Red Arrow Hawk
XX297
First entering service in February 1980, BAE Hawk XX297 was equipped as a short-range interceptor, armed with two AIM-9L Sidewinder air-to-air missiles and a 30 mm ADEN cannon. It joined the Red Arrows in the winter of 1983.
On 3rd November 1986, piloted by Flt. Lt. Dan Findlay in aerobatic display practice at RAF Scampton, XX297 flew into the jet wash of the lead aircraft which caused its engine to surge and cut out. Unable to relight the engine and without the altitude needed to reach the airfield for an emergency landing, Flt Lt Findlay was forced to eject.
XX297 crashed into open farmland and it is from a section of the Hawk’s wing salvaged from the wreckage that the centrepieces of these cufflinks are made.
On 3rd November 1986, piloted by Flt. Lt. Dan Findlay in aerobatic display practice at RAF Scampton, XX297 flew into the jet wash of the lead aircraft which caused its engine to surge and cut out. Unable to relight the engine and without the altitude needed to reach the airfield for an emergency landing, Flt Lt Findlay was forced to eject.
XX297 crashed into open farmland and it is from a section of the Hawk’s wing salvaged from the wreckage that the centrepieces of these cufflinks are made.
