F.58 J-4063 at Orange, 19th September 2001; Alan Allen	F.58 J-4065 at Toulouse, 1995; Ailes Anciennes

Don't know anything about this one currently...

J-4065 flew out of Swiss hands and into French when she was donated to Ailes Anciennes by the Swiss government in 1995. Sadly that flight - from Payerne to Toulouse - was to be her last, and she now sits out in the open. Paintwork is suffering a bit but from the looks of the photo there is some gradual work being done on that score.

F.58 J-4066 at RAF Scampton, 15th October 1999; author	F.58 J-4067 at Montelimar, 20th September 2001; Alan Allen

Now, you won't be surprised when I tell you this is yet another former Swiss Air Force Hunter - J-4066, retired in 1995 to a museum in France. The OFMC found out about it and went to have a look, and liked it so much they got it airworthy again and the late Mark Hanna flew it into Kemble in early 1998. J-4066 spent some time with Delta Jets being restored and in early June of 1999 flew out to join the majority of HHA's Hunter fleet at Scampton. Her paintwork needs some attention after being sat out in the open at the French museum but apart from that she's in great condition.

Looking rather faded but apparently kept in 'airworthy' condition is J-4067, for a change an ex-Swiss Hunter that hasn't ended up in the UK! Being kept out in the open like this I doubt it really is airworthy or even close to it any more, though it certainly was when it arrived, because it flew in.

F.58 J-4068 at Aviano, August 1999; SSgt Terry Johnson	F.58 J-4070 at Emmen, March 2001; Thomas P. Hofer

Stored at Aviano airfield for a few years after flying in, J-4068 is now on the move and destined for a local museum.

J-4070 is nicely displayed near the newly established 'Patrouille Suisse Place' beside Emmen airport (also the home base of the Patrouille Suisse). She appears to be in immaculate condition, long may she stay so!

F.58 J-4072 at RAF Scampton, 15th October 1999; author	F.58 J-4077 at Weelde, late 1999; Nicolaas Van den Bergh

Awaiting reassembly and restoration to flying condition is J-4072. Previously on static display at the Speyer Museum in Germany, J-4072 was, in common with many museum exhibits in Germany, demilitarised by having its engine pumped full of foam. This hardens to form a solid mass, rendering the engine useless. However HHA simply intend to dump the engine and put a new one in! So once again, as with J-4066, a static museum exhibit is to be come a living aircraft once more.

Hiding away in a hangar at Weelde AFB is this ex-Swiss Hunter.The last flight J-4077 made was on 04-10-1995, when Kaptain Stefan Brunner flew the aircraft from Meiringen in Switzerland to Weelde. The aircraft is stored the and is is the property of the Royal Aviation Museum Brussels. The airfield personnel look after it; keep the tires inflated, move it around from time to time etc. The engine hasn't been run for four years now, so it definitely needs a good inspection (as does the whole aircraft). The hangar in which it is stored in is kept to a humidity of approximately 40 %, so the structure is in very good shape.

F.58 J-4081 at RAF Scampton, 15th October 1999; author	F.58 J-4086 at Kemble, 22nd July 2001; author

Yet another component of the world's largest single Hunter fleet is J-4081. All the Swiss F.58s were modernised and had low airframe hours, which means they are still rather potent military aircraft - strange then, that when DERA lost its Hawks to the RAF, it didn't hire the OFMC's Hunters instead of buying a bunch of manky German Alpha Jets. Maybe it was embarassing to BAe to have an old product like the Hunter still in use - even so, I bet it's a hell of a lot more embarassing for a German product to be purchased instead!

After retirement from active service and donation to a consortium of Crossair airliner pilots she was given an experimental rating by the Swiss CAA in November 1998 and is now flown by the consortium. She's seen here taking off at the - you guessed it - Hawker Hunter 50th Anniversary Air Day, a rare visit to the UK.