The French Connection - Part II

The French Connection – Part II …

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In 1975, the French Air Force began to relinquish the North American F-100D Super Sabre aircraft which the United States Government had provided under the Mutual Aid Defence Plan (MDAP) in the mid-1950s. Under this agreement, they reverted back to US control and it was decided that they should be flown back to RAF Sculthorpe in north Norfolk for storage and subsequent scrapping. The first three aircraft arrived in November 1975 and their arrival was noted by a number of aviation museums including the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum who made an application to the USAF to acquire and preserve these aircraft. After a long correspondence, the USAF generously made an aircraft available on extended loan.

So, continuing on from the French Connection Part I, this is the story of how the Super Sabre was dismantled and moved from RAF Sculthorpe to the Norfolk and Suffolk Aviation Museum, where it is still currently displayed along with the Dassault Mystere IV and the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star.

North American F-100D Super Sabre

Plans were made to dismantle the aircraft in March 1978. Prior to this two large aircraft jacks were acquired and these were added to the equipment which included oil drums, tyres and baulks of timber which were gathered together for the task ahead. The relevant parts of the aircraft manual were made available to the museum which proved an invaluable guide for its dismantling. A core team of members were assembled who would travel to RAF Sculthorpe and stay there for the duration and these would be joined by other members who would travel there on a daily basis.

The team and the equipment arrived at RAF Sculthorpe early on 8 March 1978 and immediately began dismantling the aircraft. That night they spent their first night at the vicarage in the village of Sculthorpe and would stay there for three nights enjoying a comfortable bed and hearty meals at a cost of £27.50 per person. One of our members loaned us a caravan which we were permitted to park on the vicarage lawn not far from the airfield. Those of us that preferred home comforts slept in the vicarage and let the hardy campers sleep on the lawn.

During the dismantling, the guns were removed and taken by USAF staff to RAF Lakenheath for deactivation and they were returned the next day. By 10 March the fuselage was ready for lifting off the centre section and wings and the tail fin was removed, and this was done with a crane supplied by William Overy Ltd. Once this had been done, it was time to separate the wings, which proved a bit of a problem. From memory, the wings joined together and formed the centre section. To separate them a large number of bolts had to be removed. However, the bolts refused to move once the nuts have been undone and a rod was needed to push them out from the top of the wing. So, a couple of the dismantling party including Ivan Last went to source a high tensile rod which they found at a local blacksmith. By the time, they got back it was time to pack up, it would have to wait until the morning to see if it worked.

On 11 March 1978, two lorries and William Overy’s crane turned up. With the crane taking the weight of the wings, everyone waited with anticipation to see if the bolts would come out. To everybody’s relief, they popped out like peas from a pod. Once this had been done, the wings, tailplane and fin were loaded on to one lorry and the fuselage on to the other and transported to Flixton where another crane was waiting to unload everything on to the car park.

On the following Saturday, re-assembly took place again with the assistance of a crane from William Overy. This was basically a reverse process of what happened at RAF Sculthorpe. It was during this operation that I lost one of my nine lives. When it was time to position the tail fin, the high tension rod that went through the lifting eye could not be found, so a screwdriver was used instead. As the tail fin was being lifted into position, the screwdriver buckled and the fin slipped from the strops holding it in place and dropped to the ground giving me a glancing blow in the process and pushing my glasses into the top of my nose. Another inch further forward would have resulted in a severe head injury. As a precaution, I was taken to the Accident and Emergency department at Beccles Hospital. The nurses there were intrigued as to how I had been injured, one explaining ‘I will have to tell my husband, he was in the Fleet Air Arm’. Luckily, I had only cuts and bruising and I later returned to Flixton, much to the relief of the other members. (A health and safety lesson learned for the future). I have to say that my face was black and blue for the next few days.

Once the re-assembly was completed the aircraft was positioned on the field with the help of John Reeves tractor.