Originally Posted by
El Bunto
In 1965 RR was ordered to embargo 14 Rhodesian Avons that were in the UK for servicing. I never did hear what happened to them and whether they too eventually 'escaped'
Doubtful, given that RR were implementing Government policy, unlike the situation with the Chilean engines where the authorities were clearly complicit in the operation to retrieve them.
There's a story, which could well be apochryphal (though it was reported in Flight) that the Rhodesians organised a clandestine mission to Sharjah, where the RAF had apparently abandoned a bunch of Hunters when they withdrew. The engines were supposedly removed from the aircraft and flown back to Rhodesia.
Sounds a bit fishy to me.