(Images: Alan Allen, reproduced with permission)
These photographs by Al Henderson and Alan Allen mark the last few days of Phantom F-4J ZE351 on the fire dump at RAF Finningley in South Yorkshire, awaiting scrapping.
(Image: Al Henderson, reproduced with permission)
Withdrawn from use later that year, the retired fighter was given the maintenance serial 9058M and left to the mercy of the airfield firefighters. Badly burned, it was eventually scrapped in October 1995.
(Images: Alan Allen, reproduced with permission)
The tail fin was saved at the eleventh hour and displayed by a canal loch five miles from Finningley, which has since become Robin Hood Airport, and recently resurfaced on eBay. The aircraft was one of a fleet of F-4J (UK) model Phantoms operated by No. 74 Fighter Squadron at RAF Wattisham, Suffolk, from 1984 to 1991.
During Service
(Image: Peter Foster (website: air2airpix.co.uk), reproduced with permission)
ZE351 had previously been operated by the US Navy, serial number 153773, and was purchased by the Royal Air Force in a bid to fill a gap in the UK Phantom fleet. The aircraft is pictured above in service with 74 Squadron prior to retirement.
Keep reading – check out this Downed F-4 Phantom Wreck in Hanoi.
