I am now certain that whilst XL609 was originally planned for conversion to T.Mk.7A standard in 1965 this work was cancelled and the aircraft didn't receive the IFIS instrument fit. Thanks to David Griffin for sharing his research on the subject and to everyone else who helped confirm by checking log book entries and so on.
I was previously trying to establish if XL609 was ever converted to Tmk7A or possibly some other standard with the IFIS panel (if such a state existed)
I had presumed this was likely to be the case due to her later life on the Bucc OCU and squadrons.
I had presumed this was likely to be the case due to her later life on the Bucc OCU and squadrons.
Evidence 'For' the mods:
XL609's AM Form 78 (Movement card) shows XL609 back at HSA for mods in 1965, only a few months after XL568 (the RAF Museum example) was converted. Additionally the second page of the Form lists XL609 as a T7A (as opposed to T.7 on page 1)
Evidence 'Against' the mods:
An entry from Appendix 2 of Francis K Mason's book 'Hawker Hunter: Biography of a Thoroughbred ' which states the mods were cancelled.
This article 'The Last Hunting Ground' suggests that only four aircraft were modified (WV318, XL568, XL614 and XL616) to T7A standard.
Photos - as far as I can see XL609 retained her single ADEN cannon, which would normally have been removed as part of the T7A conversion. (From the pilot's notes T7A Annex "No gun, gunsights or radar ranging are fitted in the T. Mk. 7A aircraft."
Anecdotal - I chatted to a friend of the project this week who had worked on the 4 FTS Hunters and he seemed to think any conversion would have been later in the aircraft's career if at all. Perhaps '609 was a stock T7 right up until retirement?
Does it matter? Ultimately it really doesn't - XL609 served for over twenty years and without any confirmed cockpit photos to go on all I can do it restore her to a representative state. That said I'm planning on restoring the cockpit in the colours she wore with 12 Squadron and if she did have the IFIS fit at that time I would have tried to replicate that. I'm still interested in acquiring any Hunter related IFIS parts as they can be used to help tell the story of the last few years of the aircraft in service with the RAF.
Next steps - I'm going to reach out to the pilots who have '609 in their log book and see if they recall the fit or if they can confirm if they logged her as a T7 or T7A. I've also got a request in with the RAF Museum to try and obtain details (AP Vol2) of the T7A modifications and see if they align with the info on the aircraft's movement card.
Does it matter? Ultimately it really doesn't - XL609 served for over twenty years and without any confirmed cockpit photos to go on all I can do it restore her to a representative state. That said I'm planning on restoring the cockpit in the colours she wore with 12 Squadron and if she did have the IFIS fit at that time I would have tried to replicate that. I'm still interested in acquiring any Hunter related IFIS parts as they can be used to help tell the story of the last few years of the aircraft in service with the RAF.
Next steps - I'm going to reach out to the pilots who have '609 in their log book and see if they recall the fit or if they can confirm if they logged her as a T7 or T7A. I've also got a request in with the RAF Museum to try and obtain details (AP Vol2) of the T7A modifications and see if they align with the info on the aircraft's movement card.