The RAF Hawker Siddeley 125 Dominie aircraft is to retire from service at the end of this month.
The RAF on Thursday marked the end of service for its oldest aircraft with a final flypast.
Operated by 55 (Reserve) Squadron at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire, the Dominie provides training for all rear crew in the RAF.
But the cancellation of the Nimrod MRA4 and a reduction in the number of Tornado GR4s means the RAF will no longer train Weapons System Officers, formerly navigators, after the current course graduates.
The RAF said 22 aircraft were built initially, with 55 Squadron operating the last remaining seven.
Six Dominies flew in formation out of RAF Cranwell then carried out final flypasts over the base to mark the end of its service.
Squadron Leader Stuart Reid flew in the six-plane formation as it performed its flypast.
He said: “The aircraft was introduced in 1965 as a training platform for what were then the first generation of jet bombers for the RAF, the Victor, Vulcan and Valiant.
“It has evolved into the platform that we have today.
“Today, sadly, it is the last day of service. We have moved on, as it were, and there’s no longer a requirement of that so that aircraft has to be retired from service.”
He said it was a particularly great day personally, as he is also retiring, so the flypast was his last flight as an RAF pilot after 35 years’ service in the RAF.
Sqn Ldr Reid said the decision to retire the aircraft was due to a need to meet new requirements.
He added: “The Dominie was going to go out of service anyway – it’s an old aircraft, it dates from the 1960s.
“It was scheduled to go out of service in a few years’ time but, with the changing pace of events with the service, the decision to take it out of service has been brought forward but it’s just to meet new requirements.
“There is no requirement to keep the aircraft in service for any longer than it is, and we need to move on.”
Group Captain Dave Waddington, station commander of RAF Cranwell, said it was a “poignant day”.
He said: “The Dominie aircraft has been in service for just over 45 years so it’s given a fantastic service and training to many aircrew who are flying today and have done in the past, so it’s a very poignant day.
“But it is a very old aeroplane and it’s come to the end of its life and it’s come to the end of its requirement.”
He said they had finished training the latest aircrew before the Dominie was retired.
“The Dominie comes to the end of what we call fatigue life anyway so we knew it was going to have to go out of service relatively soon.”
He said one of the planes involved in the flypast was flown by commander in chief Air Chief Marshal Simon Bryant, adding: “He himself was a student some years ago, going through the Dominie training to be a navigator.”
He said some of the disciplines they used to train for were no longer required, and other training would be moved to “synthetic training devices”, or other planes.
Wing Commander Suraya Marshall, commanding officer of 55 Squadron, led the flypast.
She said: “It’s a sad moment for the squadron. Clearly, taking any aircraft out of service for those of us who love flying is always a sad moment.
“But, by the same token, I think it’s very much a day for celebrating the aircraft and the tremendous service over the last 45 years that it has given to the RAF.
“A lot of air crew in the air force will have done their training in this aircraft.”
She said the squadron still had plenty left to do.
“The squadron will be sad about losing its aircraft, it will also be sad that we are stopping weapons systems officer training.
“However, the squadron is still alive and kicking and we still have all the weapons systems operators to train and the squadron will carry on and we have a task to deliver.”
Group Captain Waddington said final decisions had not been made on the future of people who currently work with the Dominies.
He said: “We have to work through all the personnel strategies that go with this and of course that is very complicated.
“I think, in this current climate, everyone is concerned and we will have to work hard to make sure we place people in productive roles in the future.”
Factbox
The RAF Hawker Siddeley 125 Dominie has been in service for more than 45 years It was originally procured in the 1960s to train Navigators, particularly for the V Force. It was configured in the back end for navigators to learn how to operate their kit as they would in the bombers of those days. With more fast jet requirements, the seating was changed in the back to suit that and it has done that over the last 45 years, it’s been changed around to meet those requirements.