Not all Royal Air Force aircrew trainees are destined to fly fast jets. The training course that leads to the pilot's seat of a Tornado is very different to the one that leads to a Hercules. Pilots destined to fly multi-engine aircraft are selected at the elementary stage of flying training. They then progress to a short course designed to lead in to flying multi-engined aircraft. These courses are carried out on either the Bulldog or Firefly. After this, they begin training on the Jetstream T1 with No 3 Flying Training School at RAF Cranwell. This course introduces all the complexities of multi-engined flying, including asymmetric thrust in single engine operations.

Powerplant: Two Turbomeca Astazou XVI turboprops of 940shp.

Span: 52ft (15.86m)

Length: 47ft 1.5in (14.36m)

Max Speed: 285mph (456km/h)

Recognition: Twin-engined low wing monoplane. High-set engine nacelles with pronounced propeller shaft/spinner. Pointed tapered nose. Slim tapered wing with small square tips. Tapered fin and rudder with tailplane set mid-way up the fin. Small ventral strake. Seven oval windows on each side.