Hawker-Siddeley Hawk T.1 XX205 undertook its first flight from Dunsfold, and was delivered to the Royal Air Force on 30th June 1978.
It was initially issued to No.1 Tactical Weapons Unit (1TWU) at RAF Brawdy and was operated on the 16-week/64-sortie pilot training syllabus for the remainder of the decade. The fleet code '120' was applied to its wraparound camouflage paint scheme, prior to XX205 appearing at the 1978 SBAC Farnborough airshow. At the show it proudly showed off the type's under-wing stores and possible armament capabilities to generate overseas sales for the company.

During August 1980, XX205 was one of six Hawk T.1s transferred from Brawdy to RAF Chivenor, where they would form the basis of 2TWU's Hawk fleet. Issued to RAF 63(R) Squadron (Sqn), a 'shadow' Unit within 2TWU, it was operated from Devon, aside from periods of downtime for maintenance, until 1985 when it was withdrawn and sent to British Aerospace for airframe modifications. This would allow it to carry AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles and assume an air defence role in times of national emergency. It was returned to RAF Chivenor during November that year, sporting the RAF air defence grey colour scheme and was officially reclassified as a Hawk T.1A platform.
Three years later, XX205 was passed to the second 'shadow' Squadron at RAF Chivenor; RAF 151(R) Sqn and was coded 'V' during its time with the Unit. XX205 then became a part of the newly reformed No.7 Flying Training School (7FTS) in September 1992 at Chivenor, following the disbandment of 2TWU and the transfer of its role to RAF Strike Command. RAF 151(R) Sqn was also stood down as a result of this move, with RAF 92(R) being reformed in its place. This 'new' Unit gained all the former RAF 151(R) Sqn airframes in the process, for its 'new' weapons training role. This 'shadow' squadron remained active until it was disbanded on 30th September 1994, following the transfer of its training role to RAF Valley. Its remaining aeroplanes, all now redundant, were placed in store pending a transfer to another Unit.

XX205's FRADU career

On 9th February 1995, XX205 arrived at RNAS Yeovilton to join the Fleet Requirements & Air Direction Unit (FRADU) on loan to the Royal Navy from the RAF. It was operated in its former Chivenor colours, complete with blue fin until later that summer, when it was ferried to RAF St Athan for a paint refinish into the RAF standard gloss black training finish. Returned to FRADU at RNAS Yeovilton on 12th October 1995, it was operated on taskings for the next month prior to FRADU's move to RNAS Culdrose during December.
XX205 was then operated from Cornwall for the next four years, its spell with the Unit ending in December 1999, when the airframe was moved to RAF St Athan to be re-sparred.

Was it back with FRADU in 2013?

Yes. Click here to access further information.

- December 2020