British Aerospace, Hawks, Sir Dennis Smallwood, Leicestershire, Bitteswell

The crack RAF acrobatic team, the Red Arrows, have become energy concious. Today, the 1000 workers at the British Aerospace service airfield at Bitteswell, Leicestershire, proudly watched as the team took delivery of nine Hawk aircraft which they had prepared. They already have 10 of the aircraft. The Hawks use 40% less fuel than the ageing Gnats with which the team have become identified. The Hawks are advanced jet trainers and cost about 2.5 million pounds each. British Aerospace have already supplied the Hawks to air forces in Finland, Indonesia and an undisclosed African country. The RAf have ordered 175. British Aerospace's military advisor on aircraft, Sir Dennis Smallwood, said that every time the Red Arrows flew the Hawk at big displays, they would attract interest in the plane from abroad.15th November 1979