Concur on the dates. EB wasn't around at the time EI had been painted up for possible sale/lease to Silver City so.. the only thing I can think of is this shot is taken much earlier and EI (clearly in shot though only the nose) is in fact wearing FJ. We know that FJ came into existance from '68 and the BEA fleet began to get repainted on an opportunity basis from then on and EI was wearing FJ from Jul 69.. perhaps before (Airliners has 1 shot dated then). If the article that shot came from is commenting on EI going to Silver City, the shot must have been used as an example of the aircraft rather than EI wearing Silver City. The shot doesn't go back far enough to show BEA titles on the upper fuse but when it was taken, they must have been there
I have another pic somwhere of 'EI in Silver City and the nose of 'EB is behind
I'm sure that pic was taken after 'EB was supposedly scrapped...according to the popular accounts.
It may well have been originally withdrawn and cancelled as scrapped in June but that doe not mean it was broken up then of in fact gone back into service un recorded.
I take another look in a minuet
Garry
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
Is it coincidence you think or.. were both those shots taken at the same time with the aircraft parked in the same place (though not necessarily by the same person) Considering there were only 43 production Vanguards.. 20 of those being BEA, you'd think tracking down info on each one (of the 20) would be a doddle but it's far from that!
Can't say.but I don't think they moved between shots.....which could be a wide timespan or just an instant
Maybe they painted it in secret....pulled it out for two minutes when no one was looking....took a couple of pics and then hid them for forty years just to confuse the anoraks of the future.
Garry
"In the world of virtual reality things are not always what they seem."
And what a good job they did too I'll ask the old gits at Brooklands if they can remember what happened with 'EB but I doubt I'll get anything sensible back
It seems there's no real story behind 'EB's hybrid paint. Where her and 'EI are parked up is outside bays 16-20 and bay 20 is where the Merchantman conversions were done (though a while later than in that shot) so what it might show is 'EI having just come out of the maint bay wearing her full 'new' FJ paint and 'EB half finished Pity we don't know the full story (or any part there of) but at least we have a possible explanation as to why they're there
That's true. Those 'Anoraks' of yesteryear were not as good as they'd have us think
If my guesstimate on the timing is correct (late '68 - mid '69).. you'd have thought that someone, somewhere would have captured 'EB either in flight or on the deck somewhere between then and Jun '73 when she met her end otherwise why bother painting her. The other question is, what happened between then and Jun '73.. 4 years is a long time to sit doing nowt or not to be recorded wearing your new clobber (half of it anyway) It doesn't make sense
Ah well.. another 'Vanguard' mystery to annoy me for the foreseeable future
