Every year, RAF Valley organises a low-level navigational competition, known as the Prince of Wales Trophy, for its staff instructors from both 19(R) and 208 Squadrons.

Flying alone in the two-seat Bae Systems Hawk T.1/1A advanced jet trainer, the pilot has to find his way to seven or eight targets or events. These are found somewhere in Low Flying Area 7 (LFA 7), which covers most of Wales. Some events are timed, the pilots being awarded 100 points if they pass through a time gate to the second. Manpower is used on the ground to monitor these. Pilots are penalised for every second out. To avoid any chance of a draw (which has happened), the points are divided down to tenths. Using a logarithmic scale, you could be awarded just one tenth of a point if either 50 seconds early or late.

 Part of the approximately 50 minute sortie, is reconnaissance, where a predetermined feature on the ground has to be identified, typically this could be a gate or a barn. In previous years life-rafts, Land Rovers and even inflatable tanks, have been used.

Only one pass is allowed over any of the targets to be identified. Pilots are obliged to comply with the rules for low-flying and the rules for the competition. They are cleared down to a height of 250 feet above ground level (AGL), which is the height stated for attacking the targets. Guidance is not given for the route and flight levels to be flown between the targets, however. The strict time constraints do influence the routing and levels taken by aircrew. Each aircraft is flown ‘clean’ as no weapons are used in the competition.

The exercise is open to all staff instructors, however of the 50 or 60 instructors that take part, the winner is likely to be from 19(R) Squadron, as the tasks involved in the competition are typical of their daily training. Impressively last year’s winner was just seven seconds away from a perfect time.

Rapid planning is an essential part of the exercise, the pilots are given an envelope containing the ‘Air Task Message’ (ATM) with details of the designated tasks and target positions. They receive the ATM just 1½ hours before their take-off slot, in which time they will choose their route. The only feature laid down on the map is a deconfliction line, which should not be crossed. This line separates the north-south from south-north aircraft as they travel around the LFA. Pilots will also decide upon an Initial Point (IP), for their run on each target. An IP is a position some miles short of the target. The concept of the IP is to ensure that pilots approach their target from a known position and on a known track. Having passed over the IP they then fly along a designated track to the target.

For the timed events, speed and distance needs to be carefully considered. Typically the aircraft are flown at 420 knots or seven nautical miles a minute, which makes timing calculations simple. If they flew in a straight line from point to point it would cause them to arrive early. The reason for this is to ensure each pilot slightly varies his or her route, to make sure low flying aircraft throughout the day are not constantly disturbing people on the ground.

History of the Trophy

The Prince of Wales Trophy was started in the 1980’s by 1 TWU at RAF Brawdy, it was then a navigational and bombing (Pembrey Range) competition. Also in those early days the 1 TWU Hawks were often joined by Tornado GR.1’s and Jaguar GR.1’s. After the closure of Brawdy and a break in the 90’s, the competition was restarted five years ago. These days the competition is only open to 4 FTS and its Hawks.