A few ex RAF Britannia aircraft ended their days in Belgium, I managed to capture some before their demise and have included other prop jobs seen at the time I thought might be of interest, especially to prop fans.
Britannia srs 253 OO YCE at Ostend July 1979, 3 of its engines are already missing and was scrapped the following year, ex RAF XL 636.
Liberia World srs 253 9Q CKG (OO YCH), stored at Ostend July 1979, also scrapped there 1980, ex RAF XL 637.
Centre Air Afrique srs 253 9U BAD at Charleroi/Gossielies July 1979, at the time it was impounded for non payment of charges, scrapped Apr 1981, ex RAF XL 657.
F-27 9Q CKH at Kortijk/Wevelgem in Sept 1980, a little research has revealed this was a Fairchild built airframe, the colour scheme looked to be ex Air Zaire ,I did not know it when I took the pic that Kilo Moto was a mining company. Looking through the windows I noticed it was devoid of seats and had Dowty parts boxes on the floor.
The other 2 Convair pics (C131Bs)?, I couldn’t find much information on them at all.They looked ex US military, whoever aquired them and for what purpose is a mystery (to me!). Maybe someone on this forum can solve it, both were taken at Ostend in 1979 and 1980 (the final one).
Gerry R
By: wieesso - 26th December 2012 at 11:05
c/n 270 was a T-29B s/n 51-5139 USAF, conv. 24/4/61 to a VT-29B s/n 51-5139 USAF, became N99653 with Westair Intl., later with Delta Air Service, scrapped at Ostend 1981 [WFU]
The last registered owner of N99653 was
DELTA AIR SERVICE INC.
CHEASEAPKE, VA
A bit irritating is this:
N99653 at Malta Luqa Airport, 15.09.1980 with Peacock International…
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000598630.html
Delta Air Service is the fourth registrant (USAF, Westair Intl., Peacock Intl. (maybe!))
By: Gerry R - 25th December 2012 at 22:32
Martin, your guesses were spot on, many thanks for the links you supplied. I noted the comment on the second link that N99653 was ‘abandoned by its crew at Ostend’, further research should be very interesting;), I will also try to contact the other photographers, thanks again :).
Best regards, Gerry.
By: wieesso - 25th December 2012 at 18:19
Guess the first Convair is c/n 213 ex 50-0183
http://www.flugzeugbilder.de/show.php?id=581891
and the second is c/n 270 ex 51-5139
http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/000764308.html
Martin
By: Gerry R - 25th December 2012 at 17:18
Reinstated Pics
By a mistake on my part, I deleted the pics relating to the above post in April this year, herewith reinstated. Any confusion it may have caused was unintentional and offer my humble apologies for the error.
Two ex RAF Britannia C.1s ended their days in Belgium, OO-YCE ex XL636 ‘Argo’, scrapped Ostend Aug 1980, and 9U-BAD ex XL657 ‘Regel’, at Charleroi Apr 1981. The Liberia World example 9Q-CKG ex XL637 ‘Vega’, was ferried to Goma in Zaire later in 1979 for use as a spares source, and scrapped there in Jan 1992, not as I previously stated at Ostend:rolleyes:.
The F 27 at Kortrijk is traceable, but the two Convairs remain a mystery, but I shall continue my endevours to find out their histories, they seem to be ex US military (C 131Bs)?
Best regards, Gerry R:)
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January 8, 2012 at 8:57 pm