XN714 was transported to the United States during 1969, where it underwent wind tunnel testing by NASA; following its return to the UK, the aircraft was officially withdrawn in 1972.

[1] In order to greater explore and validate the "jet flap principle", the Ministry of Aviation issued Specification ER.189D, which called for the development of a dedicated purpose-built aircraft with which to perform a full-scale investigation.

According to aviation periodical Flight International, a contributing reason for Hunting Aircraft's decision to respond to the Specification was the firm's existing experience in the operation of hot-gas ducting systems, which had been acquired by its previous research activities into helicopters.

After completing limited taxying trials at Luton Airport, the aircraft was dismantled and transported by road to RAE Bedford, where it was reassembled and readied for flight.

There was a deliberate effort to avoid unnecessary complexity, partially as it was felt that testing of the jet flap concept should be carried out in several manageable stages.

[1] The fuselage is of conventional stressed-skin construction, the structuring being a mix of longitudinal members and vertical frames, reinforced at key areas such as the wings, undercarriage and engine mounting.

[1] The aircraft's shoulder-level wing featured a set of struts, not for support but in order to provide piping for the compressed air used in the blown flaps.

Each aileron features five hinges, while cooling air was also circulated via slots in the leading and trailing edges; the flaps are of a similar construction.

The jet flap system consisted of a series of sixteen nozzles arranged along the trailing edge of the wing, which were fed about half of the engine's hot exhaust gases.

"[2] Prior to the XN714 being formally delivered to its owners, the Ministry of Aviation, Hunting operated the aircraft themselves for several months to conduct preliminary flying.

For several years, it stayed in storage in case the aircraft would be needed for further research; during September 1972, it was formally "struck off charge" from the RAF records.