BAE Hawk Mk.66 With the Hawk Mk66 the Swiss Parliament ordered an advanced jet trainer in October 1987. This after a thorough evaluation against the French Dassault-Dornier Alpha Jet. The contract worth 395 Mio CHF covered 20 aircraft and included a simulator.

U-1251 flew for the first time on April 7th1989 at Dunsfold (UK) with Paul Hopkins at the controls. This aircraft was handed over to GRD (Gruppe für Rüstungsdienste) on November 8th and was flown to Switzerland by Manfred Brennwald and Thomas Schwarz.

The official introduction into the SAF inventory was celebrated January 31st 1990. This marked the end of the DH.115 de Havilland Vampire Trainer & DH.100 de Havilland Vampire as Training aircraft.

Please note that the first Hawk Mk66 build in Great Britan was been painted in white with striking red trim on the wings, nose and tail. For better visibility, the scheme was changed and painted red on the belly up half the way of the fuselage. The upper side remained white. Unfortunately, not many pictures of the short lived livery exist. This scheme re-appears on the T-45 Goshawk that was developed for the US Navy. What maintenance markings and walk ways concerns, very view were applied - restricted to the ejection seat warnings and recue items as well as fire extinguishing.

The remaining 19 Hawks (U-1252 - U-1270) were assembled in Emmen - the final aircraft delivered to the air force on October 2nd 1991. As it is a tradition, the last aircraft leaving the line was adored with some special artwork - reflecting a Hawk that carries away a 'Walliser Tomato'... some people argue, that it must be an Apricot. Also Flags of the Canton Wallis and City of Emmen are painted onto the fuselage surrounded by grapes.

Already in 2002 the remaining 19 Hawks were put into storage. One aircraft (U-1256) was lost October 15th 1990 in a training accident in the Alps - Nesthorn (VS). Of these, 18 Hawks were purchased by Finland in 2008. U-1251 remained in the Flieger & Flap Museum in Dübendorf. The short service period in Switzerland is simply explained - technology advanced faster than expected - with the introduction of the F-18, the Hawk could not fulfill the requirement of a digital cockpit and despite the low flying hours and excellent condition it was deemed as financially sound to withdraw the aircraft from service. Today, the Pilatus PC-21 fills the slot allowing a straight transition onto the F-18.

This decal sheet has been designed based on painting instructions from the maintenance manuals as well as a thorough visit to U-1251 stored at Duebendorf. Special thanks for assistance go again to the Flieger and Flap Museum Duebendorf and to Bruno Schneider who have been immensely helpful on this project and others in the past. The decals themselves have been screen printed by the UK based Fantasy Printshop and guaranty a top quality product and easy application to the model. The decals must be applied onto a glossy surface to avoid the unwanted silvering. Decal softeners like Mircro Sol & Set work very nice. Once dry, excess glue from the decals should be removed with a soft damp cloth.