Hunter XF382 Official Naming Ceremony

On Sunday 4th June at 12:00, the Midland Air Museum’s resident Hawker Hunter F6A XF382 was the centrepiece of the official naming ceremony in memory of the late Sqn Ldr Eastwood of 234 Sqn at RAF Brawdy. Attended by members of the 234 Sqn Association, the unveiling was carried out by Patrick Eastwood in memory of his father. Many months of hard work by the Museum and its members culminated in a day of excellent weather, lots of favourable comments from those that attended, and a great feeling of honour and pride felt by those closely involved in this project – not least by myself. I’ve been working on this Hunter for the last 12 years as a volunteer at the Museum, and along with the recent restoration help given by Malcolm and Gordon (the well known Museum’s “A” Team for repaints); the Museum has acheived another milestone in it’s success. On the day, the aircraft looked the best it has ever done, as I’m sure the attached pictures will illustrate.
Powering it up during the afternoon’s sunshine, I felt that all the years of commitment to this Museum had been worth it, and couldn’t have asked for a more fitting climax to the project… Not that we’re resting on our laurels though – as the aircraft now requires a lot of dedicated ongoing maintenance in order to keep it looking this good for years to come. When I started on this project I had high hopes of course, as this aircraft and I share some personal history in the RAF, but I never envisaged seeing it in all it’s glory like this, and I take my hat off to Malcolm & Gordon for their hard graft in repainting the aircraft in my absence last year….
Now enjoy some highlights of the day in the pictures below….

Pete Buckingham