Hawker Sea Hawk - Survivor WN108
FB.5 WN108 - Ulster Aviation Society, Long Kesh, County Antrim
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Sea Hawk FB.5 WN108 at Ulster Aviation Society, 5th March 2022; Jake Wallace
Delivered to the Royal Navy in September 1954, starting life as an FB.3. She flew with 897 and 895 Squadrons before beings transferred to RNAY Fleetlands for conversion to an FB.5. After she returned to service, it wasn't long before she was back at RNAY Fleetlands, this time for repairs after striking electrical cables when flying low level on an exercise.
While WN108 was at Fleetlands, she was converted for use at the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) which was based at Hurn Airport. It was here she was painted in a Gloss Black scheme. WN108 was transferred to the FRU in 1958 and this is where she stayed until 1963, when she moved from Hurn to Shorts' Admiralty Holding Unit (AHU) at Sydenham. Here she was placed in long-term storage. After long-term storage, many aircraft are destined for scrap, however, WN108 was saved from being chopped and was transferred to Shorts' to be used at their Apprentice Training School as a ground instructional airframe.
WN108 was donated to the Ulster Aviation Society (UAS) in 1989. A rather interesting part of the road move for the airframe was lifting out the Apprentice Training School through the roof! The aircraft has been on display at UAS ever since, kept in excellent condition undercover.
While WN108 was at Fleetlands, she was converted for use at the Fleet Requirements Unit (FRU) which was based at Hurn Airport. It was here she was painted in a Gloss Black scheme. WN108 was transferred to the FRU in 1958 and this is where she stayed until 1963, when she moved from Hurn to Shorts' Admiralty Holding Unit (AHU) at Sydenham. Here she was placed in long-term storage. After long-term storage, many aircraft are destined for scrap, however, WN108 was saved from being chopped and was transferred to Shorts' to be used at their Apprentice Training School as a ground instructional airframe.
WN108 was donated to the Ulster Aviation Society (UAS) in 1989. A rather interesting part of the road move for the airframe was lifting out the Apprentice Training School through the roof! The aircraft has been on display at UAS ever since, kept in excellent condition undercover.
Information on this page current as of 06/03/2022, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of WN108 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net