Thought I would pop down to my local today as it’s been a while. A friendly bunch as ever and the indoor exhibition is now much more complete compared to my last visit. Open Sat-Sun 10-4.
More of the historic buildings here are sadly disappearing. The old ‘No1 RAF officers mess’, adjacent to the museum is making way for a hotel. And one of the few remaining buildings ,near the wind tunnel,on the old site is coming down. 😡
A few pics
1. XW566 the prototype Jaguar T2, arrived in June having been used for ground based tests for 10+ years.
2. Lightning T5 XS420, not easy to photograph, being too close to the fence.
3. Hunter T7 WV383 a venteran of over 25 years of expermental work
4 XP516 Gnat T1 still in its 4FTS scheme, was used for many years for ground based training on site
5 Hunter F.51 E-402 looking well after its recient repaint
6 Mig 21 503 really being Hungarian AF 503/G-BRAM,but in good condition
By: Eric Mc - 5th December 2004 at 18:10
I keep meaning to pop in as I pass by the museum quite a few times each week. I last visited about 9 months ago so am due a visit. I want to buy the second of the DVDs they are compiling from old RAE test film footage which you can buy direct from the Museum shop.
By: robbelc - 5th December 2004 at 18:07
I wonder what are the chances of these airframes being placed under cover??
Something I would love to see. The museum as far as I know long term will be housed in the former ‘factory site’ on the airfield. I know they have a further 3 years left on the lease of the site so maybe it will happern after that? Ideally I would like to see the last ‘black shed'(dating c1917) in use to house the aircraft as its only a 100m from the current building and fully acessable.
By: Peter - 5th December 2004 at 15:11
I wonder what are the chances of these airframes being placed under cover??
By: andrewman - 5th December 2004 at 14:48
Nice photos, thanks for posting them.
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December 5, 2004 at 1:46 pm