Hornet trainer jets? only red arrows?

colinuk · 31 May 2009 at 18:22

Just asking as on Saturday, about 4pm EU time, 4 red with white marking trainer jets flew over Chaville area, quit low and very fast.

I thought the red and white was only for the red arrows? or can anyone use that colour scheme?

Just wondering if they were doing a show over here?

ColiN

NvidiaDan · 31 May 2009 at 18:30

Probably some of the Red Arrows, They do shows all over the UK.

neodude · 31 May 2009 at 18:31

Surely you mean Hawk?

Andr3w · 31 May 2009 at 18:32

The red arrows don't fly hornet jets, they fly hawks.

If thats what you ment, then it is very possible it was them.

Reed · 31 May 2009 at 18:33

NvidiaDan said:
Probably some of the Red Arrows, They do shows all over the UK.

Chaville is in France. No idea if there is an air show over there atm.

NvidiaDan · 31 May 2009 at 18:35

Reed said:
Chaville is in France. No idea if there is an air show over there atm.

Ahh, I didn't realise he was in France. :rolleyes:

Mad_Jay · 31 May 2009 at 18:37

According to the Red Arrows website they where in France yesterday.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/displayinfo/may09.cfm

30 - La Ferte Alais, Cerny Airfield, France

colinuk · 31 May 2009 at 20:07

Wish i had seen that site sooner, and yes, i meant hawks, sorry. - man they are loud!

stukacat · 31 May 2009 at 21:19

patrouille suisse in thier f5 tigers maybe.

FrostedNipple · 31 May 2009 at 21:22

Completely useless for war but...

MrKeeno · 31 May 2009 at 22:47

Possibly a stupid question but why are they useless for war?

Vanilla · 31 May 2009 at 22:52

busman said:
Possibly a stupid question but why are they useless for war?

Surface to Air missles are not impressed by aerobatics.

FrostedNipple · 31 May 2009 at 22:55

busman said:
Possibly a stupid question but why are they useless for war?

They are not fighter jets. No complex systems and they don't go mach1 either. They are an intermediate step between tucanos(which is my favourite plane

) and good jets like tornados or the eurofarter.

caff · 31 May 2009 at 23:08

Glad to see the Red Arrows are in control of Europe too.

FrostedNipple · 31 May 2009 at 23:12

caff said:
It's a shame to see the Red Arrows are at the service of Europe too.

Fixed

Anim · 31 May 2009 at 23:14

FrostedNipple said:
good jets like tornados or the eurofarter.

you take that back right now :mad:

Burnsy2023 · 31 May 2009 at 23:17

FrostedNipple said:
They are not fighter jets. No complex systems and they don't go mach1 either.

The RAF disagree, they say the Hawk can go mach 1.2.

bennyB · 31 May 2009 at 23:19

busman said:
Possibly a stupid question but why are they useless for war?

FrostedNipple said:
They are not fighter jets. No complex systems and they don't go mach1 either. They are an intermediate step between tucanos(which is my favourite plane ) and good jets like tornados or the eurofarter.

Not entirely true, there are combat variants used by some countries, which would be more than enough to take over some countries such as Costa Rica.

Stelly · 31 May 2009 at 23:48

bennyB said:
Not entirely true, there are combat variants used by some countries, which would be more than enough to take over some countries such as Costa Rica.

Because they cant afford half decent combat jets, and they would only go to war with other countrys that use hawks as well so I suppose that it makes sense...

Stelly

^^Gord^^ · 1 Jun 2009 at 00:41

There was actually plans to use the Hawk jets for air defense many, many, years ago.

88 Hawks (about half the fleet at the time) were upgraded to be able to use Sidewinder missiles in the late 70s and designated Hawk T1A. Without a radar it would be guided onto targets by either ground based radar / controllers or by a single figher jet (F-4 Phantom / Tornado F3). This would free up the rest of the fighter jet fleet to be deployed to the front line.

The plan was never used and I don't believe the RAF still plan to use the Hawk in this way (or maintain a significant number of Hawks with the facility) but they still do operate with Sidewinder missiles once in a while (as recent as last summer operating out of RAF Coningsby).