Britannia XN398 Survivor?

9Q-CPX

I saw the bit in Fly Past on 9Q-CPX, and wondered where it could possibly come from?
Have just checked some slides taken of Goma in which there are numerous pictures of three Brits in a row, all in various stages of being scrapped.
One is of CPX with nose gear removed and therefore tail in the air, I recall some times it used to sit on its tail depending on the wind direction.
Circa 1984. The last piece removed from the hulk which by that time consisted only of the centre wing section, was the R/H jacking point from the rear spar to fix CHY, another story.
Therefore by 1986-1987 there was nothing left of CPX.

Off-topic I know, but having looked at Goma, I could not resist wizzing across to Sao Tome… Jesus Christ Airways Connies seem to still be there!

According to Flypast there might be another surviving RAF Britannia. XN398 it is said was scrapped in Goma, Congo, but…

Hahahaha, now that’s a great one, really made me laugh.

Sorry to spoil your fun boys but I can confirm XN398 or as 9Q-CPX was indeed scrapped at Goma along with EL-LWH (former XL637) early 90’s.

How do I know this? Because former RAF civvie Britannia flight engineer engineer John Byrne who worked for Katale Aero Transport was in Zaire at the time of scrapping and confirmed to me the status of all Brit’s left stranded in the Congo some time ago.

I’m 100% sure the two 4 engined props you can see in the photo above are an IL-18 top and an An-12 bottom.

I reckon both of the four-engined machines are An-12s – layout and size are the same. The fact that one of them has a lot of blue may disguise the fact that they are the same type!

I would suggest that the F-27 is actually an An-24/26

If it is a Brit, may I suggest that the dozens at Dubai may be easier to get….

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=25.334046,55.497866&z=18&t=h&hl=en-GB

An IL18 might turn out to be a good call….I certainly don’t think it’s a DC4. Engine nacelles are to long and the wing is slender with square(ish) tips.

I reckon the top one is an IL-18. The others are an F-27 and an An-12.

Cub, DC4 and ??? F27, Herald even ??

Blue tail is An-12. Other 4 engined looks like DC-4. 2 engined An-24/26?

J

The blue empennaged aircraft does bear a striking resemblance to a Brit,

What do you reckon they are Postfade?

Neither of the two four engined planes in this group is a Brit.

I have got a feeling I know where the rumour came from and in fact was present when the conversation took place.

Will sleep on it and see if I can remember anything else.

Though in the meantime you can always check it against 496 at Kemble using google earth/maps to see how measurements compare 🙂

Jon

No offence taken.
I did think it was parked a bit to close to the runway though. And if that is it I am surprised it’s in one piece after all this time.

Just goes to show they aren’t all hidden in barns! 🙂

sorry, i wasnt saying you were wrong, its just that i find google earth is usually more up to date than google maps is lol, seen the burnt out jetliner about a mile to the west?

I’m using Google Earth. I reckon that is it – tailplane looks right too.

which airport are you looking at, and are you using google earth or google maps?

edit: pretty sure thats it lol (was a bit tired) just compared the wing profile to this

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=goma+congo&sll=51.470424,-0.487604&sspn=0.031491,0.090981&ie=UTF8&ll=-1.667165,29.239066&spn=0.003158,0.005686&t=h&z=18&msa=0&msid=107279255646165449244.0004418b973759b8eb8f4

Any suggestions to what the large 4 engined propliner is halfway down the runway? Could that be it? Difficult to tell as the resolution isn’t good.

nothing blatantly obvious that i can see