At the end of the 1940s, convinced that
the existing training sequence of Percival Prentice to Harvard
was providing inadequate preparation to their jet pilot trainees
to ready them for frontline flying duty, the British Air Ministry
issued Operational Requirement 257, defining the need for a new,
higher performance, piston-engine trainer. While speed was not
a prime concern of O.R.257, a cruising speed of 110 knots was
required, along with an endurance of at least two hours flying
time. Of the 15 companies involved in the fierce competition for
design approval, Percival led the pack because it had privately
developed a mockup trainer that anticipated many of the RAF's
requirements. Called the P.56, the Percival entry also had the
edge because their early start made them the only firm able to
meet the time limits specified by the RAF for delivery of a prototype.
Thus, an initial order for 200 of the aircraft was placed with
Percival in May, 1951.
The Provost was a two-seat, side-by-side
low-wing monoplane with fixed landing gear of the tailwheel variety,
powered by a 550hp Alvis Leonides 126 radial engine.
In 1953, the first production P.56s joined
the Central Flying School's Basic Training Squadron at South Cerney
as the RAF's standard basic trainer, called the Provost T.Mk.1.
More than 330 of the aircraft were eventually delivered to the
RAF over a period of 3 years, during which time (1954) Percival
became part of the Hunting Group. The Provost remained in service
until they were replaced by a major revision of the design that
evolved the P.56 Provost into the Jet Provost trainer, which eventually
evolved into the BAC Strikemaster multi-role trainer and light
attack aircraft in 1967. A total of 461 Provosts were built by
the time production ended in 1959.
