IBB, you've blown my cover yet again. Thanks Danny, I seem to recall that we tear off yet another page of our respective calendars in close progression. Your pic is a fearsome example of the species indeed though proof enough of the effortless ease with which you posted it. My work here is done it would seem.
84 Squadron presumably collected their Scorpion Badge from their time in prewar Iraq. 30 Squadron on which I served preferred to commemorate their time in the Middle East with the Date Palm though the motto, Ventre a Terre (All Out, or Bellies to the Sand), was very appropriate for the Low Level drops that became its norm.
Danny:-
Could not the RAF afford to keep (or even build) just one (or two) hangars to be kept warm and dry for these old warriors somewhere ? Northolt ?
I fear you know the answer already. As I understand it, the RAF these days cannot afford anything so unproductive as to house and keep safe obsolete non-operational and grounded aircraft. That after all is why the RAF Museum was established. We did have a hangar at RAF Colerne full of exhibits awaiting that happening. As O/O you were often called out by the Guardroom of a W/E to unlock the doors and conduct a party of enthusiasts around. Even so, the collection was not inviolate. We had the three Avro 707s, A, B, and C, there. "Surely one is enough?" espoused some VSO. Despite the fact that they were all different, and designed for exploration of different parts of the Vulcan envelope, I think that the dirty deed was done.
Air Forces and Airlines alike cannot afford sentimentality and ruthlessly rid themselves of that which is no longer useful. I would expect more of a Museum, and hope that Cosford will preserve my old steed under cover where it belongs.
Edit; In investigating further, it seems that the only 707B was written off in a crash (so much for my powers of recall!), that a 707A is preserved in Australia, while both a 707A and a 707C survive in the UK, at the Manchester and Cosford Air Museums respectively. The hiatus I recall must have been the diversion of the 707A to the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry. This has an excellent aviation hall with many types of aircraft and is greatly to be recommended. Perhaps their airships acted for the best after all...
http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/aircraft...s/avro-707.htm