| FRADU HUNTER PHOTO GALLERY |
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| Current images: 20 | Page's estimated download time: 32 seconds | Page 1 of 2 |
| GA.11 HUNTERS ['830' to '834'] |
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[© Glen Moreman/Delta Jets] |
[via Jet Aviation Preservation Grp] |
| This first GA.11 in the FRADU
call-sign sequence is WV382. It was built as a RAF Hunter F.4 in 1955 and first flown in July the same year by Duncan Simpson. After tests it was delivered to the RAF on 15th August 1955. It's RAF career only saw one Squadron posting, to No. 67(F) Sqn as aircraft 'C', before it was bought back by Hawkers for refurbishment and possible re-sale. After conversion to GA.11 status
for the Royal Navy she was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm at Lossiemouth
in August 1962. After a seemingly short career at
Yeovilton the aircraft was withdrawn from the FRADU inventory in
November 1976 and it was flown to RAF Kemble for storage with 5MU. It
remained there for the next six years, but due to the Station's pending
closure it was moved to RAF Shawbury and again put into store. It was
moved by road to RNAS Lee-on-Solent on 5th February 1985 and officially
relegated to ground instructional duties, becoming a training aid for
the resident Air Engineering School as A2730. |
|
[© Ray Down] |
[© Peter R. March] |
[via Ray Down] |
[© Andrew P. March] |
[© Andrew P. March] |
[© Andrew P. March] |
One of the oldest GA.11s left in the world today, WT804 was first flown in March 1955 and was delivered to the RAF on 14th April 1955. It saw service with just the one Squadron, RAF 247 Sqn as aircraft 'R' before being re-purchased by Hawker-Siddeley for possible resale. It was converted to GA.11 status and delivered to the Fleet Air Arm
at Lossiemouth in September 1963 and was used by RN 738 Squadron. It was
also used by the Squadron's aerobatics team, the 'Rough
Diamonds' on a few occasions. Its FRADU career lasted until 1984 when it was withdrawn and placed
in store briefly at Kemble, and then at Shawbury. |
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[© Peter R. March] |
[Unknown] |
[© Andy Lewis] |
| Hawker Hunter GA.11 XE668 was
delivered to the RAF as an F.4 variant in June 1955 and served with two
different front-line fighter squadrons, No. 4(F) Sqn as 'X'
and No. 26(F) Sqn as 'A'. The curtain was brought down on
her RAF career in 1961 when it was bought back by Hawker Aviation. Later converted to a GA.11 for the
Royal Navy, XE668 went into service at Lossiemouth in mid-1963
with RN 738 Sqn. Retired from FRADU service in late 1984, XE668 was moved to RNAS Culdrose for use with the School of Aircraft Handling (SAH) and was assigned the Royal Navy maintenance serial 'A2733'. Officially handed over on 8th February 1985 XE668 exchanged her 'VL' tail code for 'DD' and was maintained in taxiable condition. In 1993 it was withdrawn from use and moved by road to nearby Predannack airfield, home of the Royal Navy Fire School at Predannack where it was, and still is today, used for pilot crash rescue training. |
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[© Mike Hall] |
[© Peter R. March] |
[Unknown] |
[© Peter R. March] |
[© Hugh Trevor] |
[© Hugh Trevor] |
| Hawker Hunter WW654 was built as
a F.4 and delivered to the RAF on 28th March 1955. It was first posted to No.98(F) Sqn. based at RAF Jever in Germany, and remained with the Squadron for the next two years. In November 1957 the aircraft was transferred to No.229OCU based at RAF Chivenor and was used for training purposes. It served out its RAF career here until being bought by Hawker-Siddeley in 1961. Converted to a GA.11 WW654 was delivered to the
Royal Navy at RNAS Lossiemouth on 4th September 1962 and entered Royal
Navy service with 738 Sqn. It's records between 1963 and 1973 are
uncertain at the time of writing, but it is possible that WW654 stayed
with 738 Sqn until the Squadron disbanded in 1970 and was then placed in
storage. On February 11th 1987 the wings and front fuselage of WW654 were delivered by road to RNAS Culdrose along with the rear fuselage of GA.11 XF368. After the rear fuselage left Culdrose and then returned inside the month of March a composite airframe was assembled in April 1987. The aircraft, now christened 'A2754', was re-sprayed a few months later and given a new call-sign - '834/DD' to avoid confusion with WT711/DD833. In March 1993 WW654 was withdrawn from use and moved to RN 820 Squadron's hangar for storage, and it was sold to Harry Pounds and moved to Portsmouth by road on 15th December 1993. In 1998 the aircraft moved on and after a period of
restoration in Sussex it has been mounted on a pole close to the
entrance of the former Navy Air Station RNAS Ford, to represent its
previous life as an active airfield. |
[via John Beattie] |
| XE716 was delivered to the RAF as a Hunter F.4 in October
1955. After a brief period with 5MU it received its first posting, being
sent to No.67(F) Sqn and was aircraft 'A'. This proved to
be its only Squadron as the aircraft was bought back by Hawkers for
possible re-sale overseas.
It was converted to a GA.11 for use with the Navy, being delivered to
Lossiemouth in July 1962. However on 16th May 1983 the aircraft suffered an engine failure over
the Portland Bill sea areas. |
[GA.11 '830'-'838' Gallery Page 2]
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