Jaguar a shadow of the things to come

Well I’d definitely be keen for a pair! (But I do have a laser and one cannon:very_drunk:)

Few bits missing on theirs too, the stopwatch, standby sight and internal canopy release lever had been removed, no lasers either, nor guns, a lot didn’t have cats in the engines which surprised me as the reheat had been balked / disconnected on what were the runners, most boots had perished too.

Some one should take moulds off the end of the reheat jet pipes and produce them, because a lot of them sadly look odd without engines fitted and the end of the jet pipe protruding, I reckon they would sell.

Lovely shots from Cosford, I’m not sure I’ll get 764 to a similar state of completeness of the birds at Cosford but I’ll give it a go…..(engine’s aren’t on the agenda)

As far as I recall, the GR3 wings remained within the fleet as FI had to be micromanaged, wing swaps became routine activity at St Athan as there were never enough wings around. No idea how the Omani wings were managed, but I do recall that the GIA ban didn’t last much into the 2000s.

John

Pretty sure I read about Cosford jets being the donors

In 97 when I joined the EA, the GIA wings were not allowed to be worked on by the trainees, however to make them suitable for the active fleet they needed some significant fatigue mods especially the plates under the centre wing which were made of unobtanium….. The Nigerian wings were looked at but the same again and having been baked in the African sun for some time all of the PRC in the tanks needed replacing as it had crumbled away. The cost of demodding the GR3/3A and updating the GR1s would have been prohibitive given that the fixed wing fleets were being reduced across the board

John

So how did they work around that when doing a wing swop with the Omani’s, or did they come of the GR3’s?
I saw them out and saw them in as they were shipped through EMA.

Hi All,
A sad state of affair regarding those Nigerian Jaguars, thank you to all those adding the extra tech knowhow regarding these lovely aircraft.

BTW Tony – Lovely pictures keep it up matey…:cool:

Geoff.

Although the later fleet may have been reaching the higher end on fatigue the RAF did possess a fleet of low houred frames that were the ex RAFG fleet relegated to training aids, as design authority had passed to the RAF I believe, they could have been brought up to GR3 standards utilising the fit on the existing fleet, however those wings were I think swapped out with the Omani Jags to keep them in service.. If you wanted low hour rust buckets the Nigerian fleet had a max of about 100 hours on them, we also even paid for them if I am correct as the UK stood guaranteer on them and Nigeria renaged after a few payments.

In 97 when I joined the EA, the GIA wings were not allowed to be worked on by the trainees, however to make them suitable for the active fleet they needed some significant fatigue mods especially the plates under the centre wing which were made of unobtanium….. The Nigerian wings were looked at but the same again and having been baked in the African sun for some time all of the PRC in the tanks needed replacing as it had crumbled away. The cost of demodding the GR3/3A and updating the GR1s would have been prohibitive given that the fixed wing fleets were being reduced across the board

John

Does anyone know, if this the same Jaguar that I was told was reluctant to leave the runway unless someone lit an additional firework in the shape of reheat ?

yes, they were renowned for using the curvature of the earth to assist in unsticking, especially when hauling 8 1000 pounders.

Nigerean pics here:
https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?125091-Small-Air-Forces-Thread-16/page125

BAe wanted to buy back the Nigerian Jaguars in the 1990’s I believe because they were very low hours but couldnt make the deal work. They were advertised circa six or seven years ago but I suspect of little use having stood for so long.

Beautiful pics Tony. You are quite the photographer

I keep hoping someday we will see a civilian registered Jag take to the air again 🙂

Btw thanks for the kind comments about my images, it means a lot.

Although the later fleet may have been reaching the higher end on fatigue the RAF did possess a fleet of low houred frames that were the ex RAFG fleet relegated to training aids, as design authority had passed to the RAF I believe, they could have been brought up to GR3 standards utilising the fit on the existing fleet, however those wings were I think swapped out with the Omani Jags to keep them in service.. If you wanted low hour rust buckets the Nigerian fleet had a max of about 100 hours on them, we also even paid for them if I am correct as the UK stood guaranteer on them and Nigeria renaged after a few payments.

It seems odd that India have talked about carrying on using theirs and even upgrading them, have they somehow solved the fatigue problems??

I doubt the Indian AF has got anywhere near hours/use the RAF fleet had got to, so probably not an issue for them.

Hi Ant

Some time since I left the Engineering Authority, but a lot will depend on the utilisation rate of the aircraft, whether any of the fatigue improvement mods have been incorporated into new build wings and whather the Indians have made enough wings to be able to swap them around to make best use of remaining life.

Enjoyed working on them (1st ac I cut my teeth on) and also spent nearly 8 years in the EA which was one of the best years I’ve had in my career thus far. Miss them a lot, just wish the missus would let me have one as a gate guard LOL

John

Great images of my all time favourite sharp noisy pointy thing 🙂 thanks!

Thanks for clarifying the wing situation John, I knew I’d heard something roughly to that effect but it doesn’t seem to get mentioned much. It seems odd that India have talked about carrying on using theirs and even upgrading them, have they somehow solved the fatigue problems??

Regards the decision to retire them, wasn’t there some sort of fatigue problem with the wing attachments??

Jags had a life extension that took them from 6000 to 7000 flying hours. The wings were being flown by inspection as there was an issue with inner and outer wing Fatigue Index calculations and most wings had concessions against them regarding a hole position at the rear spar which was a fatigue critical zone. The critical crack limit at this point was 0.5mm after which point the wing would probably unzip!

Coupled with stress corrosion in the frame 25 u/c mounts meant it was becoming labour intensive to maintain. Sad but she did give nearly 35 years of good service so I dare say the tax payer got their money’s worth out of the airframe

John