Thunder & Lightnings - Hawker Hunter - Survivor 'WB188' (really WV256, G-BZPB)

Hawker Hunter
Survivor 'WB188' (really WV256, G-BZPB)
Airbase (on display), Coventry Airport, Baginton, Warwickshire

WV256 first flew on 5th May 1955 and was delivered to the RAF on 20th May 1955. Serving with 26(F) Squadron and 229 OCU, she was bought back by Hawkers in 1960, converted to a GA.11 and delivered to RNAS Lossiemouth and 738 NAS on 2nd April 1963. 738 moved to Brawdy and so did WV256, but she moved back to Lossiemouth when transferred to 764 NAS in 1969. In 1972 she joined ADTU, and in 1973 became part of FRADU's fleet, retiring in 1995 and being flown to RAF Shawbury for storage. Auctioned off in 2000, she was sold to Barry Pearson and flown to Exeter on a ferry permit (now registered G-BZPB) for a full restoration to flight, which took no time at all - by May 2001 she was airborne again, and wearing her current 'sky' colours representing the original prototype Hunter. She was flown on the airshow circuit in 2001 and 2002 but her Permit to Fly expired in 2003 and she has not flown since. In common with many of the other briefly-active Hunters based at Exeter, she then moved - by road - to Kemble and was part of the spares/display line-up there for some years before moving in late May 2010 to Coventry and the new Airbase (Air Atlantique) facility.

Information on this page current as of 21/05/2010

Find other photos of WB188 on the following sites:

Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - IrishAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net

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