Hawker Hunter - Survivor XE664
F.4 XE664 - Jet Age Museum, Meteor Business Park, Staverton, Gloucestershire
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Hunter F.4 XE664 at Jet Age Museum, 30th June 2024; Damien Burke
XE664 was built as an F.4 and served with 26 Squadron from 1955 before returning to Hawkers in 1958 to be converted to a T.8. The single-seater nose section was removed and it is this which is pictured above. The complete XE664 went on to be converted to a T.75 and sold to Singapore.
XE664's original nose spent many years with an ATC Squadron at a school in Marlborough as a training aid until they disbanded, and the nose gathered dust until the shed it was in was needed for other purposes.
Saved from being scrapped by one of the teachers at the school, it then spent some more time stored at the school before moving to a nearby farm and then in February 1999 moved to the Jet Age Museum, where it was being restored for future use as a sit-in exhibit. Unfortunately, the museum was forced to shut its doors by the airport authorities who wanted to demolish the hangar that the museum were using, and the cockpit was placed into storage. Thankfully, the museum managed to acquire a new site and erected a new hangar.
XE664's cockpit can now be seen on display there, and is largely complete inside, with only a few instruments missing (e.g. VHF selectors and DME controller). She is one of the 'sit in' exhibits, and still wears her original 26 Squadron paint, which is now looking pretty tired as a result - unsurprising after all these years. The museum is well worth a visit if you're in the area.
XE664's original nose spent many years with an ATC Squadron at a school in Marlborough as a training aid until they disbanded, and the nose gathered dust until the shed it was in was needed for other purposes.
Saved from being scrapped by one of the teachers at the school, it then spent some more time stored at the school before moving to a nearby farm and then in February 1999 moved to the Jet Age Museum, where it was being restored for future use as a sit-in exhibit. Unfortunately, the museum was forced to shut its doors by the airport authorities who wanted to demolish the hangar that the museum were using, and the cockpit was placed into storage. Thankfully, the museum managed to acquire a new site and erected a new hangar.
XE664's cockpit can now be seen on display there, and is largely complete inside, with only a few instruments missing (e.g. VHF selectors and DME controller). She is one of the 'sit in' exhibits, and still wears her original 26 Squadron paint, which is now looking pretty tired as a result - unsurprising after all these years. The museum is well worth a visit if you're in the area.
Information on this page current as of 01/07/2024, last updated by Damien |
Find other photos of XE664 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net