Preserve, sink, paintball or scrap?

Yes, as a cockpit project, it looks like a good one. All the panels are there, and all the consoles. It even has a control column!

If you have any doubts, look at Marks website – he had to cut his into many pieces!

Bruce

And my F.4 had been attacked with an angle grinder so huge parts of the internal structure, brackets, platforms etc had been cut out. You’d be hard pressed to tell now 😀 . Think empty cockpit shell, and you will have a pretty good idea of how mine was.

For those of us who are dedicated in bringing our projects back from the dead, that cockpit is more complete than many offered in the past (apart from those who managed to acquire easy ‘clean up’ projects).

I would have loved to purchase to go alongside my F.4, but I don’t have the luxury of £1600 to spare plus the costs of scrapping the fuse and clearing the site, and I note that no one else from the forum did either (where were all the ‘I’m interested in the Humbrol Hunter’ lot?). As a ‘spares donkey’ it would address many of the difficulties quite a number of us Hunter restorers are facing in getting parts – most of us are quite creative with restoring corroded parts and prefer original than locally made.

At least this one is not being sunk to help pollute a lake somewhere. One can hope that when the owners have finished with it, then it may be made available for one of the Hunter fanatics to take on.

Pah! Shame on you Mr.D! Remind me to smack your wrists next time I see you.:D

That’s a perfectly restorable cockpit. I do have the advantage of having seen it up close fairly recently but, as a cockpit project, it’s a definate goer. Such a shame it’s the third Hunter in recent months to be put out of reach like this.

You know me MarkG, always the eternal pessimist!!! Then again look at what I have taken on……….perhaps I was a little hasty with my remarks:o

I have a friend in the RAF who was looking at using an retired wessex fuselage in his airsoft site (airsoft = paintball without the paint and the guns look almost real) but due to H&S and site insurance etc he could not do it.

I know at least one site that has a helicopter (a whirlwind) but you are not allowed near it and do not play anywhere around it as it is dangerous.

We looked at getting an aircraft fuselage for our woodland site but the H&S implications made it impracticle.

curlyboy

I was there a coulpe of months ago, the Wessex, XT762 was in a bad state having spent a lot of time on it’s side, the port side was badly crushed, I’d say it was too dangerous for a paintball site.

The Hunter arrived at Predannack in August 1993, it was spares recovered for a museum/collection and has since been used for U/C fires and crew extraction training, the rear fuselage has been burnt. I guess for a dedicated Hunter fan, the cockpit could be saved.

Yes, as a cockpit project, it looks like a good one. All the panels are there, and all the consoles. It even has a control column!

If you have any doubts, look at Marks website – he had to cut his into many pieces!

Bruce

Judging by the amount of corrosion in the cockpit area I doubt if even cockpit project would have been viable.

Pah! Shame on you Mr.D! Remind me to smack your wrists next time I see you.:D

That’s a perfectly restorable cockpit. I do have the advantage of having seen it up close fairly recently but, as a cockpit project, it’s a definate goer. Such a shame it’s the third Hunter in recent months to be put out of reach like this.

Judging by the amount of corrosion in the cockpit area I doubt if even cockpit project would have been viable.

Richy.

I know someone who went to look at the Hunter at the weekend, took one look at it and promptly walked away! It is waaaaay beyond help now – cockpit project at the very best.

Jon

Indeed, very poor condition inside & out……..

(Photos c/o ‘HMS Vulture’)

I know someone who went to look at the Hunter at the weekend, took one look at it and promptly walked away! It is waaaaay beyond help now – cockpit project at the very best.

Jon

Well, I dont see the Wessex as having a future in preservation.

Hunter would yield a cockpit, but how many people can house a complete Hunter?

Bruce