"Vintage" aircraft over Berks/M4 (1980s)

[Mechta]

Originally Posted by Liffy 1M

A number of sources indicate that ZA947 was fitted with a replacement outer wing after that accident at Farnborough scroll down to the relevant part here. https://www.aviationinmalta.com/Civi...S/Default.aspx
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A replacement wing was definitely fitted to ZA947. I worked at RAE at the time and remember it sporting its one yellow wing for a while. I also had a very enjoyable flight in her, in around 1989. We flew from Farnborough, down to the Solent, along to Newhaven and back to Farnborough all at 2000ft. The flight was to test an infra-red linescan destined for the RAE's own XRAE 2 UAV. There was talk of replacing the Dakota with a Shorts SD330, but when they looked into it, making modifications (generally cutting holes in the floor) to a more modern aircraft would involve a lot more design effort than it would with the Dak.

My mother had also flown in Dakotas as a aerial photographer when she worked at Farnborough in the fifties and sixties. They used the Fairey Air Surveys Dakotas and either drove to White Waltham or it would come to Farnborough to pick them up.