kts at low level without losing speed! Impressive.
TWU Hawk T1 in formation
The type rating ground course was run by another ex-Harrier pilot instructor. As both the Harrier and Hawk were built by Hawker Siddeley, there was a lot of commonality. While showing systems briefing slides, the instructor made frequent use of the following statement: “Hydraulic system, same as the Harrier. Any questions?” None. If I recall correctly, the ground course took a total of 3 hours.
My first impressions of the Hawk was that it was beautiful to fly, with great all-round visibility for the rear-seat instructor, and with unbelievable manoeuvrability. It was also a good weapons platform, being responsive in flight but also very stable.
In air combat, we found ourselves holding 8g for significant periods of time – we adapted to the physiological demands in flight surprisingly well. However, after landing and shutdown, we found it was unwise to stand up too quickly – this would cause light-headedness! It paid to stay seated for a minute or two before climbing out of the cockpit.
See this Youtube 8mm movie of Hawk formation training from RAF Brady interspersed with some solo level flying in Wales and vertical pull-up to 12,000ft (slightly out of focus!)
My colleague wanted his photo taken with canopy open with North Africa coastline as a backdrop.
At any time while low flying you might see other aircraft types, included Buccaneers, F4 Phantoms (RAF or USAF) etc in Wales – in Germany this included RAF, German, Dutch, USAF aircraft of various types.
Quite often we took the opportunity to try and “shoot down” the other aircraft in what was unofficially approved low level air combat. It kept everyone sharp, was great practice and ensured you kept a very good lookout for other aircraft to avoid being embarrassed and being “shot down”.
I don’t think I ever lost such encounters, and certainly got some good “kills” on other types (the USAF never engaged in this sport – “it’s against our Rules.”) They just waggled their wings to say “not playing” and just carried on. Boring.
RAF F4 Phantom in my gunsight during low level spontaneous air combat
In 1978 Prince Charles did an official visit to RAF Brawdy, and the 234 Squadron instructors were introduced to him. Prince Charles said to me “A Kiwi? What are you doing here? I thought there were a lot of people leaving UK to move to New Zealand.” In my usual tell-it-like-it-is instinct, I replied “Actually Sir, I have my own plans along those lines.”
Prince Charles enthusiastically accepted an invitation to return later for an informal visit for a Hawk flight. This occurred in October 1978. He had hoped to do some air combat or low-level attack flying, and the Squadron Boss asked me to be his instructor. However, the RAF’s Royal Flight who oversee any Royal Family flying decided that was too dangerous, and he could only do a medium level general handling flight. Additionally, he must fly with a Flight Instructor, not a mere Qualified Weapons Instructor (even one with “Exceptional” grading in his annual assessments.) We pointed out that Charles flew by helicopter to arrive in Brawdy, statistically more dangerous than Hawk flying, which had a 100% safe record at that time. That argument wasn’t accepted. He enjoyed the flight but was obviously disappointed it didn’t provide him with a bit more adrenalin production.
In my last few weeks in the RAF, I arranged a Hawk flight with another TWU instructor to visit No. 1 Squadron Harriers at RAF Wittering, where I flew three air combat sorties, my one Hawk against two Harriers (2v1 combat). I won every fight. As one of Harrier pilots said of the Hawk “we can’t out-turn it, we can’t really outrun it, we couldn’t trick you into losing sight of one of us!” I had the advantage of knowing the Harrier’s capability, and likely use of VIFF (vector in forward flight) and how to negate these.
In 1979 I left the RAF after 11 years of fantastic flying and life experiences, and some lifetime friends. During my TWU tour of duty, I had been appointed a Flight Commander and Deputy Squadron Commander, a fast learning curve in people management, but very helpful in later life as I became repeatedly involved in management positions in gliding, in various sports and in Air New Zealand. With my wife and now two children, we arrived back in NZ in April 1979 ready for the next part of my flying career – as an airline pilot for Air New Zealand. I had 2,500 flying hours, but had never used an autopilot, had almost no multi-engine time, just a basic NZ CPL and no civil instrument rating. But I had an incredibly wide range of flying experiences that I had no doubt would give me a huge head start for the challenges ahead.
Arthur Gatland
RAF 234 Squadron TWU Hawk instructors
Arthur is on the far right
