De Havilland Museum visit

I must say one of the best museums around! I love the way that most of the aircraft are open up for inspection and you are able to clamber on board . If you haven’t been there this museum is well worth a visit!

It was indeed – it was discovered that its low speed handling was so good that it didn’t need them. They were locked very early on in the flight test schedule.

It was always known they were there, but this has been the first opportunity to uncover them. I believe the intention is to leave them on view now.

Thanks for that Bruce. Something new learned then. I love it when something turns up on here that I didn’t know.

Lol, glad to have been of help, Mike 🙂 Am sure you’ll enjoy your visit.

You must have spoken to Mrs Meteor! The vid clip was exactly at the right intellectual level!
Seriously though, thanks for that. Much appreciated.
Not as mobile as I once was but this particular museum has long been on my ‘must visit’ list. I shall definitely pay a visit this year and your pictures have whetted the appetite nicely.

Glad you like the photos 🙂 I’ll leave it in the more capable hands of the museum itself to fill you in on the Queen Bee! Nice little video clip of the control console at the side –

http://www.dehavillandmuseum.co.uk/aircraft/de-havilland-dh82b-queen-bee/

Agreed about the slats. Brings an extremely rare beast, (a surviving WW2 prototype I mean), back to its original configuration very nicely.
OK, so here goes with question two:- the Queen Bee is a type I am very hazy about. Beyond the fact that it was a (semi?) expendable target capable of being flown by remote control, I know nothing. Could see the controls for setting remote flying in the front cockpit so would the gubbins sticking out of the port front fuselage have anything to do with providing power for that capability?
Great pictures, by the way – cockpits are a wee foible of mine.

I believe the intention is to leave them on view now.

Glad to hear that, Bruce. The more original the better and they make quite a talking point if you’re not expecting to see them!

It was indeed – it was discovered that its low speed handling was so good that it didn’t need them. They were locked very early on in the flight test schedule.

It was always known they were there, but this has been the first opportunity to uncover them. I believe the intention is to leave them on view now.

Thanks Mike

I think the prototype was indeed the only one with slats – further than that I don’t know.

Thank you for that information.

Thanks Mike

I think the prototype was indeed the only one with slats – further than that I don’t know.

Having complained recently about the lack of aviation content in Glasgow’s transport museum it was nice to see the Scottish Aviation Ltd-built Queen Bee.

A couple more pics –

Excellent photographs!
Reference the slats; if I recall correctly, wasn’t the prototype the only Mossie to have them? I believe they were ‘fabricced’ over at some point and have been uncovered during the restoration?
Confirmation would be gratefully received.
Good to see such an historic airframe getting the treatment it deserves.