Skyhawks out in the cold

jofizo

Dec 12, 2007 6:36 PM

The fighter planes that were once the pride of New Zealand's Air Force are now a step closer to the scrap heap.

The Skyhawks have been in storage at Woodbourne, near Blenheim, for six years but now they are out of the hangars and in the open air.

"They have scrap value now. That's the reality of it. They'll never fly again," says Skyhawk historian Don Simms.

The Skyhawks and Aermacchies were decommissioned in 2001 when government said New Zealand didn't need an air combat force.

In the 37 years that the country has had the Skyhawks, they have only ever been used once for operational purposes and that was just to fire warning shots at a fishing vessel in New Zealand waters.

With the planes no longer needed the government was hoping to sell them to an American pilot training company for $150 million.

Squadron leader Glen Davis says that as far as the Air Force is concerned the Skyhawks have been sold.

But the sale has not gone through because the US State Department won't allow a private company to buy military equipment.

Defence Minister Phil Goff says it has been very frustrating.

"It's taking so long because of the machinations of the bureaucracy in the United States...I get a lot of apologies but not much action," says Goff.

However with space at a premium at Woodbourne the planes are now being kept outside.

"If you were buying something worth several hundred million dollars you wouldn't want them put outside...effectively open to the elements or potential vandalism or anything else," Simms says.

He says the sale is never likely to go through and the planes should be given to museums or used to train engineers in New Zealand.



Source: ONE News

yko9798

Same thing goes with our SKYHAWK.......

Since been retired.....all left on open field at Kuantan AFB.....under trees.....

Very very sad........

If only they were mothballed accordingly.......who knows, we can still use them in case of emergency????

Or if they give them out to military enthusiast like myself.....I welcome it with open heart.....

Leh letak depan rumah....hehehehe

nasdin

ada satu kat gate belakang UITM..........dulu ler. La ni ader lagi ke tidak ? ada sesaper tau...

RainbowSix

Jadikan drone utk latihan menembak kan bagus...

yko9798

Ade lagi bro........

Dok berkarat kat situ ler.....

Tapi jadikler.....bile aku rindu kat Mrs Hawk...aku gie jalan area tu...hehehehee

Debmey

You just can't use them for emergency w/o maintaining them and it will costs a lot.
Thats why they are left under trees.

nasdin

tq bro........kat terendak camp pun ada satu !!!!!!!

mentosonline

Our skyhawks are also retired. We now use them as teaching aids in polytechnics. LOL.

observateur

Takleh bagi kat PUTD buat main2 ke?

alien7749

kat UTM Skudai ada 2 bijik with engines and avionics have been striped out.

bayo

aku ada nampak kat STRIDE Kajang sebijk...or two?

tak ada ke ex-PTU ambik sebijik?

aku dengar ada kereta perisai ex-bintang ambik sebijik letak depan rumah dia.

stripper_j

Ade display kat LIMA07 ...

RainbowSix

Ada wiper depan windscreen. Baru cat Skyhawk ni...berkilat

alphawolf

Apasal sit dia lain macam aje....

huskers

aku kata buat decoy......cat baru skit, kasi nombor siri tukau baru pastu simpan dlm stor. lepas tu letak kat luar tarmac. kejap kat belah utara, kejap kat belah selatan, kasi nampak bergerak-gerak. ok tak...

IceMallet

Ada katner dlm Terendak Camp tu?

alphawolf

Entah...tak tau la zaman JDAM ni....

RainbowSix

Satu lagi, A4 ni boleh dijadikan cruise missile. Kawalan kontrol radio dan masukan bahan letupan banyak-banyak.

huskers

our own special attack corp aka kamikaze...... one way ticket punye journey...

nak buat jadik aggressor sqn pun dah tak boleh...

donate kat polytech utk buat research......bdk2 kite kan creative...kalau boleh modify enjin keta n moto n pandai buat meriam buluh; ni kasi satu kapal terbang kasi dia tolls and tgk apa dia boleh buat...hehe

curryjames71

Jual je kat Pinoy. Dapat gak duit sket.