Read the forum code of contact
By: - 29th March 2011 at 11:35 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
According to 'Demobbed' it's still there!
I can't find any recent pictures of it though, when were those taken?
By: - 29th March 2011 at 12:08 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Lost Javelin
Hello - first post here!
Short answer -Javelin FAW.9 XH890 ("M" of 29 Squadron) was scrapped at Ndola, Zambia on or about the end of May/early June 1972.
The following is a transcript of a cutting from the Times of Zambia dated June 3rd 1972:
"GROUND DUTY OVER FOR OLD AIRCRAFT
It's the end of the runway for this old aircraft - an RAF Javelin which crashed at Ndola airport seven years ago.
After being considered a danger by Ndola City Council , it is being dismantled for scrap by firemen, and removed from a children's playground near the city centre.
The Jet was one of a squadron which came to Zambia soon after UDI.
It was bought by Ndola Round Table, and presented to the children's playground. But soon parents were worried over jagged pieces of metal and torn dresses and shorts, and the "toy" was considered dangerous.
Later it was said the the aircraft was used by children and night prowlers as a lavatory, and it became a health danger".
The cutting is accompanied by a picture of XH890 being chopped up by firemen with axes - one fireman wielding an axe, and burying it into the port wing.
BTW. Salad fingers, the pictures you submitted date from 1970, and from the above, it is clear that XH890 was carted away by July 1972.
By: - 29th March 2011 at 12:50 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Excellent and informative first post!:)
By: - 29th March 2011 at 12:57 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Great Post!
First time I've ever seen any confirmed info on the fate of this aircraft (Demobbed will be updated accordingly)
There's a number of 'Lost' Javelins still listed in Singapore - again no info on any fates but left on in case anyone can supply what actually did happen to them.
By: - 29th March 2011 at 13:17 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Lost Javelin
You're welcome!
I suspected - as did you - that this Javelin was long gone, but evidence was lacking.
Since I'm a newbie, I have not yet got the hang of posting pictures. However, if you go to "Google Images" and type in "Javelin XH890 Ndola Zambia Times of Zambia" into the search box, you should see the cuttting I referred to pop up as the second picture of the left, showing a picture of XH890 being chopped up with axes by the Ndola City firemen. (It accompanies the text I quoted)
(You may need to additionally select "repeat the search with the omitted results included." option to get the cutting to show)
As far as I am aware, the only Javelin now in Africa is XA553 (the former RAF Stanmore Park gate guardian) which is at Thunder City in Capetown
By: - 29th March 2011 at 13:48 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
This one...?
.
By: - 29th March 2011 at 15:12 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Super Fast
Thank you for a brilliant first post- I hope you find the forum as good as everyone else- its certainly the only forum i use, other forum normally end up in a big slanging match -perhaps its because we are all older!- Very Interesting to hear its fate. By chance i have just flown with a lovely chap called Dave B- Ex Red arrows ( gnat) and Harrier and a former Javelin pilot at Tengah. For those who know Javelins he said the story about a Javelin shooting down a C130 was not true- He also told me that the aircraft were pretty knackered by the mid 60's I dont think any of the ones donated to the RSAF survive but i could be wrong- If anyone can solve this mystery when i was a boy(?) at RAF Coltishall in 1968 the fire dump had a MeteorF8, Lightning XM184, and later XM188 and a Javelin. I have a photo (B+W) it was def a T3 due to the canopy but i can find no record of a T3 being burnt there. Makes me laugh at health and safety- we used to climb all over the aircraft sitting in the cockpits which were full of fuel, oil etc and that very nasty odd smelling yellow fire retardent foam- I'm just waiting for my lungs to collapse!!
By: - 29th March 2011 at 16:41 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Lost Javelin
Saladfingers
Unless and until someone else knows better, I'd say that the Javelin T.3 you noted on the Colitshall fire dump in 1968 was probably XH390
Only 22 Javelin T3s were built, and Demobbed notes what happened to most of the rest. For XH390, however, all that is noted is "f/f 06/01/1958, d/d 12/07/1961, s.o.c. 01/05/1968"
Since one of the Lightnings you mention (XM188) was written off in a crash on June 21st 1968, your memories must be dated to the late summer (July/August?) of 1968.
Javelin XH390 is the strongest "candidate" due to a) vague fate (struck off charge, but no further info) and b) it fits in terms of timescale. If it was s.o.c. on May 1st 1968, it could have been on Colitshall's fire dump by July or August of that year
By: - 29th March 2011 at 16:44 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Interesting stuff, and good to clear up an old mystery. I've sent an online feedback form to the guys at Demobbed to update their records.
By: - 29th March 2011 at 19:02 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Interesting stuff, and good to clear up an old mystery. I've sent an online feedback form to the guys at Demobbed to update their records.
No need, he posted here at post #5!:)
By: - 29th March 2011 at 19:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I bet those vortex generators skinned a few childrens legs.
By: - 29th March 2011 at 21:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
According to 'Demobbed' it's still there!
I can't find any recent pictures of it though, when were those taken?
Gents, I agree we still had it as listed as being there on Demobbed, but until we get a positive fate we will list it as still being there. Just look at the Pembroke at Livingstone Airport, Zambia (Victoria Falls). It joined the Southern Rhodesian Air Force as SR131, later to Zambia AF as AF201, (thought to have long gone but last noted August 2007), or Chipmunk WB692 in Iran (last noted Sept 2006).
It is better for the aircraft to be listed as still around than assume, until we have positive evidence, it all makes a better picture
Mick B
Demobbed and UK Serials
By: - 29th March 2011 at 21:25 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
No need, he posted here at post #5!:)
Ah I would rather be told twice than miss stuff like this. Its what makes this such a great Forum!:D
By: - 29th March 2011 at 21:28 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
If anyone can solve this mystery when i was a boy(?) at RAF Coltishall in 1968 the fire dump had a MeteorF8, Lightning XM184, and later XM188 and a Javelin. I have a photo (B+W) it was def a T3 due to the canopy but i can find no record of a T3 being burnt there. Makes me laugh at health and safety- we used to climb all over the aircraft sitting in the cockpits which were full of fuel, oil etc and that very nasty odd smelling yellow fire retardent foam- I'm just waiting for my lungs to collapse!!
The Meteor was WK786, I agree with the Lightnings XM184 and XM188, but I don't know of a Javelin T3, but I have not checked the history cards yet
Mick B
By: - 29th March 2011 at 21:39 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Gents
For those that are interested the crash details for XH890 are w/o 02/06/1966 ex 29 Sqn/M. The fully armed aircraft made a safe wheels up landing on the grass adjacent to the runway at Ndola, Zambia. This was due to the pilot and Air Traffic Controller being unable to confirm that the undercarriage was fully lowered and locked
Check out the rest of the 1966 crashes on UK Serials under the losses section
Mick B
By: - 29th March 2011 at 21:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Javelin hard to axe
This one...?In 1960 at TASF RAF Nicosia as a new airframe mechanic along with a mate we were ordered to make a Javelin into beyond repair condition with only a fire axe each provided. When we reached the aircraft it looked pretty u/s to me lying on its belly with all the panels removed. But we swung the axes at the wing and recieved a hell of a shock when the axe bounced off! I think only a 30 mm cannon shell could penetrate that skin easily although we tried other places it was a waste of time. I think the one in Zambia must have started to rot after all that time and they had bigger axes!;)
.
[IMG]http://i1123.photobucket.com/albums/l549/Cockpitmania/javelin1.jpg/IMG]
By: - 30th March 2011 at 15:41 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Lost Javelin
Super Sioux
The Javelin you refer to was probably XH720 ("G" of 33 Squadron) which swung on landing at Nicosia, Cyprus, due to hydraulic failure causing the undercarriage to collapse.
However, that was on October 14th 1959, slightly earlier than you remember...
Back on topic, as you became aware - the Javelin was a tough old bird. Which probably explains why so many ended up being the playthings of RAF Fire & Recue Crews. Unilke the Vickers Varsity, for example, which was usually "burnt to a crisp" after two or three "burns", Javelins could take repeated burning - hence their being a mainstay in the pages of "Wrecks & Relics" for many years throughout the 1970s
By: - 30th March 2011 at 17:18 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
In post 5 above, jagx204 refers to old Javelins still reported in Singapore. I discussed this over on the Pprune forum in 2007.
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-history-nostalgia/273559-raf-seletar-end-era-2.html (see posts 33 and 34).
A forumite there ("forget") thought he could see a tin triangle on Google Earth. I recalled that the last time I was at Seletar (July 1989) there still was the burned wreck of one Javelin, located just where he put his Google Earth marker. It was almost unrecognisable, but the fuselage was still there, as well as the stumps of wings.
This newspaper cutting refers to another of the Seletar Javelins, being broken up by students of the Singapore Tech.
I wonder if bits still survive.
Edit: the newspaper say that 5 Javelins went to the technical school. I was told that the burned one at Seletar had overshot, into the sea, but I could not confirm that.
Laurence
By: - 30th March 2011 at 19:20 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Enjoying the tales of the old Javelins, I grew up with them overflying my house when 228OCU was at Leuchars. When the unit disbanded they gave me a control column which I still have.
By: - 30th March 2011 at 20:05 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
As we are on the subject of the 'harmonious dragmaster', has anyone here got a good picture of the rear cockpit and its equipment? I've never seen what a complete example looks like.
Posts: 218
By: salad fingers - 29th March 2011 at 11:07 - Edited 2nd October 2019 at 11:40
Anyone know if this still exists- left in Zambia in the 60's XH890 post landing accident