Hawker Hunter Mk.73, Royal Air Force of Oman (1/72)

[Ace From Outer Space]

Gorgeous! They both look fantastic but the Omani Hunter is something else!

Nice one,

Cheers

Viv

[Tomoshenko]

Cracking brace of Hunters there. Particularly like the Omani scheme with the additional mods and scratch.

[Dermo245]

Lovely build and that paint finish is superb!

Dermot

[F-32]

Lovely build, paint looks spot on

[spaddad]

very very tasty

[Val]

Amazing!

[dolphin38]

Great looking Hunter in an unusual colour scheme, and great weathering and finish

[MagyarMatt]

This is fantastic! What was your motivation for choosing this plane and airforce?

I only ask as my father worked for the SOAF in the 80s and got to go up in one of these. So it brings back a nice memory.

[WildeSau75]

very nice paint and weathering job on that Omani Hunter - one cannot have too many Hawker Hunters.

Cheers,

Michael

[Doc72]

This is fantastic! What was your motivation for choosing this plane and airforce?

I only ask as my father worked for the SOAF in the 80s and got to go up in one of these. So it brings back a nice memory.

Well, I've been fascinated by the Omani Hunters for a long time. Probably it is the mixture of old and new. The Hunter is a 1950s aircraft but Oman (as well as Switzerland, Chile, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and Singapore) operated it as a frontline fighter up to the 1980s. Many years ago I also built a Mustang from the 1980s (Dominican Republic, of course), it seems that I like this kind of stuff.

The Omani Hunters have the additional advantage of beeing highly modified and wearing a very special paint scheme. The camouflage is also a mixture of the old and the new: It follows closely the traditional British pattern but with the grey tones and the low-viz markings it looks a bit like the then latest USAF fighters.

Finally, the fact that the Omani Air Force was mainly run by a British private company also adds interest to the story. It seems that discipline was taken a lot easier than in any NATO air force. Just think of these low-level fly pasts.

Do you have any photos or stories of your father's time in Oman that you can share here?

Cheers,

Ole

[Tiger331]

Great Stuff !……..I really like seeing models of aircraft operated by small or niche air forces...

In spite of the lack of markings on the majority of RAFO aircraft, they still manage to make very attractive subjects and this Hawker Hunter is no exception.

[MagyarMatt]

Well, I've been fascinated by the Omani Hunters for a long time. Probably it is the mixture of old and new. The Hunter is a 1950s aircraft but Oman (as well as Switzerland, Chile, Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and Singapore) operated it as a frontline fighter up to the 1980s. Many years ago I also built a Mustang from the 1980s (Dominican Republic, of course), it seems that I like this kind of stuff.

The Omani Hunters have the additional advantage of beeing highly modified and wearing a very special paint scheme. The camouflage is also a mixture of the old and the new: It follows closely the traditional British pattern but with the grey tones and the low-viz markings it looks a bit like the then latest USAF fighters.

Finally, the fact that the Omani Air Force was mainly run by a British private company also adds interest to the story. It seems that discipline was taken a lot easier than in any NATO air force. Just think of these low-level fly pasts.

Do you have any photos or stories of your father's time in Oman that you can share here?

Cheers,

Ole

I had a quick look through the photo albums I have here but didn't find much that would probably be of interest to the community here. However I know in some other albums that my mother has there are pictures of various aircraft, so when I next visit I'll see if I can dig some out.

As for stories well my father worked in Salalah for a few years in the mid eighties. Whilst he was a former RAF pilot his job for the SOAF was primarily in charge of logistics although he also did work as a flight instructor on the side. Anyway seeing you mention the low level fly pasts reminds me of when he told me how the Hunter pilots liked to 'beat up' the control tower on returning from wherever they had been. Now on one occasion one chap got rather enthusastic and on landing the ground crew found a piece of the control tower ladder embedded in the wing!

Another story goes, and I'm not sure if this was my farther personally or a colleague of his. They were up in the Jebel visiting some tribesmen and they were offered this drink (some kind of tea or coffee) anyway they took a sip and found it tasted awful. Now not wanting to offend anyone they managed to glug the whole cup down upon which to their horror they were immediately given a refil!

After another cup or two they couldn't take any more. Anyway turns out no one would have taken offence and drinking the whole cup was basically saying I'm thirsty i need more!