FR.71A J-734 at at Los Cerillos, April 5th 1997; Alvaro Andre Romero Perez	FR.71A J-735 at Santiago, May 1st 1997; Alvaro Andre Romero Perez

J-734 is another Chilean Hunter on the charge of the national air museum, pictured here in the static at the ENACI '97 Airshow at Los Cerrillos Air Base.

Another Hunter preserved at Chile's Air Museum is J-735, in common with many of the others there it looks to be in great shape.

T.72 J-718 at Santiago, Chile, December 1996; Alvaro Andre Romero Perez	T.72 PP-XHH at height over Brazil, 29th September 2001; Luiz F Tedeschi/Embraer

A well-travelled Hunter, this one. Serving first with the Belgian Air Force as an F.6, it crashed and the remains went back to Hawkers. Mated with a two-seat nose section that had originally been built only for display at the Paris Air Show and various other spare parts, the result was a T.66. Registered then as G-APUX, it flew around the world as a demonstrator and was loaned to several air forces before being finally sold to the Chilean Air Force as a T.72 in 1967. Thankfully it has been preserved and is now on display inside Chile's new aviation museum, with a selection of armament to prove that having two seats doesn't make this just a trainer!

Originally built as an F.4 for the RAF (as XE704), she served with 112 Squadron, became a maintenance airframe and was then sold back to Hawkers for conversion to a T.72 for the Chilean Air Force. Retired to the National Aerospace Museum in Chile, she was then sold to Embraer of Brazil to be used as a flight test chase plane (with the civilian ID of PP-XHH), and was chosen for its good Mach 0.95 level flight performance. During July and August 2001 she averaged 35 flight hours a month and has proven to be a reliable workhorse for Embraer, and a popular performer at airshows - Hunters are a serious rarity in Brazil!

FGA.73A 831 at Seeb, July 2002; Bob Green	F.74 501 at Singapore's Air Force Museum, August 2001; Bob Lawson

On display in an anonymous low-vis grey scheme at Seeb airport near Muscat in Oman is this Hunter, marked '831' on the nose gear door. Oman had a wide range of marks of Hunter, given to the country by the King of Jordan in the mid 1970s. This particular example is an ex-RAF one later modified to FGA.73A status. Information current as of 18/12/2002.

Displayed at Singapore's Air Force Museum with a selection of other types operated by Singapore's defence forces, this F.74 served for some time with the RAF as XG260 before being retired and sold on to Singapore. Despite being out in the open the aircraft looks to be in superb condition, with the wheels lifted off the ground and the canopy blacked out. Another Hunter resides inside the museum, which is superb - only the RAF Museum at Hendon even compares apparently, and admission is free!

F.74 515 at Pasir Ris, 9th June 1999; Chuan Keng Keat	F.74 521 at Tocumwal, July 2000; Bob Lawson

In excellent external condition, 515 is displayed on a raised base in landscaped surroundings at a holiday resort in Singapore. Unlike 501 at the Air Force Museum, 515 has low-vis national markings but also has a painted canopy to block the strong sun from damaging the cockpit interior.

When Singapore retired her Hunters a substantial number were purchased by Allan Arthur and his partner, otherwise known as Pacific Hunter Aviation in Australia. Stored dismanted in a dry secure environment, most are in excellent condition with very little corrosion but faded paintwork. All are up for sale, but are moving slowly - primarily because the release of the ex-Swiss examples took the European market away.

F.74 527 at Singapore's Air Force Museum, August 2001; Bob Lawson	F.74 529 at Tocumwal, July 2000; Bob Lawson

This one is inside the Museum and is immaculate like the others in Singapore. The RSAF Hunter fleet underwent a major upgrading programme in the mid 70's and were redesignated as F.74S, FR.74S and T.75S respectively. The upgrade included improved avionics and additional weapons stations, making the RSAF Hunters unique in the world. The Hunters remained in frontline service until they were phased out in 1992 with the arrival of the F-16s.

529 (left) and 531 (right) are two more of Pacific's ex-Singapore Hunters, dusty and dismantled like the rest but still in superb condition. These two plus 540 are the only ones not normally covered by plastic sheeting so have attracted rather more dust than the others. With only around 60% of their fatigue life used up these Hunters still have a lot of years left on them.