Pilot polishing the wing of a Red Arrows Hawk aircraft
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An introduction to Red Arrows Hawk

Science and technology

News Story

This iconic Red Arrows Hawk T.1A was flown by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows.

The aircraft was donated by the Ministry of Defence through RAF Heritage. It is on permanent display at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune Airfield, and is the only Red Arrows Hawk on display in Scotland. It sits alongside Concorde G-BOAA, an aircraft with which the Red Arrows flew in formation on many occasions.

This short film shows the aircraft moving to its new home from the conservation hangar.

Advanced training aircraft

Aircraft manufacturer Hawker Siddeley (now BAE Systems), designed and built the Hawk as an advanced training aircraft for Royal Air Force fast jet pilots. The prototype first flew in 1974 and Hawks entered RAF service in 1976. More than 1,000 have been sold worldwide including to the UK, Canada, Australia, Finland, and Zimbabwe.

The Hawk T1 is a fully aerobatic, low-wing, two-seat training aircraft. It is still used in a number of roles for the RAF. Hawks are the aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows.

Hawks replaced Folland Gnats as the team aircraft in 1979. The Hawk T1A is a modified Hawk T1 which was converted to carrying diesel fuel and dye for the display smoke system.

Image gallery

  • Nine planes fly in formation with blue and red smoke trailing making patterns in the sky.
  • Five red arrow aircrafts flying in a blue sky in formation with red, white, and blue plumes
  • The view from the cockpit of a red arrow aircraft with a view of other red arrow aircrafts flying
  • Five red planes fly in formation with red and blue smoke streams coming out of their engines.

Red Arrows Hawk in Scotland

The aircraft XX308 at the National Museum of Flight was built in 1980 and was used by the Red Arrows from 1985 until 2012. 

One of this aircraft’s memorable flights was when the Red Arrows flew in formation with Concorde over Edinburgh on 1 July 1999 to mark the opening of the Scottish Parliament. This aircraft was flown that day by the team leader (Red 1), Wing Commander Simon Meade.

Red Arrows Hawk XX308 (museum reference EF.2017.39.1) is on display at the National Museum of Flight, East Fortune.

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