Hello Chief: Where are the skyhawks!
My conversation with a retired Air Force General about the missing F5E jet engine led to me to an interesting story. I was intrigue when he cajole told me that there is nothing to be shocked about a missing engine when an entire fleet of aircraft went missing from the TUDM inventory.
Entire fleet of aircraft! What was he talking about? I thought he was kidding and making his usual jokes about aircraft missing from the radar screen but when he said that it was missing from the TUDM inventory that led me to place few more calls.
2. It appears that via a special G to G arrangement, the Malaysian government bought 80 A4 Skyhawks from the USAF in the 80’s. It was delivered to us at the beginning of 1984. These are working aircraft with plenty of mileage to go. Thirty five aircraft was brought back to Malaysia and was used in the service. A few dropped from the sky, one went missing over South China Sea (Lt. Wahi) and the rest was used until it could not be used again. Some became spare parts. The balance (55 jets) was left in the California dessert parked under the scorching sun. It was never brought back.
3. The 55 aircraft that was left in the Californian dessert was never brought back. It was place under the management of a company in the US. This company ends paying the parking chargers for years. Sometime between the years 2000 to 2003, RMAF decided to take back the aircraft and sell them off. Our TUDM officers from KL were sent to look for the aircraft in the dessert. They found it but the shocking part is that they no longer legally own the aircrafts.
