Llanbedr airframe help please

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HeyfordDave111
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Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by HeyfordDave111 »

Hi everyone,

In the late 90's i happen to pass Llanbedr driving a truck on the coast road, and spotted some aircraft over the back of the airfield.
I managed to take a couple of 35mm pics but now i have re-found those pics and would like help with the identity of those aircraft if anyone can help.

1) Phantom
2) Canberra with orange vertical stripe on rear fuselage
3) meteor in red/yellow

Any help with mk, and reg i would be grateful.
cheers
Dave
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TEXANTOMCAT
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by TEXANTOMCAT »

The Canberra could well have been our own WH887 the cockpit of which is now at Sywell Aviation Museum :)

TT

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T_J
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by T_J »

Likely candidates for the Phantom and Meteor.

XV435 - Phantom FGR2

WH453 - Meteor D16

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HeyfordDave111
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by HeyfordDave111 »

excellent, thanks chaps.

They had an alpha on the pan too but it didnt interest me much.
The canberra i hope is yours, it looks like its white'ish with that stripe (dayglow?) on the side in front of the tail.
Nothing flew while i was there, and i never knew about the loop despite driving through it a few times back then. lol
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FGR2
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by FGR2 »

I went past their in early 1994. The Sea Vixen and Meteor were parked near the hangar.

Tried to get a few photos of the Phantom and Canberra from the road miles away, but have misplaced all the photos many years ago :(

I can check in one of the Wrecks and Relics books from the time next time I am at the parents to see what was there.

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HeyfordDave111
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by HeyfordDave111 »

did anyone get there when they were active?
if so how 'active' was active?
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FGR2
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by FGR2 »

I think the Phantom arrived in 1992. Red tail 92sqn aircraft. I believe it was a BDRT or Fire Section aircraft. The Canberra was the same as well. Will check though.

I was there at a weekend if I recall and there wasn’t anything going on.

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HeyfordDave111
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by HeyfordDave111 »

cheers mate.
Dave
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FGR2
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by FGR2 »

From W&R 16th edition (1998) with a bit of additional info from edition 14.

This was the situation noted in 1997.

WH453 ‘L’ Meteor D.16 Ex 5 CAACU - stored.
WH887 ‘847’ Canberra TT.18 Ex St Athan, FRADU - Arrived by 12/92 - Dump.
XV435 ‘R’ Phantom FGR.2. Ex 92 sqn - first noted 6/92 - Dump.
A92-480. Jindivik 4A - Gate Guardian.

Additionally WK143, Canberra B(TT).2 - ex FRL- Dump - remains were scrapped/removed by Phoenix Aviation in late 1996.

Hope this helps.

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HeyfordDave111
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by HeyfordDave111 »

Thanks mate,
Wonder which one was 'my' canberra then?
Dave
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by FGR2 »

I would think it might be WH887, it sounds like WK143 was in a pretty poor state on the dump at the time.


Edited to add link to pic.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/29288836@N00/14042889850

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st24
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by st24 »

I attended 3 ATC camps at Llanbedr 1991-2. It was very much active then of course and I must admit it was busier than I thought it would be, especially the Canberras (WK128 & WH734) that flew solo and pair missions. Indeed I shot the pair from a canoe one day and posted quite a few pics here years ago but due to photobucket being crap they're probably gone now, its why I post so little on here nowadays. The Hawks (the very first one XX154 in its original trainer scheme and the rippled XX160) flew several local sorties and we saw a couple of Jindivik missions
which was something special. On return the shepherd Hawk(s) would have half an hour or so of play time whilst the Jindivik was shut down and loaded on to its trailer rig and the runway checked and arrestor gear re set. This resulted in some pretty proficient aerobatic sequences being flown over the sea and I'm sure they would have had a bash at low level too! Both Meteors (WK800 & WH453) were often on the flight line but didn't fly, along with the active Vixen (XP924) that remained hangared- XS577 had been put out as a gate guard next to a retired Jindivik.
A fascinating place and really wished I had visited more often. A guy I used to work with would tell me about all the bloody noisy jets annoying everyone on holiday at the caravan site off the Southern end of the runway and I could only feel jealous!
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Mike Dodd
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by Mike Dodd »

Spent a week camping at Harlech in 1988, Hawk XX154 flew every day sometimes twice, also active most days was a based Devon in an RAE scheme (not raspberry ripple) which I think was the station 'hack' aircraft. Of course I was hoping to see one of the Sea Vixen D3s or Meteor D16 operating out of there, but was out of luck during the week, however on the last day of the holiday on the Saturday we had stopped briefly in Aberystwyth when out of the blue we were rewarded by the sight of one of the Sea vixens overhead at low level!

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capercaillie
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by capercaillie »

Interesting what Devon that would have been as Llanbedr's assigned Devon XA880 was definitely ripple in 1988, I saw it at Valley in 1985 and Brawdy in 1989 and both times it was ripple.

The only other military Devons still kicking around at that time were West Freugh's which was also ripple by then and the BBMF's VP981 white/grey with a blue stripe, it was repainted silver with a thicker blue stripe over the winter of 1988/1989.
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Mike Dodd
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by Mike Dodd »

It could be time clouding this old farts memory and I have no photographic evidence to back up my claim as to the colour scheme of said Devon and in my defence I was'nt on a spotting holiday but there to admire the spectacular Welsh landscapes with my wife! I'm sure though that the aircraft did'nt have any white paint on it!

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st24
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by st24 »

1975-'85 ish we rented a relatives holiday caravan at Aberporth. Most week day mornings around 8 am the site resonated to the sweet sound of 2 Gypsy Queens as Llanbedr's Devon ferried in range crew to the tiny Aberporth strip. Certainly by' 78-'79 it was a rippled machine.
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Mike Dodd
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by Mike Dodd »

After mulling things over and enduring a sleepless night I would agree that said Devon was indeed XA880 ! Again in my defence I was viewing from underneath and not able to see the white spine! I believe only the nose survives now.

Stagger2
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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by Stagger2 »

As per Caper's post above, see link to RAF Valley 1985:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/24101413@N03/25059836510
then this shot from 1st Aug 1993
https://www.airteamimages.com/de-havill ... 43308.html
Reference what's left of this airframe, this was at Little Rissington after storage intact, outside at Kemble.
https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1286731
Subsequentlty reduced to cockpit section & moved to Elstree Studio's for film work around 2016. No idea what survives today?
The previous Scheme for Reference, before it became 'Ripple' for the rest of its life:-
https://www.aviationphotocompany.com/p6 ... #h89931fe4 (for those of you viewing in B&W, the middle of the roundel is Red!) :whistle:

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Re: Llanbedr airframe help please

Post by Ozzie »

st24 wrote:
Thu 23 Jan 2020, 1:46 pm
I attended 3 ATC camps at Llanbedr 1991-2. It was very much active then of course and I must admit it was busier than I thought it would be, especially the Canberras (WK128 & WH734) that flew solo and pair missions. Indeed I shot the pair from a canoe one day and posted quite a few pics here years ago but due to photobucket being crap they're probably gone now, its why I post so little on here nowadays. The Hawks (the very first one XX154 in its original trainer scheme and the rippled XX160) flew several local sorties and we saw a couple of Jindivik missions
which was something special. On return the shepherd Hawk(s) would have half an hour or so of play time whilst the Jindivik was shut down and loaded on to its trailer rig and the runway checked and arrestor gear re set. This resulted in some pretty proficient aerobatic sequences being flown over the sea and I'm sure they would have had a bash at low level too! Both Meteors (WK800 & WH453) were often on the flight line but didn't fly, along with the active Vixen (XP924) that remained hangared- XS577 had been put out as a gate guard next to a retired Jindivik.
A fascinating place and really wished I had visited more often. A guy I used to work with would tell me about all the bloody noisy jets annoying everyone on holiday at the caravan site off the Southern end of the runway and I could only feel jealous!
Hi, you were right about the chase plane (shepherd in Wales!) aerobatics. I was lucky enough to be fly FTO in the back of XX154 & XX160 during 1982. While they craned the Jindy off the runway the pilot would say to ATC "going to 20,000ft for General Handling Trials", i.e. boring holes in the sky. It was not unusual to see 6g on the meter.
Years later I met a guy who monitored the fatigue life of the Hawk fleet so I asked him if he had seen the pair Llanbedr. He said no it wasn't necessary as escorting Jindys was a very benign regime. Strictly true in theory but not the whole story in real!
Last year I made a nostalgic visit to see 154 when it was retired to Old Sarum.

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