Hawker Hunter - Survivor XG194
FGA.9 XG194 - Wattisham Airfield Museum, Wattisham, Sussex
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Hunter FGA.9 XG194 at Wattisham Heritage Museum, 6th April 2014; Richard E Flagg
A Hunter that was once modified to look like a Soviet Sukhoi of some sort and was used by the Army and RAF to train personnel on disarming WarPac types (e.g. a defector's aircraft). The mods were rather well done and include wing fences, the removal of the nose cone, black painted nose bulkhead, removal of the rear fuselage and fairings over the intakes, not to mention the paint scheme! (See above photos) For a long time she was kept in a hangar at the former RAF North Luffenham but now appears to have been abandoned to the elements as mere decoration for the runway with bomb craters (and dummy bombs!) scattered nearby. The rear edge of the canopy has been smashed and the cockpit is quite a mess; she also has no engine and various minor damage but is surviving fairly well otherwise.
In November 2009 she was finally rescued from outdoor life and transported to the Wattisham Airfield Museum, where she is being restored to her former appearance as a Black Arrows airframe, nicknamed 'Blackjack' in honour of Air Commodore Roger Topp, CO of 111 Squadron when they carried out the famous 22-Hunter loop (indeed XG194 was lead aircraft in the formation!).
In November 2009 she was finally rescued from outdoor life and transported to the Wattisham Airfield Museum, where she is being restored to her former appearance as a Black Arrows airframe, nicknamed 'Blackjack' in honour of Air Commodore Roger Topp, CO of 111 Squadron when they carried out the famous 22-Hunter loop (indeed XG194 was lead aircraft in the formation!).
Information on this page current as of 18/06/2021, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of XG194 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net