What actually happens to aircraft like this when they're taken out of service?
Phil R,
A perfectly reasonable question, and one which someone with connections to the Jag SA or DCAE might like to answer fully. However, as a starter, some of the last batch, which were fully serviceable GR3As or T4s at the moment that they arrived at Cosford, will have a reasonable number of flying hours, cycles and Fatigue Index left, on both structure (FI and fg hrs) and systems (fg hrs and cycles). These will be used in some instructional capacity, either as platforms upon which trainee technicians will hone their skills (under close supervision), or as taxying examples for said trainees to get used to being around moving, sucking and blowing fast jets with pointy and flappy bits that can ingest (OK, maybe not!), blow over (see previous), impale, bash or run over the unwary.
These have to be maintained to an standard sufficiently safe to merit pink-bodied instructors climbing in and taxying them about so, while they may not be flyable, they would be kept at a standard certainly equal to that of the jets at Bruntingthorpe etc and possibly slightly better. Now, I would not suggest for a second that this means they would be flyable, but many of the older aircraft on the display circuit these days have, in the past, been ground instructional airframes.
It therefore follows that, provided the standard of work carried out on them is up to current airworthiness standards, and an firm within the Design Approved Organisation Scheme or Maintenance Approved Organisation Scheme were prepared to underwrite that airworthiness to MoD and/or CAA requirements, it could be possible to get one airworthy in the future..................................Please
