Cosford Airshow 2009 and Neil McCarthy has just arrived and parked his aircraft in the airshow static line alongside a number of resident JP T.5s. Flopping in to a comfy chair in the pilot’s enclosure Neil has checked in, sorted his accommodation and is ready to discuss the pros and cons of putting yourself forward for the first time as an aircraft available for flying display.
“I’ve already done Abingdon but have had two or three other bookings which have been cancelled due to bad weather,” he laments, “but you just have to keep plodding on!”
With fifteen bookings in place at the time of writing, most of which are for flying displays, Neil has made a solid start as an airshow performer, but he admits it isn’t easy to be the new kid when it comes to performing in the air.
“I’ve done eight years of static displays and the aircraft is well-known as result, but that hasn’t yet opened as many doors as I thought maybe it would, especially as this is the only displaying T.3A in her original RAF colour scheme.”
Neil’s DA (Display Authorisation) was granted by the CAA on April 1st (of all days!) this year but prior to that he had already put the feelers out with regard to displaying the JP.
“I got a good response and many people expressed an interest – especially with the jet being a T.3A. But then you start trying to firm up the interest and, being quite late in the day, it doesn’t always translate to a booking. In that regard I am very happy with the bookings I’ve got.”
So what of the venerable Jet Provost T.3A, fifty years young in 2010;
Jet Provost T.3 XM479 was built at Luton, and was delivered to the Royal Air Force in the summer of 1961. It was posted to the RAF College, Cranwell, and was given the identity '32'. It remained in service until mid-1966, when it was ferried to RAF Shawbury and put into long-term store with 27MU. In early 1973 following the closure of 27MU, XM479 was moved to RAF Kemble for a further period of storage, this time with 5MU, where it remained for the next three years.
On 9th February 1976, XM479 was ferried to Warton airfield in Lancashire, for conversion to T.3A status. One of the last aircraft to be upgraded (number 76 of 85), XM479 was test flown on 27th April 1976. Just three days later, on 30th April, the aircraft was delivered to RAF Linton-on-Ouse and immediately went into service with 1FTS, as aircraft '54'. It remained in service at the airfield for the next seventeen years, until final retirement in 1993.
Put on the civilian register as G-BVEZ in October 1993, the aircraft was returned to flying condition and operated from Sandtoft airfield during the majority of 1994. During late 1995 XM479 was acquired by the Newcastle Jet Provost Company, a consortium made up of several private pilots. Following the replacement of its UHF radios to VHF equipment it moved to its new home, Newcastle Airport, in early 1996. Still in their ownership today, XM479 is kept in excellent condition, and is one of the lowest-houred JPs in existence, thus ensuring many more years in the air.
“Some of the feedback has been interesting” says Neil. “Organisers consider the Jet Provost to be too quiet and too small to display at what you might consider to be a larger venue.”
“But she’s a classic really, fifty next year, and only a little bit quieter than the Vampire” he says smiling.
One way of countering this is to add to the amount of aircraft you can offer, something Neil and two friends have not been slow to progress.
“There’s been talk of a two-ship display for a little while now and indeed the guys have just received their DA and are flying here tomorrow. Their routine is almost the equivalent of my flat display and the downside of that is that you don’t get any aerobatics.”
Which is where Neil comes in................
“The plan is to fly the two-ship and include my solo display alongside it; we could then do some passes as a three-ship at the beginning and the end.”
Neil’s decision to go for it this year was influenced by the credit crunch and last year’s rocketing fuel prices. He explains that the up-side of being based at Newcastle is that he always gets a reasonably long flight (he is now one of the highest-houred JP pilots in the UK) but the downside was the price of getting back home after a weekend on static display.
“I thought, well, if I can get a few flying display bookings that will help with costs, so I decided to have a go.”
Neil began his work-up and training during the winter and, assisted by the drop in fuel prices, made the final decision to go for his DA.”
It’s clear that neither Neil, or any of his peers in similar aircraft, will ever make their fortune appearing at airshows, so I assume it is purely down to passion and their love for it all?
“You have to be passionate.” he says. “People don’t realise the work that goes in to keeping an aircraft like this flying. We all know the hours and money that have been expended on the Vulcan project and, believe it or not, the JP is exactly the same, albeit on a much much smaller scale!”
“I’ve got hydraulic systems, a permit to fly, insurance – all those kinds of things. I reckon about ten hours of work goes in to a forty minute flight like that down to Cosford for example.”
The syndicate that own the aircraft currently numbers seven members, but Neil is undoubtedly flying her more than the others.
“The regulations changed this year and any PPL with ten hours training in her can go away and fly her solo. She’s an easy aircraft to fly and very stable,” he explains. “From a running cost point of view she’s much cheaper to run that a Mk.5 but she is quieter and less powerful which is the other side of the coin when it comes to display flying! She turns on a sixpence though and is a lovely aircraft to fly aerobatics in.”
In so many ways men like Neil McCarthy are the lifeblood of the airshow scene, not just in the UK but worldwide. His determination to keep a rare aircraft like the Jet Provost T.3A flying and appearing at events across the country should be applauded and supported wherever possible.
He’s not expecting to be given a prime slot in the flying display programme at RIAT (it would be nice though!) but let’s hope that Neil is given every chance to show the aircraft to as many people as he can.
For more information on the Newcastle Jet Provost or if you are interested in booking the aircraft please visit: http://www.spanglefish.com/newcastlejetprovost
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