Jaguar Flight Test On by Geoff Lea
Open edition print of a Jaguar of 41 Squadron being prepared for a
test flight.
Thunder in the Hills by Gerald Coulson Military fast jets spend most of their operational time at very low
level. Sparsely populated areas such as the valleys of North Wales,
Scotland and the lakes of Cumbria, provide ideal training areas to perfect
the skills required to hide behind high ground and remain undetected by
enemy radar. Flying at 250 ft and 500 mph, two Jaguar GR1s from No2
squadron on a low level reconnaissance exercise are the subject of this
painting.
Distant Thunder by Michael Rondot This print shows a Jaguar in particularly aggressive pose during a high
speed low-level training mission to demonstrate modern fast-jet
operations. As a serving Jaguar pilot, artist Michael Rondot was in a
unique position to take passengers flying in this remarkable ground-attack
aircraft and to put their experience onto canvas. Each print is signed by the Base Commander and all 3 Squadron
Commanders of RAF Coltishall.
Desert Cats by Michael Rondot Fact- no matter what type of aircraft, the
world record for low flying can only ever be equalled; it cannot be beaten
without hitting the ground. But getting close to it became an everyday
routine for RAF Jaguar pilots on operational service in the Gulf after the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The barren featureless wastes of the desert
offer few opportunities for a low-flying aircraft to hide from enemy
defences by terrain screening or ducking below radar cover. The only
effective counter over a flat desert is to fly so low that any missile
fired at the aircraft hopefully will proximity-fuse on the ground before
it reaches its target. Faced with an unprecedented threat from
surface-to-air missile systems and fighter aircraft, the Jaguar pilots who
deployed to Thumrait, Oman, as the spearhead of Operation Granby in August
1990 trained as they expected to fight, - at ultra low level.
In October 1990 the Jaguars moved to Al-Muharraq, Bahrain, and
continued to train at ultra low level, but as the outbreak of hostilities
drew close and it became apparent that US fighters were more than capable
of dealing with any Iraqi air threat, they switched to medium-level
tactics, preferring to take their chances with the AAA and SAM threat
rather than low-flying through a hail of small-arms and short-range
defensive fire around their targets in Kuwait and Iraq. Blessed with the
sustained luck and inspired leadership of Wg Cdr Bill Pixton DFC AFC, the
gamble paid off, 3 aircraft were hit by Iraqi AAA fire during the 6 week
war, but none were lost.
