Jet Age Museum Typhoon project undercarriage

Our main landing gear legs were delivered today by the Safran apprentices who have been restoring them.

IMG_2181 by Darren Lewington, on Flickr

IMG_2178 by Darren Lewington, on Flickr

Press release…

Dredged up by a fishing trawler net working the English Channel, with the second example unearthed from a Gloucestershire airfield dump, the undercarriage legs from a Hawker Typhoon World War 2 aircraft have been carefully restored by the apprentices from Safran at Staverton.

The refurbishment was accomplished with access to only minimal technical documentation, photos and sketches of the internal mechanisms. The rest of the process was deciphered from experience and knowledge, enabling the apprentices to hone their skills by learning about historic design and construction methods.

All 3300 examples of the Hawker Typhoon were built in Gloucestershire by the Gloster Aircraft Company. Only one complete example survives today. The aircraft was designed as a fighter/interceptor but excelled as a potent ground attack weapon used to drive the Nazi forces from occupied France after D-Day.

Museum engineering manager, Ian Mowatt said: – “We plan to fit wheels, tyres and inner tubes to these legs and display them with our Typhoon cockpit project, which is being restored at our Brockworth workshop before going on display at the Jet Age Museum, next August.”

Darren Burge, Managing Director of Safran Landing Systems MRO Gloucester “We are proud of our relationship with the Jet Age Museum and our apprentices have worked diligently on this restoration project with the museum team.”