Percival Provost

The Percival P.56 Provost was a single-engined basic trainer that replaced the Prentice in Royal Air Force service in the 1950s. Designed in response to Air Ministry specification T.16/48, it was an all-metal low-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear and side-by-side seating, so that an instructor could sit beside the student and watch and demonstrate directly. The first prototype flew on 24 February 1950, and the production Provost T.1 used a 550 horsepower Alvis Leonides radial engine, roughly twice the power of the Prentice. The RAF placed its first order for 200 aircraft in 1951, production ended in 1961 after about 461 had been built, and armed and unarmed versions were exported to air forces including Ireland, Iraq, Burma, Sudan, Rhodesia and Oman. A turbojet development became the Jet Provost.