RAF Lyneham Comet has been Saved

Closing this thread as this is being discussed here…
http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?123758-Comet-XK699

Seems such a shame that its not been saved in it’s entirity. Can’t be many of these old birds about now.

See Comet XK699 thread.

If true regarding the scrapping then Surely there could have been some useful parts for the restoration of the Air France Comet at the Colney Mosquito Museum?

If she has been cut up its a sad day 🙁 Hope some can be saved if true as know where some bits could come in useful.

It’s been tagged onto the end of this thread http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?123758-Comet-XK699

The ‘rumour’ is that there is a posting on FB that the Comet is being chopped up today, but I can’t find the post, anyone? :confused:

After two tours in the RAF at Lyneham and having flown in XK699 as an ATC cadet, I went on a nostalgia tour of Lyneham today. Took this shot of ‘699 which still shows no sign of being dimantled.

The two surviving early Comets could be put undercover and their long-term preservation assured.I can but dream…!

Hear hear! Is there currently a planned timetable for the removal of Sagittarius from RAF Lyneham?

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Does anyone know where this will potentialy place their current civil/MoS trials Comet 1?

Dunno, but I’ve always dreamed of seing the Comet 1 in BOAC colours, (with the undersides and wings stripped of the grey paint and polished to the proper 1950s mirror sheen), as the centrepiece of a brand new aviation gallery in the Science Museum London. To me, this father of all modern airliners is one of the most significant airframes in preservation anywhere, let alone the UK. While Cosford have laudably brought it indoors, it surely deserves more than looking faded and slightly out of place in a hangar in the Midlands.

The opportunity could be taken to tell the tragic story of the early Comets with a special display. As a salutory tale about the risks attending rapid scientific and engineering progress, the Comet story is second to one and supremely relevant to the Science Museum.

Its departure would leave a handy Comet-shaped hole in Cosford’s “Transport and Training” hangar, which can then be filled by the genuine RAF veteran XK699, another unique survivor of its mark and an very relevant airframe to tell how Transport Command entered the jet age.
The two surviving early Comets could be put undercover and their long-term preservation assured.

I can but dream…!

Well she really does look sad.

I would imagine mass balances, you’d probably have to spend your whole life licking them to have an effect though

Sagittarius is still at Lyneham so I took the opertunity to take these photographs on the 10th August.
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You can see corrosion on the undercarriage but she would look a lot better after a proper clean.
I was though warned to respect a 2 metre zone around the tail becaues of a radiation hazard, so what’s that then?

I wonder if they are thinking of a Comet collection…? Comet 1, Comet 2 and a Nimrod… all they would need is a Mk4 and they’d almost have the complete family…

🙂

Zeb

Excellent news, and a real positive movement by the RAFM in opposition of some grim airframe condition reports.
Does anyone know where this will potentialy place their current civil/MoS trials Comet 1?

Fantastic news

What a way to start the new year.

XK699 has long been an interest of mine, so it is fantastic to hear that she is getting the long term preservation and resource this airframe sorely needs.

As an Air Cadet in the early ’80’s we enjoyed adventure training in the T2 hangar at RAF Henlow where “Saggy” was in store. Whilst we could not touch, we could enjoy her presence.