Thunder & Lightnings

Hawker Hunter - Survivor N392AX (ex-G-BWOU, J-4105, XF303)

F.58A N392AX - Destroyed

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Hunter F.58A N392AX at RAF Scampton, 15th October 1999; Damien Burke

Built as an F.4, XF303 first flew in December 1955 and served with 66(F) Squadron before being transferred to the Fleet Air Arm as a ground instructional airframe (A2565). Returned to Hawkers in 1970, she was converted to an F.58A and delivered to the Swiss Air Force as J-4105 in 1972. On retirement she was acquired by the OFMC and later Hawker Hunter Aviation, and flown to their base at RAF Scampton.

At one point, she regained her old RAF colours (albeit retaining the Swiss '105' nose markings). By 2006 the aircraft had moved on to join the Hunter Flying Club fleet at Exeter via a stop at Kemble. It was not a long stay as she was disposed of to Hunter Aviation in the USA and was registered as N329AX in August 2008.

Flown by ATAC in the USA, the aircraft was lost on 18th May 2012 in an accident caused by a combination of poorly carried out maintenance and pilot error - sadly the pilot, Charles Rogers, was killed after control was lost, and he ejected outside of the survivable ejection envelope. Accident report here.

Information on this page current as of 20/08/2023, last updated by Damien

Find other photos of N392AX on the following sites:

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