'Provost of the Caribbean': Percival Provost GR.2A of RAF 1417 Flight, Belize

Dizzyfugu · December 28, 2014, 08:31:32 AM

Probably the last one for this year...

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
The Percival P.56 Provost was a British ab initio trainer that was developed for the Royal Air Force in the 1950s as a replacement for the Percival Prentice. It was a low-wing, monoplane with a fixed, tailwheel undercarriage and had an unusual side-by-side seating arrangement. The Provost has the distinction of being the last piston-engine basic trainer aircraft to be operated by the RAF.

The Provost entered service with the RAF in 1953 with the first batch of aircraft delivered to the Central Flying School (CFS) at RAF South Cerney. The CFS carried out intensive flight trials in May and June 1953 before instructor training commenced. The aircraft served with the RAF until the early 1960s, when it was replaced by the Jet Provost. A few Provosts continued in service during the 1960s with the Central Navigation & Control School (later Central Air Traffic Control School) at RAF Shawbury. But that was not the end of the Provost in RAF service.

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Even though phazed out from active service, ten Provost were reactivated in 1971 for an observation and forward air control (FAC) aircraft - the Provost, with its simple handling, high endurance ans spacious cockpit was more than worth a look.

In the wake of modernization the Provost GR.2, how the type was officially called, received much of the armed Mk. 52 and 53 export machines' equipment, including the wing-mounted machine guns and an improved radio and navigation suite. The aircraft also received four underwing hardpoints for various light loeads, including pods with unguided missiles for target marking, light iron bombs or gun pods. In order to compensate for the higher gross weight an uprated Alvis Leonides 127 9-cylinder radial engine, rated at 700 hp (515 kW), was mounted, together with a four-bladed propeller that would increase overall length by some inches and improve starting characteristics and handling at low speed.

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The machines were taken through army trials in 1973 and 1974, but they eventually failed against helicopters as the more flexible option for front line service. However, the Provost GR.2 was not dead yet!

In 1975, with Guatemala in the grip of a bloody civil war, there was a real fear that Guatemalan forces might invade British Honduras (today known as Belize) and at the very least widen their Caribbean coastline. To bolster the resident British Army garrison, a detachment of six Hawker Siddeley Harrier GR.1As from No. 1 Squadron RAF was sent to the international airport at Ladyville in November 1975. There they set about waving the flag and discouraging Guatemalan aggression. After several months the threat was perceived to have subsided and the Harriers returned to the UK in April 1976 - and in turn a detachment of six Provost GR.2s was sent into the Caribbean theatre in order to keep up British military presence.

This did not help much, though, since the Harriers had to return on a more permanent basis in June 1977, as part of a complete package, of the Queen's Regiment of the British Army, in a Vickers VC10 C1 and six Harriers from No 1 (Fighter) Squadron flying direct with support from ten Handley Page Victor tankers.

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Thus was born HarDet Belize; the six Harriers were operated from semi-permanent hides, named using the NATO phonetic alphabet. Alpha and Bravo hides were set up in the grounds of the Belikin brewery outside the gates to the garrison, while the Provosts were kept at the international airport, called the Echo hide.

After operating as a rotating roulement for two years, the Hardet was put on an even more permanent footing. In the meantime, the Provost observation machines had been upgraded with external kevlar armor plates around the cockpit, an up-to-date radio equipment and other small improvements like a sound damper for the exhaust, a strengthened landing gear with bigger wheels for field operations and an enhanced air conditioning system which became a must in the tropic climate. All machines were brought to this standard and called Provost GR.2A by late 1978.

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Much flying was done, with plenty of flag-waving and sabre-rattling, the aircrew enjoying the post due to the lack of restrictions, and challenging missions. Eventually operations were confined to Charlie/Delta and Foxy/Golf hides for the Harriers which went through a slow metamorphosis to permanent semi-hardened hides with concrete surfaces and taxi-ways and block built buildings (including accommodation, kitchen and bars). The Provosts were finally retired in 1988, but the RAF's Belize engagement went on until closure on 6 July 1993, when the whole BRITFORBEL contingent was disbanded in the light of improved relations between Guatemala and Belize.

General characteristics:
Crew: 2
Length: 29 ft 2 in (8,89 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft 0 in (10,7 m)
Height: 12 ft 0 in (3,70 m)
Wing area: 214 ft² (19,9 m²)
Empty weight: 3.580 lb (1.625 kg)
Loaded weight: 4.912 lb (2.230 kg)

Powerplant:
1 × Alvis Leonides 127 9-cylinder radial engine, 700 hp (515 kW)

Performance:
Maximum speed: 220 mph (187 knots, 350 km/h) at sea level
Range: 560 nm (650 mi, 1,020 km)
Endurance: 4 hours
Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7620 m)
Rate of climb: 2,200 ft/min (11.2 m/s)
Wing loading: 20.6 lb/ft² (100 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.276 hp/lb (0.206 kW/kg)
Climb to 10,000 ft 3.27 minutes

Armament:
2x 7.62mm machine guns in the wings,
plus four underwing hardpoints for up to 900 kg (2.000 lbs.) of bombs or rockets

The kit and its assembly:
I had the Caribbean Provost on the agenda for a long time, but getting hands on a Provost was harder than expected - after all, the simple Matchbox kit is the only one around in 1:72 and these tend to score surreal prices. After long hunting I was lucky to find one at a reasonable price, and work started quickly.

The kit was built OOB, just some details were modified/added to create the GR.2A version.

Internally, the cockpit received a dashboard and the pilots some safety belts. Into the inside of the clear but thick canopy a sun shield (a simple piece of white paper) was glued, and I put a map behind the wind screen. The pilots are OOB, I just modified the co-pilot to make him look outside of the window.

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The wheels come from a Matchbox Brewster Buffalo, the wing hardpoints come from two Matchbox AH-1Gs. The propeller actually belongs to a 1:100 AN-24 airliner from VEB Plasticart, but its shape and size were perfect and it considerably beefs up the look of the trainer.

The armor plates are simple styrene sheet, and other details like the many antennae were scratched or puzzled together from the spares box. The M134 pods belong to a Matchbox AH-1G, the LAU-7 launchers come from an Italeri AH-64.

Painting and markings:
Conservative choice, simple Extra Dark Slate Grey and Extra Dark Sea Grey for the upper sides, and Light Aircraft Grey for the undersides, with the upper cammo taken around the wings' leading edges.
Basic tones are the respective Humbrol enamels, 163, 164 and 166, and some weathering with lighter tones was done - I saw pictures of 1417 Flight Harriers with strongly bleached grey that almost looked deep blue.

All decals were puzzled together from the scrap box. "XP764" actually belongs to a BAC Lightning F.3, but one can overdo things, I guess. The red and blue 1417 Flight sailfish emblem was completely scratched, too.

1:72 Percival 'Provost' GR.2A, aircraft XP764/'B' of Royal Air Force 1417 Flight; Belize International Airport, 1979 (Whif/Matchbox kit conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

PR19_Kit · December 28, 2014, 08:37:35 AM

Hehehe, love it!

A GR Provost boggles the mind, but the model's built with your usual skill and imagination Thomas, nice one.

Dizzyfugu · December 28, 2014, 08:51:21 AM

Thanks a lot, Kit - unfortunately the acrylic varnish became a bit cloaky and turned white here and there.
It's a rather subtle whif, but the idea of a beefed up Provost works well...

Librarian · December 28, 2014, 09:08:03 AM

That's really cute. Didn't even know the plane existed and had a Google...very pretty. Made me think of a Skua but with intelligent design.

Captain Canada · December 28, 2014, 09:31:16 AM

Nice one ! She looks really tough like that. Love the work you did to busy up the cockpit.

Dizzyfugu · December 28, 2014, 09:32:34 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on December 28, 2014, 08:37:35 AM
A GR Provost boggles the mind.

Well, it must not. There were armed versions for export, and Oman even used their Provosts in the COIN role - another inspiration to my build:

PR19_Kit · December 28, 2014, 10:41:30 AM

I had the pleasure of flying in a Provost once and it seemed like a Spitfire after previous flights in Chipmunks. It seemed incredibly loud too as I recall, perhaps because the exhausts came out both sides instead of underneath like the Chipmunk.

Martin H · December 28, 2014, 11:08:15 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on December 28, 2014, 09:32:34 AM
Quote from: PR19_Kit on December 28, 2014, 08:37:35 AM
A GR Provost boggles the mind.

Well, it must not. There were armed versions for export, and Oman even used their Provosts in the COIN role - another inspiration to my build:

The Rhodesians used em for the same role as well

Even purloining a few ex RAF examples from under the UK gov's noses when the sanctions were brought in.

Weaver · December 28, 2014, 11:51:13 AM

Nice one Dizzy!

Never realised we sent so many Canberras to Belize...

DogfighterZen · December 28, 2014, 02:00:49 PM

Looks nice, that tough little bird!

Glenn Gilbertson · December 28, 2014, 04:16:07 PM

A good story and a realistic model - I really like it!

McColm · December 28, 2014, 07:47:49 PM

Great build

Dizzyfugu · December 28, 2014, 11:50:48 PM

Quote from: Weaver on December 28, 2014, 11:51:13 AM
Nice one Dizzy!

Never realised we sent so many Canberras to Belize...

Neverthless, thank you - even though, AFAIK, Canberras were actually sent into the Caribbean. Even two Valiants, IIRC!

zenrat · December 29, 2014, 12:42:27 AM

Good job Dizz.

I love the spinner on the second Omani plane.

NARSES2 · December 29, 2014, 07:57:14 AM

That's come out really well