Yellowjacks
Encyclopedia
The Yellowjacks were a Royal Air Force
aerobatic display team who flew Folland Gnat
trainers painted yellow. The team was formed informally in the summer of 1963 by a group of flying instructors, led by Flight Lieutenant Lee Jones, at No 4 Flying Training School at RAF Valley
. The two-seat Gnat T.1 had been in service at Valley only since February of that year, when the first 20 student pilots, selected after being awarded their "wings", from the recently graduated No 82 Entry of the RAF College Cranwell, had started their advanced training on the Gnat. Instructors and student pilots loved this aircraft, because of its small size and its sensitive handling and high manoevrability.
The name adopted by the team was disapproved of by higher authority, who recognised the concept of a Gnat aerobatic team as attractive, but felt the name and the yellow colour of the aircraft wrong. It was also thought that the team had maverick instincts, and needed to be brought into the mainstream so the team was officially reformed as The Red Arrows
. The Red Arrows continued flying the Gnat, for some 20 years, until it was superseded by the British Aerospace Hawk.
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
aerobatic display team who flew Folland Gnat
Folland Gnat
The Folland Gnat was a small, swept-wing British subsonic jet trainer and light fighter aircraft developed by Folland Aircraft for the Royal Air Force, and flown extensively by the Indian Air Force....
trainers painted yellow. The team was formed informally in the summer of 1963 by a group of flying instructors, led by Flight Lieutenant Lee Jones, at No 4 Flying Training School at RAF Valley
RAF Valley
RAF Valley is a Royal Air Force station on the island of Anglesey, Wales, and which is also used as Anglesey Airport. It provides fast-jet training using the BAE Hawk and provides training for aircrew working with Search and Rescue. Unofficially the motto for RAF Valley is 'One Valley, Training...
. The two-seat Gnat T.1 had been in service at Valley only since February of that year, when the first 20 student pilots, selected after being awarded their "wings", from the recently graduated No 82 Entry of the RAF College Cranwell, had started their advanced training on the Gnat. Instructors and student pilots loved this aircraft, because of its small size and its sensitive handling and high manoevrability.
Red Arrows
The Red Arrows, officially known as the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, is the aerobatics display team of the Royal Air Force based at RAF Scampton, but due to move to RAF Waddington in 2011...
. The Red Arrows continued flying the Gnat, for some 20 years, until it was superseded by the British Aerospace Hawk.
See also
- Black ArrowsBlack ArrowsThe Black Arrows, one of the predecessors of the current Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, were an aerobatic demonstration team formed in the 1950s from 111 Squadron...
- a Hawker HunterHawker HunterThe Hawker Hunter is a subsonic British jet aircraft developed in the 1950s. The single-seat Hunter entered service as a manoeuvrable fighter aircraft, and later operated in fighter-bomber and reconnaissance roles in numerous conflicts. Two-seat variants remained in use for training and secondary...
squadron, tasked for a year as the RAF aerobatic team