FAW.1 XA553 at Thunder City, 28th December 2001; Neil Covitch	FAW.1 XA564 at RAF Cosford, 8th May 2003; author

XA553 stood as the gate guard at RAF Stanmore Park for many years (and Yatesbury before that) until it was auctioned off when the station was closed. Mike Beachyhead was the winning bidder, and had the aircraft dismantled and transported to his Thunder City operation in South Africa. XA553 has been repainted in his house colours - a totally fictional gloss black scheme complete with silver intake lips and red 'DANGER INTAKE' markings. She is, as you can see, now on dramatic display outside the Thunder City complex, which finally opened to the public in mid December 2001. Information current as of 28/12/2001.

With XA553's departure, there is now only a single Mk.1 Javelin left in the UK, which is XA564. She sits out in the weather at the RAF Museum at Cosford, but doesn't appear to be suffering for it, and looks complete and in good condition. Since my last visit in 1998, she does appear to have faded somewhat however. Information current as of 08/05/2003.

FAW.4 XA634 at RAF Leeming, 6th September 2003; Neil Pearson	FAW.5 XA699 at Baginton, 11th May 2002; author

XA634 was used at one point to test an abortive refuelling probe installation on the port wing, but went on to serve at Leeming with 228 OCU, in whose colours she is now displayed on the gate at the station. She had begun to look pretty scrappy but a repaint in 2001 improved matters. The canopy however had become so clouded that they have now painted it black. Information current as of 06/09/2003.

Built in 1957 here at Baginton, XA699 served with 151 and 5 Squadrons at Leuchars and Laarbruch respectively. The height of the cold war saw XA699 as part of Laarbruch's Battle Flight - ready to respond to Warsaw Pact incursions within minutes, day or night. When the FAW.9 entered service, XA699 was retired to Shawbury and then moved to Cosford by road for maintenance use. In 1983 the Midland Air Museum acquired the aircraft and it has been undergoing on/off restoration for some time - initially by the local ATC Squadron who got as far as doing some painting, but in more recent times the real progress has been made by museum volunteer Mark Howard - read more about the restoration at Mark's web site. My last visit found her repaint to be complete, and the cockpit also refitted - nice one Mark! Information current as of 24/05/2005.

FAW.8 XH992 at Winthorpe, 21st May 2005; Les Bwyaters	FAW.9 XH707 at Cerbaiola, 28th October 2004; John Valsson

XH992 had looked rather worse for wear for some years but thankfully in 1999 she was repainted, retaining her 85 Squadron colours, and has stayed looking pretty good since then - now permanently undercover in Newark's new hangar she should stay that way. XH992 lacks engines but otherwise appears complete. Information current as of 21/05/2005.

The real XH707 was used by Armstrong Siddeley to test various reheat installations, as a precursor to the FAW.8. XH768, though, led a more normal life, and after retirement ended up displayed at the ill-fated aviation museum at Southend. With the museum's closure she was auctioned off and bought by Air Classik in Germany, and stayed there until acquired by the newly formed Museo dell'Aviazione in 1995. They have a page about XH707 here. Unfortunately the Italian climate, while most agreeable to people, hasn't been kind to this Javelin - badly faded, has some moss growing on her, and the pitot probes have been bent by vandals. The nose wheel is sinking into the ground, and to stop the aircraft tipping on its tail the rear fuselage is supported by a brace. Information current as of 28/10/2004.

FAW.9 XH767 at Elvington, 20th May 2001; Bob Lawson	FAW.9 XH897 at Duxford, March 12th 2000; author

XH767 was built at Hucclecote and began its flying career with 25 Squadron at RAF Waterbeach in December 1959, but was transferred to 11 Squadron at RAF Geilenkirchen in Germany only days later. Moving on to 228 OCU at RAF Binbrook in May 1965, XH767 was retired in 1967 and issued to 187 ATC at Worcester that summer. After display at the Avon Aviation Museum at Monkton, she finally moved to Horsham St. Faith in 1992. 23 Squadron were based at RAF Horsham St. Faith (now Norwich Airport), and it was in their colours that XH767 was displayed at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum. XH767 had been looking rather decrepit for some time but in 1998 and 1999 she was repainted and looked much better for it. No engines are in the aircraft and the cockpits are rather sparse but apart from that she looks in good nick. And after all that effort, she moved to the Yorkshire Air Museum - she's pictured there shortly after arrival, having a few missing panels replaced and some touching-up done on the paintwork. Information current as of 20/05/2001.

Built as an FAW.7 and seeing service with 5, 25 and 33 Squadrons, XH897 was converted to an FAW.9 and used by the A&AEE for various purposes, mostly chase and calibration duties whereby it would fly alongside newer types so their airspeed indicators could be accurately calibrated against a known target. In this way it helped out on the Shorts SC.9, Concorde and MRCA (Tornado) projects. This was the last Javelin to fly, its final flight being on 24th January 1975, landing at Duxford to join what was the newly established Imperial War Museum collection there. She's been repainted at least once since arrival (sadly losing many of the markings she arrived in) and on the whole looks to be in superb condition, though there are a few bits of flaking paint in evidence. Since the above picture was taken she's moved back inside once more. Information current as of 22/05/2005.

FAW.9 XH903 at Staverton, 17th December 2004; Chris Hunt/Jet Age Museum	FAW.9R XH892 at Flixton, November 1999; author

Delivered as an FAW.7 to 19 MU at RAF St. Athan in early 1959, XH903 served with 23 Squadron at RAF Coltishall and RAF Horsham St. Faith. After only a year of service the aircraft was converted initially to an FAW.8 but became an FAW.9 by the time it was returned to RAF service in 1961. 903 saw further service with 33, 29 and 5 Squadrons until retirement in late 1965. Allocated as a gate guard for RAF Innsworth in 1967, she remained there until the early 1990s when 903 was replaced by a Meteor and the nearby Jet Age Museum acquired the aircraft. Progress on XH903 appeared slow but in 2003 a major boost was given with RIAT wanting the aircraft as part of the '100 years of flight' exhibition. Quickly reassembled and cosmetically restored, the aircraft was one of the stars of the static display. Since moved back to Staverton, she is now on display near the airport cafe. Information current as of 17/12/2004.

XH892 served with 23 and 64 Squadrons and on retirement joined the historic aircraft collection at RAF Colerne (the genesis of the RAF Museum). When the collection was dispersed with the station's closure XH892 made the journey to Duxford and sat there for a while looking increasingly worse for wear. Thankfully however Duxford received a second Javelin so the Norfolk & Suffolk Aviation Museum got hold of XH892, and have fully restored her. The paint job is beginning to lose its lustre once more but she still looks pretty good. Still, it seems odd that Duxford have a Javelin that was mainly a trials aircraft (and therefore perhaps best suited to display at Cosford), and disposed of this example. Information current as of 11/1999.