British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Discussions regarding historic aircraft, restoration and preservation etc
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BPAG
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British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

With the kind consent of the UKAR mods (thanks, Dan) we have been granted permission to start an official thread for the BPAG, Black Mike and all the Group's activities.

The latest news is that the engineering team arrived at RAF Leuchars yesterday and are making the final preparations ready for the aircraft to move to RAF Cosford. Loading should begin tomorrow morning, all being well. We will be running regular updates on progress via Twitter and Facebook. Please feel free to drop by-

http://twitter.com/BPAGofficial

http://www.facebook.com/BPAGofficial/

Many thanks in advance to you all for your interest.
Last edited by BPAG on Fri 15 Dec 2017, 6:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

Meanwhile, up in Scotland, this is happening right now.

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Check out our running updates 'Live From Leuchars' on Twitter and Facebook-

http://twitter.com/BPAGofficial

http://www.facebook.com/BPAGofficial/

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chrisward123
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by chrisward123 »

Fantastic thanks for the updates

Christian
Lakes Lightning Collection

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

Black Mike ETD from Leuchars 10am. Routing via M90, new Forth bridge, M-8, M-74, M-6. Give us a shout out if you spot us and feel free to post any pics. We'd love to see them!
Last edited by BPAG on Wed 25 Oct 2017, 10:49 am, edited 1 time in total.

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vulcanshammer
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by vulcanshammer »

Nice one, safe trip guys!
The sooner the world runs out of cotton wool the better

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

M6 junction 41 southbound @ 14.25pm.

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

Official RAF Cosford press release-

"HISTORIC PHANTOM ARRIVES AT RAF COSFORD IN PREPARATION FOR RAF100 AIR SHOW

Following last week’s launch of the RAF Cosford Air Show 2018, today cold-war era F-4 Phantom aircraft, known as ‘Black Mike’, was delivered by road to the airfield, in preparation for the Air Show on Sunday 10th June 2018.

The F-4 Phantom II was operated by the Royal Air Force between 1969 and 1992, principally as an air defence fighter. Although the jet was an American design, produced by McDonnell Douglas, the UK’s Phantoms were a special batch built separately and containing a significant amount of British technology including the addition of Rolls-Royce Spey engines. Of all the UK’s Phantoms, the airframe which arrived today at RAF Cosford is perhaps one of the most iconic, known as ‘Black Mike’ due to its unique paint scheme applied by 111(F) Squadron in the late 1980s.

The airframe, now owned by GJD Services Ltd, has been the centre of a campaign by aviation enthusiasts, who plan to restore her to exhibition standard. David Butterfield, from the British Phantom Aviation Group, said, “The British Phantom Aviation Group (BPAG) are extremely proud and honoured to participate with Phantom XV582 ‘Black Mike’ at the RAF Cosford Air Show 2018. Our hardworking, dedicated team of volunteers have shown outstanding knowledge, skills and aptitude to make the move from RAF Leuchars happen. We look forward to working with RAF Cosford over the coming months and we are certain that the aircraft will be a great attraction as part of the RAF100 static displays.”

Air Show Operations Manager, Mr Peter Reoch, said, “The Royal Air Force’s Phantoms played a critical role in defending the UK’s airspace during the height of the Cold War. Therefore, having an example of the type was essential as part of our RAF100 static exhibition at the Air Show on Sunday 10th June 2018. It will be the first of many aircraft which will be transported by road to RAF Cosford over the coming months specifically for display at the Air Show.”

Tickets for the Air Show, which is promising to be a spectacular and interactive tribute to the Royal Air Force’s centenary, are already on sale via the event’s website. Tickets will again only be available in advance, and are priced £25.00 per adult, with accompanied under-16s attending the Air Show for free, presenting excellent value for money."

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

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Official statement from BPAG.

"The British Phantom Aviation Group (BPAG) are extremely proud and honoured to be asked to participate in the RAF Cosford 100 Airshow with XV582 'Black Mike'. Since our inception in 2013, as a small band of enthusiasts, we have worked towards providing a future for the aircraft and last week's events would not have been possible without the contributions of various persons, all of whom deserve credit and thanks.

Firstly, the BPAG technical team, all of whom are hardworking, dedicated volunteers, have shown outstanding knowledge, skill and capability to overcome several huge challenges to make this project happen. While many of our volunteers are RAF veterans with considerable experience of Phantoms and other front line airframes, some have their background in other areas of engineering. It is this special combination of aptitude and expertise that has made the team so productive. With very little original ground servicing equipment available they have had to improvise and fabricate nearly all the special tooling required. In addition to this- and many other technical challenges- they have also had to contend with the issues of working a considerable distance from home and have sacrificed a great deal of their own free time for the benefit of the project.

We have also had the advantage of working in partnership with GJD Services, who have provided considerable support and resources throughout the project. We would like to thank the GJD team for the faith they have shown in the BPAG since their involvement with XV582 began and we are delighted that we have reached this milestone together.

Thanks also go to all the RAF100 Airshow team and all at RAF Cosford for inviting the aircraft and ourselves to share in their celebrations. Without the generous offer of shelter and working facilities, the short term future of 'Black Mike' would have been considerably more difficult.

Last, but not least, we would also like to thank those of you who have regularly donated funds to cover the purchase of equipment and other costs for the team. From single figures in 2013, the number of supporters has now grown to multiple thousands and, without the generosity that many of you have shown, we would not be where we are now. You can be justifiably proud of yourselves too.

Many thanks again to you all.

David Butterfield
Chairman BPAG".

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iainpeden
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by iainpeden »

Good news for all us Phantom Phanatics!
Are you able to divulge future plans for her; will she stay at Cosford and be accessible to the public for instance?

Good luck.
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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

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iainpeden wrote:Good news for all us Phantom Phanatics!
Are you able to divulge future plans for her; will she stay at Cosford and be accessible to the public for instance?

Good luck.


Many thanks for your best wishes. To answer your question- no, the airframe will not be staying at Cosford after June 2018. It will be moving to a new home where the deep restoration process will begin. At the request of the owners of the new site, we are not able to reveal any details at this time. However, we do envisage regular access for the public and scheduled open days at the new location.

In the meantime, you can read all about the aircraft and the work that the British Phantom Aviation Group has done with it so far, in a Key Publishing special 'British Phantoms' which features an article by BPAG Technical Director Paul Wright. The magazine is available now.

Image

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

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For those persons without access to social media, here are some of the highlights of last week's events.

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

The BPAG YouTube channel is now up and running and currently has a few clips from last week, for those interested-

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwyo0s ... TSg/videos

More content to come as and when we can.

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

The BPAG technical team are up at RAF Cosford this weekend, starting the reassembly of XV582 'Black Mike'. A few pics from yesterday-

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Tolatrafi
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by Tolatrafi »

Brilliant! Can’t wait to visit this beast when it’s on display :love:

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st24
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by st24 »

BPAG wrote:
In the meantime, you can read all about the aircraft and the work that the British Phantom Aviation Group has done with it so far, in a Key Publishing special 'British Phantoms' which features an article by BPAG Technical Director Paul Wright. The magazine is available now.

Image


That's really weird, I commented on Twitter about the slight inaccuracies re the cover illustration (cos I'm sad like that!..) and it's aerials/sensor but in your image it's grown a black blob under the nose of the type I've only seen attached to Boscombe's XT597....??? :dizzy: Has that been added later in some way?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/HistoryInTheAir/status/923467953894502400[/tweet]
You caaan't trust the system... Maaan!

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

st24 wrote:That's really weird, I commented on Twitter about the slight inaccuracies re the cover illustration (cos I'm sad like that!..) and it's aerials/sensor but in your image it's grown a black blob under the nose of the type I've only seen attached to Boscombe's XT597....??? :dizzy: Has that been added later in some way?


No idea whatsoever! The first image was supplied to us for publicity purposes. However, the actual retail cover is the second version, as you correctly point out. Its definitely been tweaked, but when and why...only Key Publishing can say as it is their image, not something we supplied.

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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

Image

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Dave Gledhill, owner of the Tornado F3 Mission Simulator, takes 'Black Mike' on a virtual flight from RAF Leuchars-

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNg7qOhxy0A[/youtube]

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

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Want to get into aircraft preservation? Now is your chance as the British Phantom Aviation Group is actively looking for volunteers. See the message below from Technical Director, Paul Wright-

"Good morning one and all. We asking for volunteers to come forward and get their hands on Black Mike. There's a wide variety of jobs to do, so don't worry if you're not aircraft experienced. All we are asking is that you are willing to help ,willing to learn, and can be at Cosford for either a Saturday, a Sunday or both. So, from "never touched an aircraft before", to ex-Phantom guys (we'll even take people who've only worked on lesser aircraft), send us an e-mail with your name and availability to britishphantomaviationgroup@gmail.com Come on folks,you know you want to......."

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

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XV582 'Black Mike' on 24/12/2017, as the engineering team finished work for the Xmas break. Wing and stabilator refit complete, tailcone re-attached. Oleos reinflated and the airframe is back on its undercarriage for the first time since the move from Leuchars. Next up is a good wash & polish.

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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by Unknown74 »

Firstly Happy New Year to all, Fantastic to see Black Mike still looking in good shape, never seen XV582 since Leuchars 2013 Airshow. What I was going to say is that I'm considering investing in the forthcoming Airfix FG.1 kit and painting it as Black Mike, I already have a Matchbox Phantom FG.1 which I'm repainting to Flagship Zulu also Treble One as well as a Revell F.4J which will be made as a 74 Sqdn (F.4J(UK))Tiger Aircraft so it is only right that one has to be Black Mike.

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

Unknown74 wrote:Firstly Happy New Year to all, Fantastic to see Black Mike still looking in good shape, never seen XV582 since Leuchars 2013 Airshow. What I was going to say is that I'm considering investing in the forthcoming Airfix FG.1 kit and painting it as Black Mike, I already have a Matchbox Phantom FG.1 which I'm repainting to Flagship Zulu also Treble One as well as a Revell F.4J which will be made as a 74 Sqdn (F.4J(UK))Tiger Aircraft so it is only right that one has to be Black Mike.


If you are a Facebook user, check out the Black Mike discussion group. There is a chap on there currently selling one of the original Hasagawa Black Mike kits.

*Edit- now sold apparently. Apologies.
Last edited by BPAG on Tue 02 Jan 2018, 8:41 am, edited 2 times in total.

Marka1967
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by Marka1967 »

Will the Speys be going back in?.

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BPAG
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by BPAG »

Marka1967 wrote:Will the Speys be going back in?.


Yes, in due course. Although there will be a lengthy period of assessment and any necessary work undertaken before it gets to that point. There are also the enormous technical, logistical and financial obstacles to take into consideration, which will significantly add to the challenge.

rob68
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Re: British Phantom Aviation Group (Official Topic)

Post by rob68 »

Much as I like Phantoms TBH I do not like or ever have liked this scheme. Just me? I do applaud everyone involved with their efforts and it's great it's just down the road at Cosford

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