page_title: No. 92 Squadron RAF
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: No. 92 Squadron RAF / Operational history / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: English: Hawker Hunter F.6 XG189 of No. 92 Squadron RAF "Blue Diamonds" aerobatic team
context_page_description: Number 92 Squadron, also known as No. 92 Squadron and currently as No. 92 Tactics and Training Squadron, of the Royal Air Force is a test and evaluation squadron based at RAF Waddington, Lincolnshire. It was formed as part of the Royal Flying Corps at London Colney as a fighter squadron on 1 September 1917. It deployed to France in July 1918 and saw action for just four months, until the end of the war. During the conflict it flew both air superiority and direct ground support missions. It was disbanded at Eil on 7 August 1919. Reformed on 10 October 1939, the unit was supposed to be equipped with medium bombers but in the spring of 1940 it became one of the first RAF units to receive the Supermarine Spitfire, going on to fight in the Battle of Britain.
  Reformed after the war in January 1947, No. 92 Squadron was assigned to RAF Fighter Command flying the Gloster Meteor F.3. Between 1961 and 1962, No. 92 Squadron was the RAF's official aerobatic team, flying 16 Hawker Hunter F.6s known as the Blue Diamonds. In December 1965, the squadron was reassigned to RAF Germany alongside No.
context_section_description: Following the cessation of hostilities, No. 92 Squadron was disbanded at Zeltweg in Austria on 30 December 1946. No. 91 Squadron was disbanded on 31 January 1947 at RAF Acklington and re-numbered as No. 92 (Fighter) Squadron as part of RAF Fighter Command with the Gloster Meteor F.3. The Squadron relocated to RAF Duxford on 15 February 1947 before moving onto RAF Linton-on-Ouse in October 1949. It went on a goodwill tour of Scandinavia in 1949. Subsequently, equipped with the Meteor F.8, it received the Canadair Sabre F.4 in February 1954, becoming part of the only Sabre wing in Fighter Command alongside No. 66 Squadron, before getting the Hawker Hunter F.4 in April 1956 while based at RAF Linton-on-Ouse. Throughout this period, No. 92 (F) Squadron was also based at RAF Middleton St. George, RAF Thornaby and RAF Leconfield.
  In 1961, No. 92 (F) Squadron, under the command of Sqn. Ldr. Brian Mercer, was chosen as Fighter Command's official aerobatic squadron – the RAF Aerobatic Display Team, taking over from "Treble One"'s Black Arrows. Originally forming in 1960, the team was initially called the Falcons before later adopting the name the Blue Diamonds under which they operated 16 bright blue painted Hawker Hunter F.6s. No. 92 (F) Squadron thrilled the crowds with its precision display including looping a formation of 18 aircraft, only four fewer than the world record 22 Hawker Hunters looped by the Black Arrows of No. 111 (F) Squadron at the Farnborough Airshow in September 1958. When they re-equipped with the English Electric Lightning F.2 from April 1963 onward they continued to perform with these.
  In December 1965, along with No. 19 (F) Squadron they were reallocated to RAF Germany initially at RAF Geilenkirchen, moving to join No. 19 (F) Squadron at RAF Gütersloh. They remained at RAF Gütersloh from January 1968 until the Squadron disbanded on 31 March 1977.
  In January 1977, No. 92  (Designate) Squadron had begun training as a McDonnell Douglas Phantom FGR.2 air defence unit at RAF Wildenrath and on 1 April this unit formally adopted the No. 92 (F) numberplate. On 17 August 1990, Phantoms from No. 92 (F) Squadron and No. 19 (F) Squadron were sent to RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus, to provide air defence due to the deployment of No. V (AC) Squadron and No. 29 (F) Squadron from Akrotiri to Dhahran Airfield after the Iraqi Invasion of Kuwait. Due to the rundown of RAF Germany following the fall of the Berlin Wall the Squadron disbanded on 1 July 1991.
caption: Hawker Hunter F.6 XG189 of No. 92 (F) Squadron's "Blue Diamonds" aerobatic team in 1962.
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