Hawker Hunter F.58 at Dunsfold Airshow

Hawker Hunter F.58 at Dunsfold Airshow

Originally built as F.4 XF947 for the RAF, she was delivered to 5MU in 1956 and served with 3(F) Squadron at RAF Geilenkirchen in Germany as part of 2 ATAF. She ended her short RAF careeer with 229 OCU at Chivenor, and became a ground instructional airframe (numbered A2568) with the FAA at Arbroath (HMS Condor) before being sold back to Hawkers in 1971 and converted to an F.58A for the Swiss Air Force, entering service with them in February 1972 as J-4104 and spending most of her new life as a target tug. She was retired in 1996, sold to a new UK owner and ferried to Dunsfold. Jonathan Whaley then bought her in 1997 and ferried her to Hurn where she was completely restored by Jet Heritage. By mid-1998 the job was done and it was time for a new paint job - the one she wears today. Carried out in December/January of 1998/99, Jonathan wanted to go with an unusual civilian scheme rather than keeping the military markings and this 're-entry' paintjob is truly something to behold and has made her a firm favourite with airshow audiences ever since. Miss Demeanour, as she is now known, has been on the circuit nearly non-stop since 1999, and is probably the single most active of the privately owned airframes in the UK.