February 6, 2011 at 10:21 pm
These things make me feel a little sad ! A small group of 737’s are being ‘parted out’ at Norwich ….. this process seems to take some time ! the aircraft fly in looking reasonably OK ? obviously at the end of their hours …. then after several visits to the hangars to remove all reusable parts they arrive at the ‘breaking area’ from where there is no return !!
Tonights photo shows an oldish Fokker 100 PH-OFP, braking hard on the runway with PH-BDP under its wing in its final resting place !!

And a view of PH-BDP on the apron late last week with not much left ??

By: keithnewsome - 7th February 2011 at 21:49
Planemike. Phew ! Thanks for that …. the old grey matter still working 44 years later ! and at the other end of that career ??
Keith. 😉
By: Arabella-Cox - 7th February 2011 at 21:42
Keith………..
You are quite correct G-AVRL was indeed the first Bristish registered 737…first of many……..!!!
Planemike
By: keithnewsome - 7th February 2011 at 21:27
cloud 9. I realy don’t know too much about the process, but as Niel says the empty ‘aluminium tube’ is broken up very crudly with a mechanical digger thingy, loaded onto lorrys and gone ! the last one seemed to only take a couple of days to complete.
TRIDENT MAN. Thanks for that, you know so much more than I, have seen photos of you in a Trident cockpit !
Peter. Well I assume they have removed all of the most saleable parts, maybe what remains is at the end of its ‘timed’ life ??
Interflug62M. Yes I couldn’t agree more about the passage of time, as a very young man at the start of my career (1967 / 1968) I was working on the runway lighting at Luton Airport when we were constantly annoyed by G-AVRL 737 Brittania Airways crew training at almost every opportunity ! I think this was the first 737 to arrive in the UK ?? maybe wrong ??
Keith.
By: MSR777 - 7th February 2011 at 16:52
It makes you very conscious of the passage of time when you see types being broken up and completely disappearing, that you can well remember entering service.:(
By: Peter - 7th February 2011 at 15:42
Still a lot of spares on that fuselage..
By: TRIDENT MAN - 7th February 2011 at 04:58
Cloud 9 ,yep the recycle begins once the aircraft has been parted out and interior fittings removed so it it then a shell ready for the munching.
By: cloud_9 - 6th February 2011 at 23:34
What happens to the overall structure then Keith once all the reuseable parts have been taken…is there such thing as “recycling” a fuselage?!