5th August 2025
Being in the midst of the summer holidays in the UK, today I took a day away from work (at least until a vicious headcold decided to bring everything to a standstill…) to visit Cosford with the grandkids.
On our doorstep, I spend a lot of time at the museum, so everything is pretty familiar. This being so, and me being the resident aircraft fanatic in our family, I was roped in as an impromptu tour guide, taking everyone around the exhibits and then telling them stories about each one.
Having done that for an hour or so, I excused myself for a few minutes to examine the Jaguar ACT, that has now seemingly been put back on display. Several years ago I photographed this very aircraft in detail, hoping to one day build a model of it, so you can imagine my frustration as I built my Jaguar GR.1A, to find that all those images had magically disappeared. All the details that I needed, undercarriage, cockpit, wings, tail, the lot: gone. So today, I photographed the aircraft again and once more, considered it as a project…
The Active Control Technology (ACT) Jaguar was an analogue airframe modified to be less stable and fitted with fly-by-wire computer technology for trials work. Lessons learned from these trials was used in later aircraft like the EAP and Eurofighter Typhoon. No modern fighter jet today could fly without the use of computers.
The ACT Jaguar was adapted from an ex-RAF GR1 airframe from 1978, and carried out active trials work in the early to mid 1980s.
Truth be told, away from its historical significance, it’s just a very cool design, the wing extensions giving it a very different look from the standard aircraft. Those colours are really attractive as well, adding to its allure, when drab colours and markings are the norm for these machines. It would look superb in 1/48.
Irrespective of whether or not I build the ACT, I now have plenty of shots of details that I didn’t have access to for my first build. This will help with detailing the undercarriage a little more, including that nose gear that I feel Airfix rather fudged in their kit. With a new build planned and a new kit bought, that should be sooner rather than later, a build that I am now really looking forward to as the months of summer roll inexorably towards the dark nights of autumn and short, cold days of winter.
See you tomorrow.
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
I have to agree with you, aircraft modified for research, usually painted in non standard colors are particularly interesting. Nice that you could be the family tour guide, especially for the grandkids.
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