Halifax NA337 Spreads her wings!

Not sure steve

I will have a look in the files tomorrow…..

Elvington also have a 3d cockpit with the crew positions intact as well dont they or am I thinking of another museum?

thats true pete, didn’t I once email you a picture of it in black and white? I havent got a copy to hand but if you have it, post it up by all means.

best regards, steve

Elvington also have a 3d cockpit with the crew positions intact as well dont they or am I thinking of another museum?

Has anyone seen pictures of the interior of the Yorkshire Air Museum Friday 13th?..did they fit it out completely with a cockpit and instruments?

Yes & yes. Would have attached a picture but that part of the website is broken (see announcement at top of forum)

Has anyone seen pictures of the interior of the Yorkshire Air Museum Friday 13th?..did they fit it out completely with a cockpit and instruments?

W1048

I have to agree that as long as they replace the parts that are missing from W1048 which were present when she was raised and also if they make mention of the fact that she is a memorial to the fallen then it will be ok by me….

archieraf- That would be W/O Vic Stevens who was one of the three former members of her crew who supported the restoration when the appeal was launched in April 1982. Shockingly the figure needed then to restore her was a seemingly miserly 200K.
In the twenty two years since she arrived at Hendon little has been done towards fitting the ‘missing’ parts which were removed at the time of her recovery.
Whilst many view her as a memorial I am more than convinced that had she have been a Lancaster she would have been restored.

Yes David, it was Vic, and you are right, he was involved in the appeal in the 80’s. Times change though and so do people.

As with so much of what happens in larger (and maybe smaller) museums these days politics play a bigger part in the running of them than anything else which may be why the ‘missing’ parts have not been reunited with the Halifax.

To further archieraf’s commets re. the Hendon Halifax, I think a lot of the info boards at Hendon need replacing; when I took my wife there for the first time, that was one of the things that she, as an ordinary punter, picked up on; a lack of info, or at least, a lack of what she wanted to know as a punter.

British Canuck – The remaining parts of PN323 were scrapped.

archieraf- That would be W/O Vic Stevens who was one of the three former members of her crew who supported the restoration when the appeal was launched in April 1982. Shockingly the figure needed then to restore her was a seemingly miserly 200K.
In the twenty two years since she arrived at Hendon little has been done towards fitting the ‘missing’ parts which were removed at the time of her recovery.
Whilst many view her as a memorial I am more than convinced that had she have been a Lancaster she would have been restored.

What happened to the rest of PN323?

I agree that we should appreciate the fact that we have these (3) Halifaxs for future generations to see.

There is a Halifax cockpit PN323 on distance in the UK also..but does anyone know of any other signifant Halifax sections in existance in the World.

BC

If you would call them substantial, there are bits and pieces which are (or were) in the Netherlands. A complete dismantled propeller was picked up by me in November 2003 and brought to the UK in the care of 57Rescue, if all went according to plan they must be at Trenton by now. The undercarriage leg I have posted before on this forum will remain in the farmyard as the owner doesn’t want to give it up (I asked). There is a large section of rear wing centre spar that has been lying in the woods behind a local museum in the east of the Netherlands, but that has corroded away badly. I tried to post pics but there seems to be a problem at the moment with uploading photo’s.

There are substantial sections of Halifax underwater or isolated areas (Pakistan would be nice) but only time will tell.

Cheers

Cees

I agree that we should appreciate the fact that we have these (3) Halifaxs for future generations to see.

There is a Halifax cockpit PN323 on distance in the UK also..but does anyone know of any other signifant Halifax sections in existance in the World.

Steve, the ‘red stuff’ on W1048 is PX-9, a lanolin based preservative which was originally used.

I spent Sunday at the Halifax in Hendon in the company of the Flight Engineer who was onboard the aircraft when it crash landed. He does not wish the aircraft to be restored.

There is certainly room for improvement with the display of the Halifax – the inclusion of the rest of the parts which were recovered would be good and a total overhaul of the information/display boards is a must.

The Halifax at Trenton is coming on and looking good and I would love to see it one day. There is a place for all three Halifaxes (Elvington, Hendon, Trenton)………they all have their merits, so lets enjoy them and appreciate what we have.

Each to their own I guess, but I much prefer NA337 to the funny red coloured aircraft at Hendon. To me NA337 represents a Halifax, whilst I can’t visualise the Hendon exhibit as an aircraft, let alone a Halifax. Just my personal opinion for what it’s worth.

If Hendon could find a way of preserving W1048 without the red stuff (what on earth IS that by the way? I’m not very well versed in preservatives…), I’d certainly prefer them to do so. Full restoration of that particular aeroplane would be wrong IMHO; she serves as a fine and thought-provoking memorial to 55,000 men who never lived to see the war’s end.

Good point about NA337 representing a Halifax Y11F, but think back 15 years to the days when W1048 was THE only Halifax. That we now have two more (okay, so the Elvington one’s largely a replica) really shouldn’t detract from W1048’s significance.

Each to their own I guess, but I much prefer NA337 to the funny red coloured aircraft at Hendon. To me NA337 represents a Halifax, whilst I can’t visualise the Hendon exhibit as an aircraft, let alone a Halifax. Just my personal opinion for what it’s worth.

Althought the Trenton Halifax will not 100% original materials it will represent the real thing in size and scale…

Yes, I’m aware of these items 😉

To quote Gp Capt. Hall (Director Curatorial Division at Hendon) on the subject, from an e-mail about this very subject:
“The Halifax continues undergo conservation rather than restoration, thanks to the volunteer effort of members of the Society of Friends. The addition of transparencies, cowlings or other parts which we have retained in store is always an option but not I believe a priority at present. Nevertheless, it is useful to know that there are other views. It would be, however, entirely against our conservation and preservation ethos to distress the forward turret and blend it in with the associated aircraft. Again your view is respected but at present it is a lone voice.”

That is precisely why I say the Halifax at Hendon SHOULDN’T be rebuilt. I think this particular wreck could not have been satisfactorily displayed in “as recovered” condition, given the major damage, and it also provides a true representation of what a Halifax should look like.

The Hendon Halifax is an incredible exhibit “as is”, being in its original paintwork, and not having been restored, so all the metal is original. I do think it should be returned to the “as recovered” condition, with the cowlings etc refitted.

I think the Trenton Halifax is awesome – I saw it just under two years ago, and they have done a stunning job. I think it was the right decision for that airframe, but I think it is the wrong one for Hendon.

Restoration or Rebuild

I have visited the Trenton a few times a year since the restoration began and I was wondering how much of the original aircraft was used in the restoration…it looks like pretty much all new outer skins and surfaces for the Hali…The engines and spar are true but what about the rest….