it seems as if it’s all change at the Assault Glider Trust with them leaving Shawbury.
The Horsa and Waco are going into temporary storage at RAF Cosford, pending transfer over to the RAF Museum when space becomes available – which seems to be a more positive move than going into deep storage at Stafford.
According to their facebook page, the Tiger Moth is going to the Army Air Corps Historic Flight for restoration to airworthy condition and the ex-Air Atlantique Dak is going to RAF Transport Command Memorial, again for restoration to airworthy condition.
By: brewerybod - 18th April 2014 at 08:33
The F-84F is another machine that fits that bill ! No explicable reason for the RAFM to have it full stop ! A quick donation to Bentwaters would be the answer to a storage problem!
Yes the Bentwaters Cold War Museum has no representative USAF aircraft that were based there (or Woodbridge) due to USAFM restrictions, it would be great to have an F-84F as the 79th,91st and 92nd Fighter Bomber Squadrons were stationed at the twin-bases and the 78th who were at nearby Shepherds Grove.
By: TwinOtter23 - 19th March 2014 at 15:03
Other dialogue has been held! 😉
By: David Burke - 19th March 2014 at 14:19
That would have been the perfect solution . I feel Middle Wallop have reached the limit of their buildings potential.
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th March 2014 at 09:44
The first I heard that the Trust was having to move was in a discusion with Col Nick Nicholls the Chairman of the Glider Pilot association who had been proposing to the current curator at Middle Wallop (Nick is a past curator) to relocate all the Trusts aircraft to Wallop. That would have been impossible due to the space (money) required, although I did sketch out a T2 hangar floor plan that took all the Trusts aircraft and Wallops collection of Assualt gliders and put them under one roof.
The Assault Glider Trust deserves better than to see its efforts hidden away in a storage hangar at Cosford, it was no mean achievment to build a Horsa from scratch and they have not only produced one complete one but another as a kit of parts for an American museum and a number of individual Horsa cockpits whilst at the same time restoring a WACO CG4a, Dakota and Tiger Moth.
By: Arabella-Cox - 19th March 2014 at 08:32
Apparently they asked us at the Jet Age Museum if we wanted it but as there is no direct link to Gloucestershire’s aviation heritage (and don’t have room) we turned them down. We’ve barely got enough room for our own Horsa cockpit!
By: David Burke - 19th March 2014 at 00:27
Th best diorama would be the Dakota above the Waco coming in for a snatch! Yes Wallop would be the place for it !
By: Arabella-Cox - 18th March 2014 at 22:06
BTW Just what is Duxford’s connection with Airborne Forces apart from being the location of the Airborne Forces museum (which can’t be bothered to display the Hotspur cockpit they have)?
Ugh. Don’t get me started on that one…
But I’d love to see the WACO at Middle Wallop especially if it’s finished as a Hadrian and painted in the correct RAF scheme.
By: David Burke - 18th March 2014 at 21:27
Manston enquired about the F-84F probably fourteen years ago . The display restrictions would have made it impractical . Quite why its at Cosford at all is open to debate – it was a gift to the nation and should be somewhere on show.
By: Sabrejet - 18th March 2014 at 21:21
The F-84F is another machine that fits that bill ! No explicable reason for the RAFM to have it full stop ! A quick donation to Bentwaters would be the answer to a storage problem!
A quick donation to Manston would be better, though unlike their T-33, it would be nice to see it painted as an aircraft that was actually based at Manston!
By: Mike J - 18th March 2014 at 15:17
Cosford………its just short of publically accessible hangars…….
What is the plan for Cosford once the engineering school moves out to Lyneham? Is it still planned for the Army to move in, or has that now been put on hold due to the current round of cutbacks?
By: Arabella-Cox - 18th March 2014 at 14:41
The Assault Glider Trust WACO is better than the YAM example, it hurts me to say it but its also better than the WACO at Middle Wallop.
The Horsa also deserves to be seen by the public and it should remain as intended by the aims of the Trust, in the Midlands. Cosford has historical conections with the Horsa and it is an appropriate location its just short of publically accessible hangars for what will always be a growing collection. Its a pity that all four aircarft the Trust collected couldn’t be kept in one location.
BTW Just what is Duxford’s connection with Airborne Forces apart from being the location of the Airborne Forces museum (which can’t be bothered to display the Hotspur cockpit they have)?
By: TEXANTOMCAT - 18th March 2014 at 13:38
I meant in terms of the liklihood of seeing the complete airframes on display in the not too distant future. I also thought the RAFM storage facilities at Cosford itself are pretty basic – and probably not conducive to the long term storage of a wooden airframe
If their WACO is as good as the superb example at YAM then it deserves to be displayed!
Personally I would have thought that the gliders to Duxford, where they already have an exhibition on airborne forces (and very good it is too! – Saddams gold Dragunov anyone!) might have been more in context. Especially as the GPR was an Army unit?
TT
By: jeepman - 18th March 2014 at 06:57
Not sure what conclusion to draw – some aircraft, in particular the RAFM Lockheed Ventura have been in deep store at Cosford for decades.
I meant in terms of the liklihood of seeing the complete airframes on display in the not too distant future. I also thought the RAFM storage facilities at Cosford itself are pretty basic – and probably not conducive to the long term storage of a wooden airframe
By: David Burke - 18th March 2014 at 00:08
The F-84F is another machine that fits that bill ! No explicable reason for the RAFM to have it full stop ! A quick donation to Bentwaters would be the answer to a storage problem!
By: Consul - 17th March 2014 at 23:12
… …
The Horsa and Waco are going into temporary storage at RAF Cosford, pending transfer over to the RAF Museum when space becomes available – which seems to be a more positive move than going into deep storage at Stafford.
… …
Not sure what conclusion to draw – some aircraft, in particular the RAFM Lockheed Ventura have been in deep store at Cosford for decades.
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March 17, 2014 at 6:23 pm