What a waste, the last of the first ever RAF jet transports being chopped up, worse considering it had been preserved before being put on the gate and left to rot. One wonders how future generations will look on us for not saving the last one, probably the same as could have been said about the final Halifax scrapped as late as 1961. Fair enough their are a couple now, the wreck in Hendon, the rebuilt one in Canada and the composite in Elvington, but they had to salvage one from the bottom of a fiord and that didn't come cheap.

I am not too sure if the two from 51 at Wyton survive as garden sheds or similar. I think one became a novelty at a restraint. I certainly recall seeing the last one between 4 shed and 86A being cut up and taken away circa 1988 ish.

All three were scrapped - The last was at Duxford but was retrieved by the RAF, used for dog branch training and then scrapped

Moderators. I have just exchanged messages with "country calls"

Could you please change the title of this thread to -

De Havilland Comet C2 "Sagittarius" XK699

Today she was chopped up and (I am informed) that the front fuselage is on its way to the Old Sarum Museum (Boscombe Down Heritage Collection)

There is plenty of valuable information on this thread

(thanks Prune Pop)

Comments below are therefore merged from the Military Aircrew thread on the same subject

Sadly it's gone...

Cockpit and fuselage section forward of the wings left on a lowloader, at least one engine spotted out and on the ground, don't know what happend to this or the other engines. The seats left last week.

The rest is in a big heap with a machine sat on top ready for the skip.

It would be nice to see it replaced with a K though.

Sadly no chance, it would be too expensive to put one there. You can expect a tank or some such to reflect the true 'joint' nature of the new tri-service college.

Unfortunately, The front end of the aircraft slid past me at J16 of the M4 at around 2pm today, heading east, roughly cut, and in a sorry state.....

The cockpit section arrived at the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection today (which is actually located at Old Sarum Airfield).

Those on the Book of Face .... there are some photos of the destruction and wreckage of the Comet on the RAF Lyneham group pages.

Pictures

http://forum.keypublishing.com/attac...2&d=1384372065

http://forum.keypublishing.com/attac...0&d=1384372062

http://forum.keypublishing.com/attac...1&d=1384372064


From

Lyneham Comet XK699 - Page 2

More info here on the BDAC Blog Hangar 1

De-havilland Comet C mk2 XV 699 SAGITTARIUS was chopped up between the 10th and 12th November.
Cynically the MOD Lyneham staff closed the main gates and covered them with large white sheets to hide the destruction of this aircraft,the last one complete.
The cockpit and about 30ft of fuselage is at Boscombe Down.
The aircraft was owned by the RAF,never by the museums and although Cosford agreed to take it for storage and later refurb they could not afford the £20000 transport costs.I confirmed this with the Cosford management.
This aircraft could have been saved with public donation had the RAF Heritage staff made public the importance of saving it.
Instead it got to the point where the civil contractors needed access to the land it was standing on and had penalties on the MOD if they were delayed.
Those who were responsible and authorised the destruction should resign,yet again we have seen the senior officers of the RAF in the posts supposed to protect and enhance our historic military aviation absolutely useless.
As far back as 2009 Bob Spink MP laid before parliament early day motion 1555 alerting parliament and press the importance of this airframe.
The RAF were aware of this and yet they still prevaricated for four years
culminating in last weekends destruction.

Thanks Sam

I wish the Boscombe Down Museum best wishes in the restoration work they will be doing to the nose section of "Saggy"

Although there is no point in crying over spilt milk, I feel a lot of us have been deceived and betrayed over the recent events.

I have noted down a chronology of what went wrong over the last few years, I am filling in the gaps before I post it on here. I have to make a few assumptions here and there, and I am agreeing with one of yours:-

As evidenced by the fact that the Lyneham Medical Centre & Bowling Alley were bulldozed in the same time period - it is clear that, as you say, the MoD washed their hands of the Comet, right up to the point of the events last week.

lyneham gate guard comet xv699
 

sagittarius is now just a cockpit and about 25 feet of forward fuselage resting at Boscombe museum.
Spilt milk maybe but we can do one more thing.Discover the chain of neglect,make public their names and shame them.the culprits might think they can hide behind the often used cloak, MOD spokesperson.
I have several FOI requests outstanding to nail the people who allowed this to happen.
If they can escape censure on this nothing else worth saving is safe whilst they remain in their posts

Hi Sam

This name is in the public domain through the public tender

Dismantlement and relocation of Gate Guardian Comet C2 XK699 - Government Tenders, Government News and Information - Government Online

Mr Ignacio Araujo

I'm guessing that he was the Project Officer for the disposal of the Comet, and when Cosford changed their minds, it remained his problem.

Another angle is that there was an EDM, and also a question in the house. I would be interested to know that if an MP asked a question (and was told that no decision had been made) would that MP expect to be kept informed?

SPHLC

And sad news that the bowling alley has gone too. Suppose H's newspaper hut behind the bowl has gone too?

All very sad.
In response to the posts last week about this being the only Mk 2, I might add that there is still the forward fuselage of XK655 at the Al Mahatta Museum in Sharjah. This is the first production Mk 2, G-AMXA, which was modified for ELINT at Marshall's (Mk R2), retired at Strathallan where it was damaged on landing, spent some time on display at Gatwick, and finally went to Sharjah in 2007. So an RAF Mk 2, but with a unique history, and in top condition, but only the front bit! A photo and some details at:

https://sites.google.com/site/lgarey...lmahattamuseum

Laurence

Comet 2 at Strathallan
 

Photo of it there when it was whole, back in September 1976:

Comet at Strathallan Sept 1976 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

sagittarius xv699
 

Thanks SPLC,
not sure about Cosford info not wanting it.
Spoke with the boss there last week and he said they agreed to have it and had a storage facility lined up BUT could not afford to transport it.
Wonder if Ignacio Araujo was in post when EDM 1555 was placed in the commons ,if so he has had 3 years 4 months to put together a rescue plan.

That's quite a development, Sam !

In one stroke it indicates that it was about money, and not the corrosion.

I think probably not. The "Custodian" of the Comet, possibly right up to the closure of RAF Lyneham was an RAF Flt Lt Engineering Officer. This was the officer that announced in Spring 2011 that she had been saved and was going to be crated up at Shawbury

Edited to add:- It seems that the Custodianship of the Comet passed from the aforementioned Engineering Officer to a non-Engineering Officer (possibly Admin branch) before Lyneham closed.

I do know that Ignacio Araujo was "uncontactable" in the days leading up to the destruction of the Comet. For this alone, he has some explaining to do. And I'm not on about Joe Public here - I am talking about senior officers and ex-officers trying to get answers from him.