Hangar 11 News August 2010

Hello
Just cut and posted this from Hangar 11 site.

August 02, 2010

Hangar 11 Diary – July 2010 (week 3)

Since the previous diary I am pleased to say the Mustang annual has been completed in record time and following engine ground runs last Friday she is ready to go flying again. Her first appearances will be this coming weekend at East Fortune near Edinburgh on Saturday (in company with our P-40 Kittyhawk), followed by Sunderland airshow on the same day and the Sunday also.

The Spitfire re-engine programme, which has become something of a ‘mini restoration’ project continues to advance and the original Merlin 70 is currently being plumbed in to the airframe. The control surfaces have been re-painted and re-fitted to the airframe as has the cockpit hood, windscreen and the fuel tanks. As a result she looks much like a bare-metal version of her old self at last! This project has presented many challenges, not least of which in the systems overhaul and the complex installation of a Rolls Royce built engine in place of a Packard unit wherein there are a considerably number of different accessory and piping details, all of which have to be resolved with the existing systems. Nevertheless the challenges are being overcome and we look forward to presenting her in the new colour scheme at some of the later season shows.

On the airshow front the Hurribomber has, predictably, been very busy in this Battle of Britain 70th Anniversary year, with appearances at Cosford, Kemble, Waddington, Biggin Hill, Plymouth, RNAS Yeovilton and most recently RIAT at RAF Fairford.. Conditions at Cosford sadly deteriorated throughout the afternoon and with great regret the planned Battle of Britain flypast we looked forward to participating in had to be cancelled amid a torrential downpour. Kemble and Waddington had better luck with the weather and Biggin Hill, as ever, was carried out in blistering heat, reaching 30 degrees on the Sunday! For water-cooled vintage fighters, in particular the Hurricane with the coolant pipes and radiator directly below the cockpit, this presents its own set of problems and made for less than ideal conditions, although of a dryer variety than we usually contend with! We are saddened to hear that the contract for Colin Hitchins and ADI to operate the Air Fair at Biggin has been brought to an end but we wish them luck with future shows. It is after all one of the longest running events at one of our most historic fighter stations and long may it continue.

At Fairford the Hurribomber participated in a magnificent multi-aircraft flypast as RIAT’s salute to The Few. We also attended the English heritage Festival of History at Market Harborough on both days which required some careful logistical planning resulting in an overnight stay at Kemble on the Saturday evening – our aircraft spent the night in one of the magnificent new hangars constructed last year – so large it made her look like half size replica! – thanks to Kemble for kindly accommodating us J

Our P-40 Kittyhawk has also been active following her long winter rest period, with appearances at East Fortune, Sunderland, Plymouth airshow, where very challenging weather meant a real mission to get through but we did ! Remaining in her ‘Red Tails’ film colours for this season we are still to decide on a new scheme for her to appear in next year – we will keep you posted as soon as a decision on that is reached.

We now move into August where we have a very packed schedule, which includes some huge shows such as Eastbourne, Shoreham, Bournemouth and others. The collection has undertaken a large number of private and corporate displays this year and it may be that we pass our 2009 total of some 235 warbird “missions”, which we are pretty sure is more flying than most in Europe !

We have received a number of enquiries about our members day and rest assured the date will be announced but now likely to be pushed in to September/October, which is no bad thing as there are so many commitments for all of us with this busy Battle of Britain anniversary season, so be good to let the dust settle and then have a quiet day J

Once again, thank you for your valuable support and interest in the collection. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Best wishes, Peter