1970s Duxford – early days

Howard500, I’ve got one from the early 80s I’ll try and dig out. In the meantime:

Has anyone got photos of hunter F.2 WN904 at duxford any pics would be great!

I’ve seen that one but thanks!

Howard,

The first picture in post #7 of this thread should answer your request.

Request!

Has anyone got photos of hunter F.2 WN904 at duxford any pics would be great!

I might be misunderstanding you here, but apart from brief occassions of maintenance/movement surely XF708 has always had its wingtips fitted?

OK

In order for it to fit in the hangar it had the tips removed and was initially juggled with a (Nuffield) tractor and jeep into the far end of Hangar 4. The stays on the hangar doors were also removed to increase the gap. This operation may not have benefited from a modern day risk assessment but was in the spirit of the times.

As an aside a bit of that chestnut picket fencing still remains along Hunts Road I believe……

….It amazes me that know one wanted the Meteor F.4 enough for it to remain at Duxford or even the UK.

From my understanding of the VT229 situation, it wasn’t quite as simple as – “no one wanting it enough!”

The wing tips were removed almost immediately and are out of this shot…..possibly an important picture therefore.

I might be misunderstanding you here, but apart from brief occassions of maintenance/movement surely XF708 has always had its wingtips fitted?

It amazes me that know one wanted the Meteor F.4 enough for it to remain at Duxford or even the UK.

A complete view of the Shackleton:

Same airframe 1983 – prior to the move to Newark!

Loving this thread and photos. Looks like a local Welch’s transport crane helping put the Jav back together. Also interesting to see how complete the Meteor appears to be, complete with engine / engines still in situ.

Rob

This picture looks like it was taken within days of the Shacks first arrival.e. the Weds to Saturday as it is adjacent to the tower where it parked up with the sister ship on arrival. The wing tips were removed almost immediately and are out of this shot…..possibly an important picture therefore.

It would be interesting to know if the T-29 taxi shot was on arrival or during the fuel depletion flights which included a number of smiling EAAS volunteers as ballast!!

Fantastic pictures from a time gone by. The Javelin was Jeff Hawke’s as was the Meteor stored with it, F4 VT229. The Javelin did indeed go to a better life at Flixton. The Meteor was loaned to Newark where it was placed in their Meteor line-up. Later sold to Kermit Weeks it is at Polk City, Florida in store. That Amiot does look like a Ju52 3m doesn’t it…;)

A couple of pictures of the aircraft in question below taken May/June 1976.

1978

Just a few from the first time I went there.
Slightly different ‘elf ‘n’ safety rules in play in those days, you’ll note!

Yes indeed!! I am quite surprised that the IWM has not produced anything.

Not really their remit. Most of the activity has been by the private owners, that’s what makes the place buzz.

Mind you, there could be an interesting chapter showing departures from the IWM collection on low-loaders, either as complete airframes or piles of scrap.;)

Yes indeed!! I am quite surprised that the IWM has not produced anything. Come on there are writers amongst our membership and perhaps 50p from the cover price to the museum…..

I live too far away for it to be the centre of mine, but it is spiritually and I manage all four flying displays, plus 4 or 5 visits during the year. The irony is that when I lived much nearer I was too busy for all but a few visits a year and some years none at all!!

Wonderful photos, keep them coming!
Sooner or later, somebody will have to write a book covering Duxford’s Museum history. All the odds and ends put together would make for fascinating reading. The recent and marvellous ‘Lost Aviation Collections’ W&R special shows what can be done. How about ‘Duxford: the Museum’s first 40 years’ for publication in 2014 or 2015 ?
(Duxford is not the centre of the universe, but it’s pretty much the centre of mine.)

Fantastic pictures from a time gone by. The Javelin was Jeff Hawke’s as was the Meteor stored with it, F4 VT229. The Javelin did indeed go to a better life at Flixton. The Meteor was loaned to Newark where it was placed in their Meteor line-up. Later sold to Kermit Weeks it is at Polk City, Florida in store. That Amiot does look like a Ju52 3m doesn’t it…;)

As for the Gannet Pagen01, the slide is dated May 74 so it could be any time from 1973 until then so it would’ve been after a years or so of being there.

Here’s a couple more..

Lovely old shots, the Gannet looks freshly arrived – is that the case would you know?

Nice to see BEA liveried Dragon Rapide G-AHGD, it sadly crashed in 1991 at Audley End.