RAF looking to donate post-war aircraft to museum

A RAF Henlow spokesperson said "the fate of RAF Henlow's gate guard will be decided by RAF Heritage"

A post-war jet fighter that has stood as the gate guard outside an RAF station could be donated to an aviation museum.

The Hawker Hunter aircraft (WT612) has been positioned outside RAF Henlow, Bedfordshire, since the 1980s.

With the camp scheduled to close next year, a spokesperson for RAF Henlow said they would look to gift it "to an appropriate aviation museum where it can be restored and used to tell the Hunter story".

"RAF Heritage takes aviation history very seriously and will always endeavour to find the best home for retiring aircraft," they said.

Current regulations prevent the Ministry of Defence from selling aircraft such as the Hawker Hunter.

However, their airframes are probably the most common aircraft exhibited with multiple examples on display throughout the country, including at RAF Hendon in London and Imperial War Museum Duxford in Cambridgeshire.

A spokesperson for RAF Henlow said that, other than in exceptional circumstances, it was not their policy to gift to a museum that already had one.

The Hawker Hunter aircraft (WT612) is one of the world's oldest surviving aircraft of its type.

It first flew in 1954 and was a development and testing aircraft until it was grounded three years later.

The Royal Air Force Museum said the Hunter was the first high-speed jet fighter with radar and fully-powered flying controls to go into widespread service.

It became the RAF's standard single-seat fighter, replacing Meteor, Sabre and Venom aircraft.

In 1958, the RAF held a competition to find a suitable type to replace its Middle East-based Venom ground attack fighters.

Hawker won with a proposal for a modified Hunter F6, and an order was placed for the conversion of a number of airframes.

The last operational Hunter FGA9s were flown by No 8 Squadron until December 1971, although the type continued to be used in training units for a little longer.

From 1960, Lightnings began to supersede the Hunter.

The Labour MP for Hitchin, Alistair Strathern, said that a campaign had been launched asking for people's support in preserving the Hawker Hunter (WT612) as "part of our local and aviation heritage in Henlow".

He added: "While the future of RAF Henlow remains uncertain, it's important we safeguard this historic landmark that symbolises our connection to decades of service."