Hawker Hunter - Survivor WT660
F.1 WT660 - West Raynham Control Tower, West Raynham, Norfolk
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Hunter F.1 WT660 at West Raynham, 18th September 2021; Damien Burke
WT660 had only a brief service life lasting from 1955 (with the Day Fighter Leader School at West Raynham) to 1957 (with 229 OCU), before being retired and used as a maintenance airframe until May 1957. She was the gate guard at RAF Carlisle for over 30 years, and after disposal spent many years privately owned at Cullen.
She was bought in November 1999 by the Highland Aircraft Preservation Society and then spent several years undergoing a complete restoration for static display. In February 2008 she was reassembled for the first time in many years, and put on display at the museum. A repaint was planned into DFLS colours, but while progress got as far as paint stripping, the museum's closure in 2019 found her put up for disposal.
In October 2020 she was acquired by the Jon and Shell Booty and roaded to West Raynham, her original home. She has had a variety of damage repaired, been reassembled, painted in her old DFLS livery (stencils etc. yet to be applied), and is now displayed next to the tower, which is being converted to become Jon and Shell's home. Engineless but otherwise pretty complete, WT660's cockpit is remarkably complete and a credit to those who've worked on her in the past - though the bright blue interior is somewhat non-standard!
The aircraft is not generally publicly viewable as the old control tower is both a private residence and also located on private land but Jon and Shell do hold occasional open days - see here for details and also visit the West Raynham Control Tower website and Facebook page.
She was bought in November 1999 by the Highland Aircraft Preservation Society and then spent several years undergoing a complete restoration for static display. In February 2008 she was reassembled for the first time in many years, and put on display at the museum. A repaint was planned into DFLS colours, but while progress got as far as paint stripping, the museum's closure in 2019 found her put up for disposal.
In October 2020 she was acquired by the Jon and Shell Booty and roaded to West Raynham, her original home. She has had a variety of damage repaired, been reassembled, painted in her old DFLS livery (stencils etc. yet to be applied), and is now displayed next to the tower, which is being converted to become Jon and Shell's home. Engineless but otherwise pretty complete, WT660's cockpit is remarkably complete and a credit to those who've worked on her in the past - though the bright blue interior is somewhat non-standard!
The aircraft is not generally publicly viewable as the old control tower is both a private residence and also located on private land but Jon and Shell do hold occasional open days - see here for details and also visit the West Raynham Control Tower website and Facebook page.
Information on this page current as of 20/09/2021, last updated by Damien |
Find other photos of WT660 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net