§ Mr. Trotterasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many Meteor, Hunter, and Canberra aircraft remain in service with the Royal Air Force; what is their average age and the age of the oldest aircraft of each type; and whether he will provide similar information for each other type in service of which some aircraft are over 20 years old.
§ Mr. PattieOn the Royal Air Force's present effective aircraft strength, 482 are either over 20 years old or of an aircraft type that entered service over 20 years ago. The aircraft and ages—rounded to the nearest year—are set out below. It is not the practics to disclose numbers of aircraft by type.
Aircraft Average Age Years Oldest Aircraft Years Meteor 31 31 Devon 33 34 Chipmunk 29 32 Canberra 26 30 Shackleton 28 28 Pembroke 26 28 Hunter 24 27 Whirlwind 22 27 Vulcan B2 19 22 Victor B2 20 22 Jet Provost T3/T4 21 24