Nigerian Jags?

[Woff1965]

Back in the 70's the UK flogged a number of Jaguar's to the Nigerian Airforce.

Now I had a conversation with a mate and we (somewhere around the third bottle) ended up talking about export credit guarentee payments (obviously I have no life), now he said that

1) They had never been flown by the Nigerians - just left to rot in some hanger.
and
2) Had never been paid for and BAC (as was) were bailed out by the UK govt when the Nigerians stiffed us.

So does anyone have any info on these African Jag's?

[Green Flash]

Now that rings a bell. Thems are Jaguar Internationals, aren't they? With the stronger Adour motors? Didn't I hear that there was a Cunning Plan to aquire the aforementioned donks and install them in some of Colts finest? Maybe someone in the bar but I think I heard it from more than one source. (Awaits corrective input).:confused:

[Fox3snapshot]

Try this link out, scroll to Nigeria. There is mention of them and the fact they are unpaid for...

http://mylima.com/airforce/n2.htm[/URL]

Cheers and Beers
:8

[MadsDad]

If these Jaguars are stored in a hangar in Nigeria a thought occurs. Over the weekend I received e-mail from a very nice man in Nigeria offering to give me a lot of money (25 million UKP to be exact) for a minimum of work. I wonder if I could persuade him to give me a few of the Jaguars instead.

These would then be used to found the Somerset Rebel Air Force which would be based, appropriately enough for rebels, at Westonzoyland. Within a few days the force should be ready to go into action against the massed hordes of caravan-towing grockles (although if they are on the M5 on a Saturday there would be static targets only). The force could even have its own ‘rebel yell’ battle cry of ‘Oooooooooooo aaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrr’ (equivalent to the Southern US’s ‘Yeee Haaa’).

The design of an advanced cluster weapon is progressing nicely and a method of loading 500 gallon containers of cider has been developed, with the only remaining problem being where to fit the towing hitch to attach the farm trailer to the aircraft. The problem that if the weapon is not used the pilot has to drink the contents prior to landing is not thought to be insurmountable.

[BEagle]

Ahh - Weston Zoyland. I remember going there a fair bit in the 1950s as the family business had interests there, at Dunkeswell, Merryfield and Lulsgate. I can still picture the 'crash compound' full of bits of ex-Meatbox and Vampire.

But some ciderdelic action against exoskeletal grocks with their horrid plastic boxes. Oooh-ahhrrr, proper job!!



....and weren't some very hush-hush Cranberries based at WZ during the H-bomb testing days? Or is that more scrumpy-and-Weston folklore?


Back to the thread - if Mr Ogoreblimey who's always wanting to share his wealth would care to part with a few ageing old pussies, then good luck!

[Groundgripper]

I think that in the mid 90s BWoS sent out a customer support team to look at these aircraft and assess the feasibility of bringing them back for onward sale. The conclusion then was that if they were not rescued within a year or so there would be no chance of doing anything with them as the local climate was rapidly taking its toll.

In the end nothing was done, no customers could be persuaded to show interest in the time available.

So they'll still be there, still rotting.

Sad.

[The Nr Fairy]

Don't tell Wholi - he'll get one cheap and use it as a plaything.

Even worse - some rich entrepreneur will buy a few and offer shares in them !

[Thud_and_Blunder]

I wonder if Bob Prest* ever reads PPRuNe... Anyone ex-8 Sqn SOAF able to confirm?

* (Ex-RAF F4 driver, wrote the book, flew Jags in Oman, at least part-Nigerian I believe...)

[BlueWolf]

If anyone knows the full story, Jacko probably does. We could ask him. Where is he these days?

[Mowgli]

WIWOJs, I flew one up to Warton where I was to present to a military delegation from Chile (and the Defence Minister designate) and some marketing guys from BAe on the merits of the mighty jet. This was in 93/94/95 - I could check in my log book if it really matters to anyone. BAe were jockeying to satisfy Chile's need for some combat aircraft and wanted to get some dosh for the 500hr (max) airframes in Nigeria.

Chatting to the marketing guys afterwards, they admitted that should Chile place an order, BAe would then have a real headache trying to get the airframes out. Plans were to use large Antonov transports and "extract" the jets. They also told me some interesting stories about the way the jets had been operated, including one where the "Boss" had insisted on going flying despite being told that none were refuelled - he went anyway, but didn't get very far before flaming out! This account is unverified but if true, would partly explain why the operation out there was a failure.

The Chile deal never came off, and the chaps at BAe who were tasked with making it happen, were probably relieved. I hope that adds a bit to the thread.

[solotk]

I wonder if Bob Prest* ever reads PPRuNe

Well that's weird.... I was only thinking yesterday, I'd have to find a copy of "F-4 Phantom, A Pilot's story".

Remember reading it over and over again, before my Flying Scholarship appearance at OASC back in 19-dot. Loved his description of the F-4 being "So easy to fly, I could teach my Grandmother to do it" Put down F-4 as my third choice after that, behind Jaguar and Lightning :D

Yes, I believe he does read/contribute to PPrune, on a fairly regular basis, if the PPruner I'm thinking of , is the mighty Bob himself. Didn't he win loads of Gunnery and Knife Fight tinware?

Will the book be republished, and this time, can we have some photos in it Rob?

Tony

[Beeayeate]

BEagle wrote . . .

....and weren't some very hush-hush Cranberries based at WZ during the H-bomb testing days? Or is that more scrumpy-and-Weston folklore?

Short answer, yes. 1323 Flt and remnants of the old 542 Sqd, both from Wyton, re-formed as the new 542 Sqd at WZ. Their main task was to *sniff* the atmosphere and stuff like that.

1323 Flt had been a Special Duties outfit anyway, not *Secret Squirrel* stuff, but :mad: *special*.

[A2QFI]

In answer to some of the above, Bob Prest is alive and well and working out of Bahrain with Gulf Air. I flew with him in Oman and also with Rod Dix, who ran the Jaguar operation in Nigeria, as a BAe employee. He said that they did very little flying, mostly due to the logistics of getting fuel and LOX available at the same time, for a flight. I then later worked for BAe and learned of the work of Government's ECGD (Export Credit Guarantee Dept). A contractor pays a %age of the contract price to the Government, basically as an insurance premium to cover the customer failing to pay for goods delivered. BAe were paid for the Jaguars by this insurance and a figure of a 6.5% premium comes to mind; obviously the premium was set by analysts of the risks involved.

As an aside I might have been involved in a BAe project to sell the ex-Saudi Lightnings to Nigeria; in fact it never happened but there would have been a training project to tighten your ringpiece!