British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

[Unknown74]

Only saw it once when passing Boulmer some years ago & remembered it unfortunately couldn’t get my camera through that fence for a decent picture from a good angle.

[BPAG]

We are a couple of days late with this one, so apologies for the delay…

July 1st 1987 saw the successful London to Edinburgh speed record undertaken by F-4J(UK)s of 74 Squadron, with Ian Gale and Ned Kelly aboard ZE360 and Cliff Spink and Steve Smyth in ZE361.

ZE361 pipped the BPAG’s ZE360 to the post by a couple of seconds (at 27mins 3 secs) but with that aircraft being scrapped in 2001, it is appropriate to suggest that the record should be passed to ZE360, being the survivor of the pair.

According to the 74 Sqn Association, this is the only known photographic record of the event, taken by Peter Foster who was aboard the VC-10 tanker just prior to the attempt. Note the clean configuration on both aircraft and it was reported that after the constant use of reheat in the second half of the run, both aircraft recovered to Wattisham with the paint from the rear of the aircraft burnt off. We are currently trying to get confirmation of that.

Congratulations to 74 Squadron for retaining this record for 35 years and enjoy the anniversary of a great feat.

[Unknown74]

Hi there guys, did these aircraft actually land at Edinburgh Airport or RAF Leuchars? Or did they fly up then turn back? Also where over Edinburgh was their finishing line?

[BPAG]

Hi there guys, did these aircraft actually land at Edinburgh Airport or RAF Leuchars? Or did they fly up then turn back? Also where over Edinburgh was their finishing line?

According to our contacts at the 74 Sqn Association, they never directly overflew anywhere as going supersonic over land wasn't (and still isn't) allowed unless for operational reasons. They departed Wattisham and flew down over the North Sea until parallel with London. They then topped up with fuel and accelerated up to The Wash before going supersonic for the rest of the trip. They crossed the parallel line of Edinburgh out over the North Sea, refuelled and then recovered back to Wattisham.

[iainpeden]

I think ZE361 was one of three repainted; could the date of that be a clue to the burnt off paint question?

[Drinkmat]

In my fast jet Flight Planning days, I recall the rules for supersonic flight prohibited it unless 10nm or more out to sea from any coastline.

[tc2324]

I think ZE361 was one of three repainted; could the date of that be a clue to the burnt off paint question?

About half the fleet were repainted in 1989 so unfortunately this doesn`t tie up with that. To be honest, it`s doubtful the paint was actually burnt off, it just may have been discoloured and then `Chinese whispers` took hold as it mostly does with old stories.

[22A]

until parallel with London. They then topped up with fuel and accelerated up to The Wash before going supersonic for the rest of the trip. They crossed the parallel line of Edinburgh out over the North Sea,

Not quite the same as Hendon - Turnhouse then

[BPAG]

A selection of instruments and panels kindly donated by one of our supporters, Bob Daniels. Bob has spent many years collecting a wide variety of Phantom parts and equipment and earlier this year made the incredibly selfless decision to donate the majority of his collection to the group. We’ll be sharing pictures of some more of them over the coming months (although possibly not the ones the Chairman gets most excited about, such as main leg filling or tyre inflation adaptors). Cockpit parts and components are high on our priority list, so this contribution is particularly welcome and we’d like to thank Bob for his amazing generosity.

These will be handed over to our quartermaster Paul West for cleaning and refurbishment before being logged, tagged and stored ready to return to a cockpit at the earliest opportunity.

[BPAG]

Here’s an interesting and unusual contribution to the BPAG collection. This Turn Around Guide and newspaper article have been generously donated by John Waterhouse, whose late father Lt. Cdr Paul Waterhouse was ex-F4 aircrew, and who provided the following background information-

“My father was one of the Miramar Eight who were instructors on exchange with VF-121 Squadron (Pacemaker) from 1966-1968 and was also a respected observer on the F-4B. He was extremely proficient in air combat intercepts and conventional weapons delivery and he was an exceptionally valuable instructor at a time when the USN was struggling in Vietnam. Top Gun was formed in 1969, but I'm pretty sure Dad and his colleagues played an integral part in the success of the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program”.

John`s father was also part of the 1969 Transatlantic Air Race from New York to London and the photo on the newspaper shows him leaping from the helicopter beside the Post Office Tower in the final moments of the race. They beat the existing record set by the Americans 11 years prior by 26 mins, the new time being 5 hours, 3 minutes and 18.8 seconds.

Our thanks go out to John for this kind donation.

[BPAG]

The month of November saw the ZE360 BPAG restoration team finally expel most of the gremlins that had held up the work over the last 6 months and culminated in a number of important objectives achieved over the weekend of the 26th and 27th. It`s certainly been some time since the last update, however this kind of work isn`t all glamour and glory working on the aircraft itself. As we approach the end of the year it`s safe to say that the team have spent more than enough time, and some, to make sure all the support hardware is in place and works and operates safely. The last point more so.

So, what`s been going on?

In order for ZE360 to be relocated from Manston to Cotswold Airport, two things need to be completed as mentioned in previous updates. In very simple terms, (1) the J79 engines require removal before we can proceed with, (2), splitting the aircraft for transportation. The team were lucky enough to obtain a Universal trolley which would assist in completing the first task. However, as with most things that involve equipment that has been left out in the open for a number of years, it was soon discovered that we would also need to strip down the trolley and in effect, restore that as well. To ensure it was fit for purpose and safe to use, a number of parts needed to be inspected and replaced and/or fabricated as required. This included removing and replacing the tyres while inspecting and servicing the hubs and bearings, inspecting and replacing the hydraulic hoses and connectors as required, removing and welding the cracked and leaking hydraulic tank and last but not least, replacing the seals for the hydraulic RAMS. The latter was by far the biggest issue the team faced and it took a number of weeks to complete after much difficulty. Finally, by mid-November a small team were able to attend site and rebuild the trolley making sure the hydraulic components worked as designed and the inbuilt safety features functioned as they should.

We used a local engineering firm to carry out the fabrication of the the engine stands that will be used to transport the J79`s to Cotswold Airport. These were assembled and painted over the final weekend of the month and then fixed the completed frames to the two small trolleys for mobility. The J79 adaptors were also test fitted to the Universal trolley which highlighted some areas that required further attention and these will be inspected and serviced at some point in December prior to Christmas.

A massive thanks for all their continuing assistance go to Steve Pope, Paul West, Peter Partridge, Ryan Luscombe, Nathan Garrard, Damien Hughes, Pete Moore and Sean Kemsley.

With luck, we are now fast approaching another major milestone relocating ZE360 to Cotswolds where it will join her sisterships, XT905 and XT597 and we look forward to updating you further in the New Year.

(All photos via BPAG)

[Weazel69]

Good Morning Gent's
looking at the oldies photo section/FC there have been several posting's of RAF WATTISHAM - F4's by Tim Holden, and of course several comments
One of these is a query by "Mustang531" of someone playing bagpipes in the rear seat whilst at Mach.2
Now when I was at RAF COLTISHALL as a civvie Forward Delivery Driver, I came to know of John Welton.MBE Whom had a reputation of being a bagpipe player
and I am wondering if any of you BPAG guy's could throw any light on this subject - Kind Regards

[SKW100]

Thank you for the links. Will start following.

[BPAG]

Ok, so a long overdue update on all things BPAG.

April really has been a blur. Not to put too finer point on the matter, we had to complete a number of things all within the space of a few very short weeks.

1. Lay a large concrete slab - check
2. Relocate the aircraft and other stores from the taxiway onto the slab - check
3. Build an LVRE shelter so that the airframes can be stored undercover after a fair number of years out in the open - check

The following photos can help tell the story and if you want to know more, come follow or join the group for regular updates and general British F-4 Phantom chat on our Facebook pages

https://www.facebook.com/BPAGofficial

https://www.facebook.com/groups/bf4pag

Once everything is settled at `base camp`, the group will once again turn it`s attention back to ZE360 and start working on relocating her to join her sister ships at Cotswolds.

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All Photos copyright of BPAG

[BPAG]

The weekend of June 3rd and 4th saw another hurdle jumped for Phantom F-4J(UK) ZE360 and the BPAG Team.

The first J79 engine has now been removed from the aircraft for the first time since at least February 1991 with the weekend providing some steep learning curves for the team.


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