By: ollieholmes - 18th December 2011 at 10:35
Thank you.
By: Dr. John Smith - 18th December 2011 at 05:22
Ollie,
Think that you mean XF323, not XF322 as:
a) XF322 a Hunter T8c two-seater whereas XF323 is/was a F4 single seater (refurbished to FGA.71 standard for Chile) and
a) XF322 was wrecked in an accident in 1967 (15/12/1967: Collided and crashed into Hunter XF938 of 759 NAS over St. Georges Channel twenty miles south west of Brawdy, Pembrokeshire during a dual training sortie)
So, what I know about XF323, later FaCh J-732 is:
XF323: c/no. HABL003084 Hawker Hunter F4 d/d 17/02/1956 to RAF, to ground instructional airframe 8003M in 1968, to G-9-380, refurbished to FGA071 standard and d/d 07/09/1973 to FACh as J-732
As you say, it was last noted in 1998 at Moreno AB, Chile. Now, I am aware of at least TWO ex-FaCH Hunter single seaters that have now been mounted on a pole, and displayed as gate guardians. They’re anonymous, so there is nothing to confirm their IDs.
So the one of the following two may – or may not – be FaCh J-732 (ex-XF323)
a) BASE AÉREA LOS CÓNDORES: Base emplazada en el aeropuerto de Iquique, en cuyo acceso se divisa un glorioso Hawker Hunter. (“Base located in the airport of Iquique, in whose access a glorious Hawker Hunter is described“). See http://www.flickr.com/photos/metropolis_pcm/4511114032/
b) The Chilean Air Force (FACH) have this unidentified Hunter-on-a-stick outside their Air War Academy in Santiago. The bombs on the wings no doubt underline the fact that it’s the WAR Academy! See http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/hunter/survivor.php?id=487
The latter is more likely to be J-732 (it is definitely serialled J-7**) but, in both cases, no-one has got close enough to see what, if any identification markings are worn.
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December 17, 2011 at 11:43 pm