Belgian Wings
Belgian Air Force, past and present.
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Gloster (A.W.) Meteor NF.11
Twin engine radar equipped night-fighter
In July 1949 Belgium committed itself towards its allies to create, before the end of 1951, three night-fighter squadrons with 8 aircraft each. On May 25th, 1948 a flight equipped with De Havilland Mosquito NF30 was formed at Beauvechain, which became 10 Night-Fighter Squadron (squadron code ND). On July 1st, 1951 a second squadron was formed, 11 Night-Fighter Squadron (squadron code KT). The remaining Mosquito NF30s were split over the two squadrons until the arrival of a first batch of 12 Armstrong-Whitworth Meteor NF11 night-fighters (EN1-EN12). In the summer of 1952 the first Meteors were delivered at Beauvechain. Initially the aircraft were used by No 10 Squadron and wore the ND-code. However shortly afterwards all the Meteors were allocated to No 11 Squadron and the surviving Mosquitos were regrouped with No 10 Squadron. In 1953 the Mosquitos were grounded and the 10 Squadron-pilots flew with the 11 Squadron aircraft. In 1956 the Meteor NF11-fleet was boosted with the purchase of 12 secondhand Royal Air Force-aircraft (EN13-EN24), in order to bring both squadrons back to an operational level.
This second batch of aircraft was not completely identical to the first batch, which caused several technical problems and also caused a few accidents. In the meanwhile the search was on for a successor for the Meteor, which was considered an interim solution, and the aircraft chosen was the Avro CF100 Canuck Mk.5. This decision also was the end for the dedicated night-fighter squadrons in the Belgian Air Force, as the new aircraft was "all-weather" capable. In 1958 10 Squadron was deactivated and 11 Squadron, together with 349 and 350 Squadron, was equipped with the Canuck. Ten aircraft were sold to COGEA to be transformed for a target-towing role on behalf of the Belgian Ministry of Defence, but these plans were never put in place and after many years in storage at the airfield of Oostende-Raversijde they were scrapped.
Date In
Jul 1952
EN-01
History
Date Out
Aug 1955
WD726 (RAF), EN-1/ND-L, /KT-l, Crashed at Acht (Nl.) on 26 Aug 1955
Date In
Jul 1952
EN-02
History
Date Out
Aug 1958
WD775 (RAF), EN-2/KT-E, OO-ARR (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Jul 1952
EN-03
History
Date Out
Dec 1953
WD777 (RAF), EN-3/KT-G, Crashed at Roux-Miroir on 1 Dec 1953
Date In
Aug 1952
EN-04
History
Date Out
Jul 1954
WD728 (RAF), EN-4/KT-N, crashed at Døstrup, Syddanmark, (DK) on 12 Jul 1954
Date In
Aug 1952
EN-05
History
Date Out
Aug 1958
WD729 (RAF), EN-5/KT-S, OO-ARW (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Aug 1952
EN-06
History
Date Out
May 1958
WD730 (RAF), EN-6/KT-W, OO-ARS (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Aug 1952
EN-07
History
Date Out
Apr 1953
WD727 (RAF), EN-7/ND-X, /KT-X, crashed at Wevelgem on 27 Apr 1953
Date In
Aug 1952
EN-08
History
Date Out
Apr 1956
WD731 (RAF), EN-8/KT-Y, Crashed at Beauvechain on 12 Apr 1956 due to engine problems
Date In
Aug 1952
EN-09
History
Date Out
Nov 1954
WD732 (RAF), EN-9/KT-Z, lost in a fatal crash caused by the loss of the cockpit canopy at La Houssière/Braine-le-Compte on 25 Nov 1954
Date In
Sep 1952
EN-10
History
Date Out
Aug 1957
WD733 (RAF), EN-10 KT-U, ND-U, Written off in accident at Beauvechain on 01 Aug 1957 due to landing gear problems.
Date In
Sep 1952
EN-11
History
Date Out
Aug 1958
WD735 (RAF), EN-11/KT-T, OO-ARX (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Feb 1953
EN-12
History
Date Out
Aug 1958
WD736 (RAF), EN-12 KT-R, OO-ARY (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Feb 1953
EN-13
History
Date Out
May 1958
WD602 (RAF), EN-13/ND-A, scrapped
Date In
Feb 1953
EN-14
History
Date Out
Dec 1956
WD724 (RAF), EN-14/ND-B, crashed at Sart-les-Spa on 5 Dec 1956
Date In
Jan 1956
EN-15
History
Date Out
Mar 1956
WD622 (RAF), EN-15/ND-C, crashed at Mont-Saint-Guibert on 13 Mar 1956 after double flame-out at night due to water contamination in fuel. (See also EN-22)
Date In
Feb 1956
EN-16
History
Date Out
Aug 1958
WD594 (RAF), EN-16/ND-D, OO-ARQ (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Mar 1956
EN-17
History
Date Out
Dec 1956
WD760 (RAF), EN-17 ND-B, written off on 24 Dec 1956 in a mid-air collision with EN-24 near Beauvechain
Date In
Mar 1956
EN-18
History
Date Out
May 1958
WD661 (RAF), EN-18 ND-F, Stored at Oostende, OO-ARO (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Feb 1956
EN-19
History
Date Out
Aug 1958
WD590 (RAF), EN-19 ND-G, OO-ARZ (Gogea Nouvella), Oostende. Nose cone serving as chicken-shack at Elewijt (2014)
Date In
Feb 1956
EN-20
History
Date Out
May 1958
WD596 (RAF), EN-20/ND-H, OO-GEV (M. Leemans - Vilvoorde), stored at Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Feb 1956
EN-21
History
Date Out
May 1958
WD741 (RAF), EN-21/ND-J, OO-ARP (Cogea Nouvelle) Oostende, scrapped
Date In
Jan 1956
EN-22
History
Date Out
Mar 1956
WD763 (RAF), EN-22/ND-K, crashed at Rummen/Geetbets on 13 Mar 1956 after double flame-out at night due to water contamination in fuel. (See also EN-15)
Date In
Jan 1956
EN-23
History
Date Out
Aug 1958
WM221 (RAF), EN-23 ND-L, OO-GEZ (M. Leemans, Vilvoorde), scrapped 1960
Date In
Feb 1956
EN-24
History
Date Out
Dec 1956
WM263 (RAF), EN-24/ND-M, written off in a mid-air collision near Beauvechain with EN-17 on 12 Dec 1956.