(All images (unless stated) by joeysepecat, reproduced with permission)
Like a handful of other surviving ex-RAF F-4 Phantoms, the future of aircraft XV470 hangs in the balance. Wearing the faded colours of No. 56 Squadron, the sun-bleached airframe was retired to RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus back in the ’90s as a battle damage repair (BDR) training airframe, but two decades later the Phantom appears gaunt but otherwise un-hacked.
XV470, an FGR.2 (F-4M) model Phantom built for the Royal Air Force by McDonnell Douglas, first flew in 1969. Upon arriving at Akrotiri the airframe remained relatively intact and in good order for some years. But over the last decade her radome, canopies, cockpit components and other panels have been removed, reducing the aircraft to a gutted hulk.
Unlike other retired planes enduring Europe’s often damp climate, however, XV470 has benefited from the hot, dry conditions of the Mediterranean, lessening the chance of irreparable corrosion. But as we’ve seen before on this site, Britain’s Phantoms are an increasingly rare species that have proved tough to save due to the obstructive military bureaucracy surrounding the original terms of their sale between the United States and RAF.
So even though XV470 should be a strong candidate for a cosmetic restoration for display within the base, the Phantom’s future looks bleak. Perhaps it can survive in sun-baked storage for another decade or two – assuming there’s anything left to restore by that time! (These photos were taken around 2006.)
(Image: Anders Poulsen, reproduced with permission)
Meanwhile, this thread on the Fighter Control forum mentions a plan to turn XV470 into an artificial reef for scuba divers. Preferable to scrapping, certainly, but surely there are other old aircraft available? There is a precedent though, as seen in this gutted US Navy Phantom submerged beneath the waters of Subic Bay in the Philippines (above).
Fan of the Phantom? Help save another endangered F-4 – XV582 aka ‘Black Mike’
