Thunder & Lightnings

McDonnell-Douglas/BAC F-4K/M Phantom II - Survivor XV409

FGR.2 XV409 - RAF Mount Pleasant (nose, remainder scrapped Jan 2012), Falkland Islands

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Phantom FGR.2 XV409 at RAF Mount Pleasant, January 2003; Pete Brown

XV409 is seen here the markings of her last unit - 1435 Flight - at RAF Mount Pleasant in the Falkland Islands. She's a gate guard outside the terminal building at MPA, and was taken out of service in June 1992 when the Tornados arrived and. A survey had been conducted to return the last aircraft down there back home but it was deemed too expensive and XV409 became a gateguard while the other three in the flight were scrapped and the remains buried locally. Sadly in late 2011 it was reported that XV409 was to be scrapped in the very near future, supposedly as corrosion around her undercarriage bays had approached the point at which she would have become structurally unsound. The scrapping has since gone ahead; the nose section is reportedly to be saved for display in a local museum.

Information on this page current as of 19/01/2012, last updated by Damien

Find other photos of XV409 on the following sites:

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