Farewell to the MRA.4 at Woodford

[chrisward123]

Hi,
Not uploaded any photos in a long time so be nice
Made an 84 mile round trip to Woodford to see the Nims before they get the chop.
As I drove past Woodford I was thinking of what has been achieved there in the last 60+ years and then I saw the Nimrods parked up, looking worse for wear!
It felt more like a cemetary than an airfield, such a shame!
Anyway on with the pictures..

ZJ516 (1st MRA.4)


I last saw '516 on one of its last flights earlier last year looking a lot healthier..


ZJ516 + ZJ518


ZJ518


ZJ517 + ZJ522


Anyone spot the Demolition Crane


ZJ518 (Such a great looking aircraft!)


One to finish at Warton back in February last year..



Thanks for looking,

Christian

[AB52 FLY]

Sad sight indeed

[Tonka2009]

Its criminal, I had a very small hand in the build process of these and it makes me so angry that people spent all that time building them and getting them ready for service only to be axed near completion, I can't figure it out. They may have cut the deficit for now but will it pay off in the long term??? I love the Nimrod and and really gutted these won't make it to service. Will one make it to a museum at all?

Marc

[jwarnerxh558]

second shot i a beauty!!!
Shame ill never get to photograph one of these again!

[F-86]

Shame, looks like Hill Demolition from Harlow are waiting to start processing the airframes. I believe they have have a contract for some Nimrods and have also done some Hercules too.

[AndyBeau]

It is tragic isn't it?

What a waste.

[Unknown74]

It would be really criminal not to place one of the MRA.4s in a museum. After all look at the TSR.2 which a certain previous Government axed there are 2 of them in Museums.

[AnglianAV8R]

It's criminal to not put them into service, utterly obscene. Not just in terms of the ultimate financial waste, but to actually give up a vital capability.

[ianf]

Hi Chris
Good call going to see them one last time, I suppose you and me and a few others are lucky in that we have seen MR4s flying regularly. A sad end to a historic airfield also If you look past the blue tape 16 and 18 still look in resonable nick.

Ian

[chrisward123]

Thankyou for all your comments
Both 16 + 18 did look in very good nick, just looked in a sorry state sitting there waiting for the chopper!
Not sure how many airframes are at Woodford, but suspect more will be appear on the apron soon...

Thanks Guys,

Christian

[hydealfred]

Reminds me of the AEW 3's at Abingdon in the 80's. Why does this always happen in this country

[jon93]

Think of the millions if not billions just sitting there looking like they cost couple of hundred quid, your photos seemed to have captured the mood of many well done.

[savethenimrods]

Great pics. Just to let you know that there is still a campaign running to save the nimrods. Go to www.savethenimrods.org for more info. There has been a lot of press recently. Everyone is encouraged to ring up their local MPs as a matter of urgency to keep the pressure up.

[Tim Holden]

Why can't they just seal them put them in a hanger? Why do they need to cut them up. The Navy do the same. Fareham creek used to team with mothballed warships now its empty. Nothing in reserve.

Everyone knows that eventually the RAF will have to buy a replacement. Our entire economy is based on buying cheap goods from the far east. Without these goods the UK retail sector would die just like our manufacturing sector. We have no Navy to protect or monitor shipping and no maritime patrol aircraft to track the thousands of ships that ply the waters around the UK. Even the most stupid terrorist can see that the easiest way to smuggle weapons into the UK is by sea.

Eventually some Whitehall moron will realise this and we will buy some clapped out P3 from AMARC that has thousands of hours on the clock. They probably will not do anything until there is some horrible maritime disaster in the Altantic where everyone dies because there were no Nimrods to locate survivors and drop them life saving kit.

Tim

[Ryand19]

A year on and I still don't understand the scrapping of the Nimrod fleet.

[Maisie]

Total bo**ocks, We can help fund other countries with their issues but can't keep these in the air. ****!!!

[stratocaster]

Shocking,,just shocking.

[JackyRIATWilson]

Cracking shots nonetheless.

When I become Prime Minister, aircraft like the Nimrod MRA4 are coming back. End of, we need this aircraft and our capability is not being totally applied. We are VERY under equipped. Actually hurts me what the Lib Dems did. Lied to the country. Dems out, Nimrod and ALL the aircraft, personnel, equipment and capability we lost due to the idiots BACK. Can think of much better ways to reduce the defecit.

Such a beautiful aircraft, holds a special place in my heart, does the Nimrod.

[DMH]

We are an island nation with precisely ZERO maritime patrol capability. Surely this isn't a viable situation? Surely we've got to get P-8s or something at some point in the near future?