Hawker Hunter - Survivor XL578
T.7 XL578 - RAF Laarbruch Museum, Laarbruch-Weeze, Germany
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Hunter T.7 XL578 at Kirkstead, 10th June 2011; Damien Burke
Another one previously owned by Delta was XL578, which was used for spares, along with XL586. Once it had lost its usefulness as a 'Christmas tree', the previous idea of a cosmetic restoration went in the bin (plenty of other nicer airframes were available), and she was dumped on her belly in the fire dump/practice area of the airfield.
She had been rescued from there and was supposedly under restoration at Wickenby Aerodrome, but in August 2010, she was moved to a private owner at Burton-in-Kendal. Her owner began to put it back together and started a repaint, but the aircraft was still missing substantial bits like the tailplane and radome.
By 2018, the aircraft was exported to Laarbruch - the cockpit section being loaded onto the same lorry as the nose from XF321! Once the aircraft arrived at the Laarbruch museum, the nose of XF321 was mounted onto the fuselage of XL578, which already had the rear end from XG290, to make a complete airframe. The nose, however, is believed to still be at Laarbruch, but it is unclear whether it is on display or not.
She had been rescued from there and was supposedly under restoration at Wickenby Aerodrome, but in August 2010, she was moved to a private owner at Burton-in-Kendal. Her owner began to put it back together and started a repaint, but the aircraft was still missing substantial bits like the tailplane and radome.
By 2018, the aircraft was exported to Laarbruch - the cockpit section being loaded onto the same lorry as the nose from XF321! Once the aircraft arrived at the Laarbruch museum, the nose of XF321 was mounted onto the fuselage of XL578, which already had the rear end from XG290, to make a complete airframe. The nose, however, is believed to still be at Laarbruch, but it is unclear whether it is on display or not.
Information on this page current as of 12/10/2025, last updated by Jake |
Find other photos of XL578 on the following sites:
Air-Britain - Airliners.net - Airplane-Pictures.net - flickr.com - WorldAirPics.com - JetPhotos.net - PlanePictures.net