Visited Shawbury today so here’s the text of a post I made elsewhere following today’s visit.

Paid a visit to RAF Shawbury again this afternoon to catch up with the progress on the Horsa and the Waco Hadrian. A little quieter this afternoon but this was only to be expected as an event for Burma Veterans takes place tomorrow (Sunday) for which a large turnout is expected, including the present Viscounts Slim and Montgomery and the somewhat irrepressible Sir Jack Hayward. I was told today that Sir Jack, former chairman of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, was a Hadrian pilot in the Far East.

As always, a warm and friendly welcome awaits. The Horsa is looking fantastic and the attention to detail is stunning. Many of the parts have had to be fabricated purely from drawings scaled up from photographs as many of the original drawings were lost. The woodwork of the wing sections and leading edges look superb and all the jigs are laid out on tables for everyone to see. All those involved with the Project are approachable and more than happy to answer your questions.

The Hadrian sits alongside the Hangar wall and being, as yet, uncovered offers excellent views of the method of construction. It becomes obvious that there was no shortage of the metal work required in the USA. The Project have also acquired an unrestored Tiger Moth which was apparently purchased by the Project after spending 28 years or so in storage on a farm. The particular significance of this airframe being that it was one of those used to give initial flying training to the glider pilots. This airframe has been untouched and really is a time capsule.

The Dakota sat outside, still minus outer wings, but some work has been carried out on the airframe and the interior, while still without seats, currently acts as a storage space for some radio equipment and a number of static lines.

But as ever, the real icing on the cake is the presence of the veterans themselves. Just overhearing snatches of conversation really illuminates what life was like for those who flew the gliders and tugs, and for their passengers.

Onto the photographs. Starting with the ones of the Horsa.

Two of the Hadrian.

The Dakota.

Finally, the Tiger Moth.

One of the veterans I spoke to had flown both the Horsa and Hadrian. When I asked how they compared he told me that “the Hadrian took a while to land as it was an aeroplane. The Horsa you could just throw at the floor.”

And not a single one of them thinks they did anything out of the ordinary.

Well worth a visit.

Regards,

kev35