F-4 Phantom Heaven IDF/AF

[dinovandoorn]

The final place to see multiple IDF/AF Rhino's is Hatzerim ! They are not in the best shape but still a nice collection



























































A Full report of the museum can be found at http://www.gmap.nl

[Starman]

Dino is quite right unfortunately, a couple of visits to "Cohen & Son" revealed the demise of maybe 32 "green tails" he may also have dealt with the greys, but for sure apart from a few gate guards, that's it. The small plaques in his early photos are where aircraft were "sold" to family members or similar with a connection to the individual aircraft, apparently there was no care and maintenance included in the deal. With the museum itself supposedly moving into covered accommodation, even these birds' days must be numbered.

As a reminder of slightly better days, plus another under-growth shot that I may have posted before, the faint hearted may look away now before I take you to Ovda, with thanks for "Starnephew":

486 by Starman OK, on Flickr
487 by Starman OK, on Flickr
493 by Starman OK, on Flickr
497 by Starman OK, on Flickr
499 by Starman OK, on Flickr
496 by Starman OK, on Flickr

[CBR]

The final place to see multiple IDF/AF Rhino's is Hatzerim ! They are not in the best shape but still a nice collection

Wow. These are in very bad shape. But also paintwise seen, the museum exhibits itself.
I thought the desert was a good place for storage but obviously I was wrong.
Shame such an interesting collection goes south.
Like in some other aircraft museums a shielding building would be appropriate.

[Iroquois]

Nice collection indeed. Saw them too a few years back. I have read somewhere that the Phantoms with an X on their nose will be scrapped soon.

[Bennie]

Nice collection indeed. Saw them too a few years back. I have read somewhere that the Phantoms with an X on their nose will be scrapped soon.

Was this perhaps the point that Starman made in his post above about the demise of '32 tails'?

[CBR]

Soon? ... they are not in a hurry. I saw the 266 X already in 2009 and its still there.

[ze341]

We saw the remains of 20 F-4’s at Ashdod scrapyard in May 2014 , all said to have come up from Ovda.

[Iroquois]

Soon? ... they are not in a hurry. I saw the 266 X already in 2009 and its still there.

They indeed are not. Saw them in 2011. But they recently removed/scrapped all the stored H-500's there. So they already started cleaning up.

[CBR]

But they recently removed/scrapped all the stored H-500's there. So they already started cleaning up.

Like these ... http://www.airfighters.com/photo/52451/ ... 500MD/254/

[Starman]

Indeed; ze341 your "20" were part of the "32" former Ovda (sorry Bennie) examples I mentioned, and I fear I may have missed the "others" as there are now almost no F-4s of any type at Ovda except a couple near the gate/heritage park.

As for our main topic, Hatzerim, the blue cross is a system favoured by the Brits for id'ing scrap contenders, could well have been the case here, but as I said, when the new sheltered accommodation is ready, there may be a huge downsizing. Come get 'em quick! The rumours about the Hughes 500s is that a "British" company bought those and took them away. However, refer also to an earlier post when I mentioned the auction of various piles of scrap last November.

[dinovandoorn]

there are now almost no F-4s of any type at Ovda except a couple near the gate/heritage park..

We could not find any phantom in the storage area anymore... so only the preserved ones are still on base