(Image: Kristof Ven/Instagram/Facebook; the “Lost” Alpha Jet)
There isn’t much left of this decommissioned Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet. It’s little more than an empty fuselage inside a deserted aircraft hangar, its wings and tail assemblies nowhere to be seen. The defunct plane still wears the markings of its national operator, the Belgian Air Component, which is expected to continue flying the type until at least 2018.
The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack aircraft and advanced trainer developed collaboratively during the 1970s by France’s Dassault Aviation and Germany’s Dornier Flugzeugwerke. The first Alpha Jet took to the air in 1973, with 480 airframes built over a period of almost two decades. Production of the popular little jet finally ended in 1991.
(Image: Kristof Ven/Instagram/Facebook)
In his three-photo set titled “Lost Jet”, urban exploration photographer Kristof Ven showcased the abandoned military aircraft fuselage in all its faded glory. Sporting a pale grey camouflage scheme which blends well with the drab surroundings of the hangar that houses it, the Alpha Jet wears the code MT 46 beneath its empty twin cockpits.
The photographs were taken in November 2013. It’s uncertain what caused this aircraft to be grounded permanently while others in Belgium’s fleet remain active.
(Image: Kristof Ven/Instagram/Facebook)
In September 1973 the Belgian government announced that its air force had ordered two batches of Alpha Jet 1Bs totalling 33 planes in all. Aircraft deliveries took place between 1978 and 1980. Training on the jet also made heavy use of flight simulators.
Belgium’s Alpha Jets were upgraded during the late 1990s and early 2000s and are expected to remain in service for at least a couple more years. But not the “Lost Jet”. For this Cold War-era plane’s flying days would seem to be over, at least at the hands of military pilots.
Keep Reading: What’s the Real Story Behind the Belgian UFO Wave?
The post “Lost” Alpha Jet Fuselage (ex-Belgian Air Component) appeared first on Urban Ghosts Media.