F-4J (UK) Phantom ZE360 No Longer in Manston’s Burns Area

In September 2015, we reported that the burnt out carcass of Phantom FGR2 XV411 had been removed from the Manston fire pits and replaced by another Phantom, serial number ZE360, the last complete F-4J (UK) variant to wear RAF markings. (Britain’s only other complete example is preserved at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, restored in its original US Navy finish.) Considering the state of XV411 when it was removed from the Manston dump, the future looked bleak for ZE360. But having just scanned Manston’s Defence Fire Training and Development Centre, where military firefighters learn the art of saving crew-members from burning aircraft, on Google Earth, the news is both good and bad. On the positive side, ZE360 is no longer in the burns area, having been replaced by a rather unfortunate Tornado F3 (below). More concerning, however, the F-4J (UK) has been towed to the edge of a group of thoroughly destroyed hulks that look fit only for scrapping (above). As previous photographs featured on this blog demonstrate, ZE360’s condition can at best be described as poor. Her cockpits are gutted (though some switches have endured) and corrosion infests her neglected fuselage. Yet many enthusiasts consider her to be an important airframe – virtually the last of her breed – and at least one Facebook page has been set up over the years in a bid to try and save her. Despite standing alongside the most destroyed of Manston’s aircraft wrecks, ZE360 looks to remain intact and burn-free on Google Earth. Was she so corroded as to be deemed too dangerous for further crash rescue training? Or does the more modern Tornado F3 simply provide a more up-to-date and realistic prop? No doubt time will tell. It’s unclear which F3 now sits in the Defence Fire Training and Development Centre’s burn pit. But one F3 airframe, which previously stood under some trees by a narrow road within the site, has now been replaced by Tornado GR4 ZA398. The latter, complete with commemorate tail art, suffered a bird strike in January 2014, forcing an emergency landing at Manston. The decision was taken not to repair ZA398 and the airframe was condemned to the fire school. Jaguar GR3A (XX116), meanwhile, has also made her way to the fire pit. Are the powers that be protecting certain airframes at the expense of others, postponing the inevitable?