Hawker Hunter - Survivor WN957
F.5 WN957 - Bob Pountney & Chris Herbert, Moryavia, Kinloss, Scotland
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Hunter F.5 WN957 at Moryavia, 18th July 2021; Adam Poultney
WN957 was the fourth prototype F.5 off the Armstrong-Whitworth production lines in Coventry and was delivered from Hawkers factory in Dunsfold, to RAE Farnborough on 24th November 1954 - unfortunately she arrived unserviceable so RAE declined to accept her! It wasn't until February 1955 they finally took her on, and she was used by the RAE for Fighter Armament Development and for experiments on the USAF Low Altitude Bombing System (LABS) Computer. Following this, WN957 was struck off charge and returned to the RAF, becoming an instructional airframe; 7407M. Little is known of WN957 over the next ten years but by 1967 she had been reduced to a cockpit section with 60 MU at RAF Leconfield. Transported to RAF Chivenor, she was modified to become an ejection drills trainer and carried out this task until some time in the 1970s when she went to an ATC unit in Essex (possibly North Weald).
In the late 1970s she was disposed of and bought by Bill Miles at North Weald who kept her until 1989, then she went into storage at RAF Stafford and some use was made of her in the ejection seat servicing bay.
In 1995 she again went to an ATC squadron, this time 2445 Squadron at Llanbedr.
Disposed of again in 2002, she went though a couple more private owners before Michael bought her in June 2007. Michael spent many years completing the cockpit and in 2009, Michael managed to add a nose back to the cockpit which he de-riveted from N-202 and grafted on to WN957. He also rebuilt busy rear cockpit bulkhead which was removed when it became an ejection seat procedures trainer.
The cockpit was put up for sale and was sold by May 2016 to Bob Pountney and Chris Herbert who put it on loan to Morayvia in Kinloss by June.
The cockpit has since been repainted and can be seen on display at Moryavia as the photo above shows.
In the late 1970s she was disposed of and bought by Bill Miles at North Weald who kept her until 1989, then she went into storage at RAF Stafford and some use was made of her in the ejection seat servicing bay.
In 1995 she again went to an ATC squadron, this time 2445 Squadron at Llanbedr.
Disposed of again in 2002, she went though a couple more private owners before Michael bought her in June 2007. Michael spent many years completing the cockpit and in 2009, Michael managed to add a nose back to the cockpit which he de-riveted from N-202 and grafted on to WN957. He also rebuilt busy rear cockpit bulkhead which was removed when it became an ejection seat procedures trainer.
The cockpit was put up for sale and was sold by May 2016 to Bob Pountney and Chris Herbert who put it on loan to Morayvia in Kinloss by June.
The cockpit has since been repainted and can be seen on display at Moryavia as the photo above shows.
Information on this page current as of 19/07/2021, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of WN957 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net