(Image: Richard Amor Allan; British Aerospace Sea Harrier ZE697 hulk at Binbrook)
For anyone who remembers the heady days of the Lightnings as they scrambled low and fast off the Lincolnshire Wolds and out over the North Sea, the abandoned ruins of the former RAF Binbrook make for a sight both evocative and melancholy. The Lightning Association, with their servicable F6 airframe XR724, work hard to keep the spirit of the old base alive, while around Binbrook village other aviation relics abound – including the former No. 11 Squadron commander’s personal Lightning F6, XR725, preserved in the garden of a local farm.
A marginally more unusual sight, however, is that of a gutted British Aerospace Sea Harrier, which during its active duty served with the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy, and was never associated specifically with RAF Binbrook. Yet the old Harrier hulk guards one of the cavernous wartime hangars, mounted on camouflaged wooden pallets and generally looking rather sorry for itself.
(Images: Richard Amor Allan; Sea Harrier ZE697 sits on shipping pallets outside Binbrook’s Hangar 3)
With its engine removed, the BAe Sea Harrier FA2, serial number ZE697, is essentially a hollow shell. Yet it manages to cling to life in the British armed forces’ post-Jump Jet era. Sea Harrier ZE697 first flew on May 25, 1988 and entered Royal Navy service the following month. In 2005, when its military life came to an end, the FA2 airframe was disposed of to Aerospace Logistics, ending up in a sort of Sea Harrier graveyard at Charlwood, Surrey. ZE697 was finally sold to a private owner in January 2009 and moved to its current location on the site of the former RAF Binbrook.
It remains unknown, however, whether the current owner plans to restore the airframe in the years to come. While the camouflaged shipping pallets are probably in it for the long haul, there’s no doubt that replacing a few panels and hatches, and putting the Sea Harrier back on its landing gear, will dramatically improve the appearance of ZE697.
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