Hawker Hunter - Survivor 853 (ex XF426)
FR.10 853 - RAF Museum Midlands (stored), RAF Cosford, Shropshire
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Hunter FR.10 853 at RAF Midlands Museum, 9th June 2024; Jake Wallace
XF426 was built as an F.6 and after delivery in 1956 spent 4 years in storage before being returned to Hawkers for rework. Delivered back to the RAF, she served with 208 Squadron briefly before going back to Hawkers for conversion to FR.10 status. She was presented to the Royal Jordanian Air Force and re-serialled as 853. During 1975 she was gifted to the Sultan of Oman's Air Force (later Royal Air Force of Oman) by the King of Jordan and soon put to work dealing with rebels in the Dhofar region.
By 1993 she had been retired and in 2003 RAFO donated her to the RAF Museum at Hendon, where she was put on display outside as a gate guard. The overall grey scheme she wears represents her later colours in Omani service but was too light and glossy compared to the real scheme - a decade or so later the finish had toned down nicely, but in March 2017 she was dismantled and transported by road to Cosford, where she remains in outside storage, untouched. It would be nice to see this airframe back on its undercarriage and on display once again.
By 1993 she had been retired and in 2003 RAFO donated her to the RAF Museum at Hendon, where she was put on display outside as a gate guard. The overall grey scheme she wears represents her later colours in Omani service but was too light and glossy compared to the real scheme - a decade or so later the finish had toned down nicely, but in March 2017 she was dismantled and transported by road to Cosford, where she remains in outside storage, untouched. It would be nice to see this airframe back on its undercarriage and on display once again.
Information on this page current as of 15/06/2024, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of 853 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net