Spackman Aerospace was formed in the early 1960s, initially to conduct aerodynamic research and develop equipment for high-altitude flight. However, a shortage of available aircraft on which to test their products led the company to seek an economical testbed aircraft of their own. The opportunity came when they became aware, through their service contacts, of an RAF Gnat trainer whose wing had been damaged beyond repair when a ground vehicle ran into it. The airframe was duly acquired and fitted with a pair of radically different wings of the company's own design.
The High Altitude Testbed, or H.A.T. as it is more commonly known, has subsequently served for many years on a variety of projects, the details of which the company are not at liberty to discuss due to commercial confidentiality and contractual restrictions, and this has led to much ill-informed speculation which the company are at pains to dismiss. In particular, the aircraft has only ever been used for civilian and commercial purposes and
never as a plausibly deniable surveillance asset by Her Majesty's Government.
The canopy is painted white purely to reduce solar heating in the cockpit and not, as has been claimed, to conceal the nature of equipment installed in place of the former rear seat. The dielectric areas on the nose, wings and tail are for precision navigation equipment so that the aircraft is always exactly sure of it's location for safety reasons, and the pods sometimes seen under the wings are part of an air sampling project conducted in partnership with the University of Cheltenham. Coincidentally, these pods also feature areas of dielectric material, but in this case it is used purely to avoid static electricity charges interfering with the collection of delicate pollen samples.
Although Spackman Aerospace does occasionally undertake work abroad for foreign governments, this is always strictly in compliance with HM government regulations and the company never operates near conflict zones or in areas of political controversy. However the similarity of the H.A.T. to a standard Gnat has lead to many erroneous sighting reports from areas of the world where the aircraft has categorically
never operated. Areas that the H.A.T. definitely hasn't been seen in include Cyprus in 1967 and 1973, Southern Chile in 1982, Barbados in 1983, Southern Turkey in 1991 and 2003, Austria in 1991, various parts of Italy in 1992, 1995 and 2011, Northern Greece in 1998 and Uzbekistan in 2007. Despite the fact that only one aircraft was ever built, scrupulous maintenance and a huge stock of spare parts have kept it serviceable for a remarkable 40 year career.
Did this one for a tribute build here:
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,38469.60.html
