What Happened to....
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....and XV501? Well I happen to know that some prat crashed it. It was the best of the bunch. It didn't matter which engines it had or what parts of how many sets of electronics it was fitted with, it was always the best. It flew fast and true, like an arrow - until that prat got hold of it.
(OK, it might not have been his fault, but that's not the point.)
(OK, it might not have been his fault, but that's not the point.)
Thread Starter
My thoughts as well. Just as I was about to throw my two-penneth in.
Sod it, I will anyway...
Ahh, the demise of an old friend. I first flew 208 with Chris(the lanky trucker) Morley on a NiFly trip in Detmold in April 1989, after it had arrived as one of the first Lx Mk7s to 654 Sqn. She was mine for the famous Sqn photo of the first sqn of Mk7s(all airborne, and serviceible, at the same time!!).
She later became my trusty war chariot in GW1, when I had Stu Donnan(
) as my pilot. If I remember correctly, she never went U/S on me, and my last flight was to take her from Al Jubail down to Dahran for loading back to the UK. I last saw her in 659's hangar back in Detmold, after our return, looking slighty worse for wear in her desert colours, still full of mixture of Saudi, Iraqi and Kuwaiti sand.
RIP 208.
The RAF aren't the only ones who can wax lyrical about aircraft.
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Originally Posted by MightyGem
If I remember correctly, she never went U/S on me ...
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XV501
XV501 was, indeed, a Phantom FGR2. I remember flying it on 23 Sqn at RAF Wattisham in 1981/82 when it was still painted in the old mud-moving dark green/dark grey camouflage. The record shows that the crew ejected from it over France on 2 Aug 88, following a technical problem (can't remember the exact circumstances). The pilot is now a Captain with a UK airline.
XZ 208 appears in my log book at 4 Regt around the same time as others have said (659 Sqn) and then appears again a few years later in Dishforth (656 Sqn) including a Bos tour. I am afraid I not sentimental enough to recall airframes with a tear in my eye but looking at the names of the individuals I flew with, that bought back some memories.
