ever wondered what happened to our hunters?
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Stumbled across this on the net. Apparently, they were bought by a company for sale to private collectors, and yes, they can still fly. They are currently being stored in Australia. Anyone interested in getting one?
If u are, visit the company website at http://www.pacific-hunter-aviation.com.au
Btw, i am also partly posting this to find out how to post images on this. Not exactly a techie person lah....
Cheers. -
wah... pictures actually came out....
Anyway, if u are really interested in our old hunters today, check out this website:
http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/hunter/survivorspics17.html
Go thru the pages and find out what our old hunters are up to. Apparently one of them has had to make a wheels-up landing recently!
Strictly for the old and the nostalgic.
Darn, i miss hearing those old girls howl.... -
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Someone should suggest to RSAF to publish a coffeetable book titled "RSAF Vintage Warbirds" with just lotsa pics. Pics will include the Strikemaster, T-33, hunter & skyhawk, including flight suits & helmuts of yester-year.
Yes, the hunter was a good workhorse that put in good years of service...here's a short video tribute to that warbird
http://www.ghorne.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/vidtest/hunters_narrowband.html
To bad we don't have a boneyard like the Davis Monthan AB in Ariz.
Btw, it seems that the tni-au (indonesian air force) has a pretty happening but little known museum with soviet relics
http://members.tripod.com/~imogiri/ -
I won't have a place to store a Hunter.
But if the 30mm ADEN is for sale I don't mind getting it.
At the same time can also throw in a few Mk 82s or 30mm practice rounds. -
eaten by king kong
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Well...its not exactly what you want but keep a lookout, there'll be an online tribute to the RSAF's history coming up on August 9th this year. I'm part of those involved and if everything pans out, I think it'll be very nice. Will post links when that comes up. Can't say more for now though...Originally posted by IAF:Someone should suggest to RSAF to publish a coffeetable book titled "RSAF Vintage Warbirds" with just lotsa pics. Pics will include the Strikemaster, T-33, hunter & skyhawk, including flight suits & helmuts of yester-year.
BTW this is all done through unofficial channels, no link whatsoever to the RSAF. -
We have done it. On Saturday 26th July we flew our first flight from Archerfield Airport to our new home at Sunshine Coast airport. A 30 minute flight with a take-off roll of 1500ft and departure to the east over water included low and high speed flight and some aerobatics. The aircraft performed like a dream and all systems worked perfectly. It was a beautiful clear day and we could see the whole of the east coast from up to 20,000ft. It was worth every minute and after a successful landing at Sunshine Coast we were all smiles.
This has been a long and sometimes frustrating project and was only completed by the efforts of a dedicated and hard working team of engineers. To them go our heartfelt thanks for allowing this fantastic aircraft to once again enjoy its normal environment. We will take a short break now and then proceed with the remainder of the flight testing and my endorsement.
Sometime next year if all goes to plan, we will be doing limited flights with fare paying passengers. When I can realise some spare time we will post some photos. Unfortunately we have nothing of the aircraft in the air but will work at it.
What a wonderful feeling to have realised this long cherished dream and once again our thanks to all that were involved in this project.
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Singapore Poly bought one.......i just saw part of the tail for an A4 today.....looked like it crashed or something.
The rest of the body will be displayed in the convention center i think -
our A4SUs? they r still in use right now rite? according to the news article today, RSAF scrambled 2 A4SUs to intercept the plane that went blackout over our skies and thus cannot contact our air traffic controllers.
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serious? did you actually see it?Originally posted by |-|05|:Singapore Poly bought one.......i just saw part of the tail for an A4 today.....looked like it crashed or something.
The rest of the body will be displayed in the convention center i think -
the rest of the plane i dunno when coming.....i think shld be in time for the official opening for the convention center lohOriginally posted by CenturionMBT:serious? did you actually see it? -
sure bo? covention centre where got space?Originally posted by |-|05|:the rest of the plane i dunno when coming.....i think shld be in time for the official opening for the convention center loh -
u see inside alot of space leh......anyhow it's my friend in DARE and SYFC tell me want lah...Originally posted by bismarck:sure bo? covention centre where got space? -
AUG 27, 2003
Pilot breathes new life into ex-RSAF warbird
The 33-year-old Hawker Hunter, restored by a team led by SIA pilot as a labour of love, will now take tourists in Australia up for fun flights
By David Boey
ONE of Singapore's first jet fighters, a two-seater Hawker Hunter, has found a new lease of life after undergoing extensive restoration in Australia.
Captain David Currie, 59, an Australian who is a Singapore Airlines pilot, spearheaded the eight-year restoration project, together with seven aeronautical engineers and three former Hunter pilots - all of whom offered their services for free.
With their efforts, the Hunter, tail number 528, took off from Archerfield Airport in Brisbane, Australia on July 26 this year for a short flight to its new home on the Gold Coast.
The 'new' plane will now be used to give tourists some thrills, at the rate of A$4,500 (S$5,136) for a 30-minute flight.
Recalling how Hunter 528 took to the skies, Capt Currie said yesterday: 'It was the most exhilarating day of my life. The whole thing has been a fantastic dream.
'There were stages when we thought we'd never finish, but the takeoff was just wonderful.'
The warplane took off in front of thousands of spectators who crammed the airport's fence-line to watch it make its first flight after more than 10 years.
The event attracted a lot of media attention, and was even broadcast on radio in Brisbane.
For his day job, Capt Currie flies Boeing 747-400 Megatops. But the former fighter pilot, who has clocked more than 24,000 hours in 43 years of flying, wanted an aircraft with more panache.
He has flown two kinds of British-made fighters - Hunters and Vampires - as well as Boeing 707 and 747 airliners.
He found exactly what he was looking for when the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) sold its 21 surviving Hunters in 1995.
The warplanes were delivered in 1970, and were decommissioned by the RSAF in 1992 - making them the force's longest-serving fighters.
Capt Currie paid US$30,000 for his Hunter and another US$10,000 to have it shipped to Australia.
'I don't have any children, so this is a substitute,' he said.
Only three former RSAF Hunters have been restored to flying condition. Although all of the RSAF's 21 Hunter jets were sold, the rest are either in museums or are looking for new owners.
The pilot's experience flying Hunters on ground attack missions for the Royal Rhodesian Air Force helped him immensely when Hunter 528 was stripped apart and rebuilt.
His restoration team is made up of former pilots and engineers who fought in the former Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
The team estimates that Hunter 528 can fly for another 20 years if it goes on short, 30-minute flights regularly.
Capt Currie's next challenge is to get his wife to join him in his new toy.
'She has yet to agree, but I'm working on it,' he said.
http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/storyprintfriendly/0,1887,206768,00.html? -
528 is 140 or 141 a/c?
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From what I know, the sharkmouth is a 140 thing. So 528 was a 140 bird at some point in its life.Originally posted by cavsg:528 is 140 or 141 a/c?
But many Hunters 2 seaters retained their sharkmouth when they switched squadrons, so 528 might have served with the Merlins as well
