Percival P.56 Provost T1, XF840 / PAC/F/344, Tangmere Military Aviation Museum
This picture is © Oliver Holmes and may not be used or published without permission.
Registration: XF840
Construction Number: PAC/F/344
Military Unit: RAF Shawbury Maintenance Unit
Model Percival P.56 Provost T1
Operator: Tangmere Military Aviation Museum
Airport: Tangmere Military Aviation Museum, UK - England
Photographer: Oliver Holmes
Date Taken: 18/08/2019
Date Submitted: 25/08/2019
The aircraft was moved to the Propellents Explosives and Rocket Motor Establishment at Waltham Abbey sometime in the 1960's from RAF Shawbury where destructive testing was initiated on the airframe and engine to evaluate methods of attack on behalf of Special Forces. These methods included both small charge and chemical attack in relation to accessibilty and speed of operation in theatre. The airframe was kept on the range until May 1991 when the facility, at that time under the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, Waltham Abbey closed down. Permission was given to remove the cockpit section as a personal project for refurbishment and it remained at a private address until being donated, almost completed, to the Tangmere Aviation Museum in 2014. Thanks to the engineering staff at the museum they have since turned it into an active exhibit for public use in order to go through the start up procedures.
Picture ID:1667415