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With the photographic detail completed we turned back towards the north and climbed up to 7,000ft in order for me to try my hand at aerobatting the Firefly. In my opinion you can’t beat either a good session of circuit bashing or a few loops, rolls and spins, as a means of assessing exactly how well an aircraft handles. With the circuit full at Cranwell and low visibility procedures already in force at Barkston Heath, it appeared that a few touch-and-goes were out of the question, so the next best thing was clearly going to be a session of aerobatics.


As it had been a while since I’d flown aerobatics in a piston-powered aircraft, Robert suggested that he demonstrate each manoeuvre first, and then I would do my best to replicate it. After a clearing turn and a double-check on our harnesses, a couple of loops were the first thing on the agenda, which I found were relatively straightforward to perform. Entry speed was around 130 knots, and the Firefly’s excellent handling and good visibility made the manoeuvre practically effortless.


Some aileron and barrel rolls were next, and after a couple of very precise demonstrations from Robert, I tried my hand at a couple of rolls. The mistake I always seem to make when I roll a new type of aircraft for the first time is that I don’t get the nose far enough above the horizon before starting the roll. True to form, I did exactly the same thing during my first roll in the Firefly, with the inevitable result that I dished out of the bottom of the roll. On my second attempt I made a conscious effort to raise the nose another 10 degrees, and that worked out rather nicely, if I say so myself. A couple of stall turns were very easy, although my initial attempts at reproducing Robert’s very smooth Cuban Eights left much to be desired.
Robert is an excellent instructor, and he succinctly explained what I was doing wrong, and what I needed to do to get it right, with the result that my next attempt at a Cuban Eight was much, much better. Robert then took control and demonstrated a flick out of a barrel roll, before slowing down to show me the Firefly’s spin characteristics. As we approached the stall the stall-warner activated at around 65 knots, and at 55 knots pre-stall buffet could be clearly felt through the airframe. Entry to the spin was quite vigorous, although the Firefly soon settled down into a perfectly normal erect spin. As soon as anti-spin control inputs were applied, the Firefly recovered promptly.


All too soon it was time for us to return to Barkston Heath, but unfortunately, as visibility in the circuit was still rather restricted, it was not possible for Robert to give me the landing. Speeds used in the circuit were 90 knots downwind, reducing to 80 as Robert swept the Firefly round in a curving ‘constant aspect’ approach. As Robert rolled the wings level and settled the Firefly on final, the speed bled back to 75, with a threshold speed of 70. A nice smooth flare and the Firefly settled gently onto the runway.


In conclusion, I thought the Firefly was an excellent primary trainer, and it clearly suits the requirements of the Joint Elementary Flying Training Schools well. Although not the fastest 260hp aeroplane around, its excellent climb rate and crisp handling make it ideal for the training role. It is also a lot of fun to fly!

History
Although the military had traditionally undertaken all flight training ‘in house’, the Joint Elementary Flying School (JEFTS) was set up in 1993, after it had been decided to sub-contract the work out to civilian firms. Hunting Aircraft Ltd (now Hunting Contract Services) took up the contract, and began flying training at Topcliffe in 1993 with 17 T67M Mk.IIs.
Initially, the concept of JEFTS met with considerable resistance and scepticism from the military establishment, who doubted that a civilian flying training organisation would be able to train pilots to match the very high standards expected by the Royal Air Force, Army and Royal Navy. Events swiftly proved these doubts to be entirely without foundation – pilots graduating from JEFTS had been trained to exactly the same high levels as their predecessors.
For a civilian flight training school, JEFTS is a huge organisation. Hunting currently operates 45 Slingsby Fireflies from four military bases and the company graduates around 500 students every year, flying around 16,000 hours in the process. As well as providing basic flight training for the RAF, RN and Army, the school also trains considerable numbers of foreign students and also civilian instructors. JEFTS operates two different variants of the Firefly in the training role – the relatively low-powered 160hp T67M-MkII and the top-of-the-range T67M-260.

Towards the end of 1970, renowned French designer Rene Fournier began work on the RF6. This was to be a side-by-side training aircraft of wooden construction. A slightly smaller version, the RF6B Club first flew on March 12, 1974. This aircraft was powered by a 90hp Rolls-Royce Continental engine, although production aircraft were powered by a 100hp engine. Between 1974 and 1980 Fournier’s company, Avions Fournier, built 45 100hp RF6B-100s and one RF6B-120 – this aircraft being powered by a 118hp Lycoming engine.
Slingsby Engineering Ltd (subsequently renamed Slingsby Aviation) obtained a manufacturing and marketing licence from Avions Fournier and flew its first RF6 (now designated T67) in May 1981. The T67A was powered by a 160hp Lycoming and, like its predecessors, was constructed primarily from wood. With the T67B and all subsequent variants, Slingsby switched to constructing the airframe primarily from GRP.


The aircraft has sold steadily over the last ten years, and Slingsby has delivered more than 250 aircraft to both civil and military operators in 12 different countries. The biggest purchaser of the type was the USAF, which bought 113 T67M-260s as the T-3A Firefly. Unfortunately, the T-3A’s service with the USAF was rather inauspicious, as the type suffered a number of fatal accidents, culminating in a 1997 grounding order.


The T-3A’s rather poor service record with the USAF was amplified by the fact that the aircraft it replaced, the Cessna T-41 Mescalero, had suffered no fatal accidents in 30 years of service.
In fairness though, it should be pointed out that the T-41 was a far less capable aircraft than the T-3A that replaced it, and was incapable of performing aerobatics. It should also be pointed out that Hunting, and indeed every other operator of the Firefly, are extremely happy with the aircraft. Indeed, a Hunting pilot, Alan Wade, has won a number of aerobatic competitions in the Firefly.

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