Hawker Hunter - Survivor ZU-CTN (ex G-BZRI, XF967)
T.8B ZU-CTN - Hangar 51 Aviation, (restoration to flight), Port Elizabeth International Airport, Gqeberha, South Africa
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Hunter T.8B ZU-CTN at Thunder City, 31st October 2012; Francis Wallace
XF967 was built as a Hunter F4 at Blackpool which first flew in April 1956 and was delivered to the RAF at No.5 MU at Kemble on 1 May 1956. The aircraft was operated by No 3 Squadron coded Z for some time before returning to Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963 where she was converted to Hunter T8B, (one of three) for the Royal Navy. She was later transferred to the RAF and flown by No. 237 Operational Conversion Unit for Buccaneer pilot training. In the mid-1990s, XF967 was flown to RAF Cranwell Engineering and Training Squadron where she was kept in flightworthy condition up until 1999 when it went up for sale.
Mike Beachy Head purchased the aircraft in the 2000s and transported it to his growing collection of classic jet aircraft based in Cape Town, South Africa, known as Thunder City. After much restoration work, the airframe gained the serial ZU-CTN and took to the skies once more, displaying at airshows and offering backseat rides for many years. Sadly in 2009, Thunder City's Lightning ZU-BEX (ex XS421) crashed, costing Dave Stock his life. After this incident, the fleet was temporarily grounded while the CAA did an investigation on both the crash and their facility. They managed to gain CAA approval once again but stated that the company would be closing and that from then onwards they could only make private flights. After all of this, ZU-CTN was permanently grounded, and instead got one of their other Hunters flightworthy. In 2016, the collection closed its doors for good, putting the collection up for sale. The airframes managed to stay dry for a few more years, before finally being pushed outside for storage in early 2020, while they await a new owner.
In late 2021, ZU-CTN alongside a few of the other airframes were acquired by Hangar 51 Aviation, with a vision to return them to flight once more. ZU-CTN was road moved to Port Elizabeth International Airport, based in Gqeberha, in October 2022, with a brief stop off at Diemerskraal Airfield en route.
Mike Beachy Head purchased the aircraft in the 2000s and transported it to his growing collection of classic jet aircraft based in Cape Town, South Africa, known as Thunder City. After much restoration work, the airframe gained the serial ZU-CTN and took to the skies once more, displaying at airshows and offering backseat rides for many years. Sadly in 2009, Thunder City's Lightning ZU-BEX (ex XS421) crashed, costing Dave Stock his life. After this incident, the fleet was temporarily grounded while the CAA did an investigation on both the crash and their facility. They managed to gain CAA approval once again but stated that the company would be closing and that from then onwards they could only make private flights. After all of this, ZU-CTN was permanently grounded, and instead got one of their other Hunters flightworthy. In 2016, the collection closed its doors for good, putting the collection up for sale. The airframes managed to stay dry for a few more years, before finally being pushed outside for storage in early 2020, while they await a new owner.
In late 2021, ZU-CTN alongside a few of the other airframes were acquired by Hangar 51 Aviation, with a vision to return them to flight once more. ZU-CTN was road moved to Port Elizabeth International Airport, based in Gqeberha, in October 2022, with a brief stop off at Diemerskraal Airfield en route.
Information on this page current as of 24/11/2022, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of ZU-CTN on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net