Boeing 247

Agreed Consul. It is a disgrace, and that’s not the only unique aircraft entombed at Wroughton due to over zealous H&S. DH Dragon, Dragon Rapide , Piaggio P 166, Constellation.
Why cant we have occasional open days like they used to, to view these lovely aircraft? Surely hangers not that unsafe. If so why store lovely rare aircraft in them ? Why not loan some out to museums that can display them?
I didn’t get the chance in the past, I wonder if I will ever get the chance to see them. Are they not publicly owned by the taxpayer.
Mind you when they occasionally do get one out for display, the arty farty brigade get there hands on the display and turn it into a piece of abstract art i.e HP Gugnunc ,Short SC1 at South Kensington.
Perhaps if they did put the Boeing 247 on display they would hang it upside down, with a mannequin of the pilot waving to the kiddies as if doing a loop!
I hope I’m not giving them ideas. They would have a problem doing this with the Connie though.

I well remember seeing N18E on its ferry flight from Dublin to Fairoaks, had no idea what it was. Mind you at that time we saw all sorts of strange aircraft at the time, most in the ownership of Doug Arnold. I assume it’s last flight was Fairoaks-Wroughton? If only the Scicence Museum had carried on with collecting at Wroughton, what a collection of civil aircraft we could have had.
Rob

I’m sure the Science Museum would happily build an aircraft museum in Wroughton if someone would cough up the money for it….

Just so long as its not the Heritage Lottery Fund. They may have the money but they also have some strange ideas on how their money is spent. Just look at some of the threads here complaining about museum revamps (RAFM, IWM etc)

With only four surviving examples, I think it’s fair that none are flown anymore. As regards the Science Museum’s example, it may not be on display, but at least it’s preserved. Who else would have thought of acquiring and preserving such a type in Europe? I’m sure the Science Museum would happily build an aircraft museum in Wroughton if someone would cough up the money for it….

… just a little reminder of this historic moment …

United Airlines‘ 247D – SN 1729, reg. NC13347, powered by two air-cooled supercharged R-1340-S1H1-G Wasp engines (eng. architecture: 9-cylinder, single-row, radial; eng. displacement: 1.343,8 in³ / 22.021 cm³ * bore: 5,75 in / 146,05 mm, stroke: 5,75 in / 146,05 mm), CR: 6,0:1, rated at 600 hp (608 PS) / 447 kW at 2.250 rpm on 6.200 ft / 1.890 m. The engines’ max. diameter was 51,75 in / 1.314,5 mm and dry weight 930 lb / 422 kg. The engine had two overhead valves per cylinder, single-speed centrifugal type supercharger (1:10 step-up). The fuel system comprised two-barrel Stromberg carburetors by which 91-octane gasoline was blended with the pressurized air and injected into the intake manifolds of the cylinders. The engines drove three-bladed Hamilton Standard controllable-pitch propellers through the 3:2 gear reduction.

Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp engine

* Boeing 247D – SN 1729, reg. NC13347, landing for the last time at Boeing Field (BFI) in Seattle

Eighty-three years after the successful delivery in 1933, the world’s oldest Boeing 247D returned back to the Boeing Field.
The aircraft made the 15-minute flight from the PAE in Everett to the Museum of Flight at BFI in Seattle, under the command of Mike Carriker and copilot Chad Lundy. Lundy and Carriker are both Boeing test pilots. Carriker is also known as the chief test pilot on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

To date, only four of these aircraft are still in existence: SN 1699, reg. CF-JRQ – National Museum of Science and Technology, Rockcliffe, Canada; SN 1722, reg. N18E – Science Museum store, Wroughton, UK; SN 1729, reg. N13347 – Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, WA, USA and SN 1953, reg. NC13369 (marked as NR257Y) – National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., USA.

Built in 1933, Boeing 247D was the first recognized modern airliner at the time offering travelers speed and comfort in an all metal design.

All I can say is: “What a beautiful and unique piece of the aviation history!”

Mario

The Science Museum example made its last flight to the UK. It is a huge shame that it is now entombed and inaccessible at Wroughton where no-one can now appreciate it. ��

It is a national scandal Consul 🙁
I took this pic of the 247 many years ago – I cannot remember exact date as I visited 3 times…

That’s a pity…a real argument could be made that the Boeing was the first really modern (metal, retracting gear) airliner. It was soon eclipsed by the DC-2…and especially the -3, but that shouldn’t take away from its significance.
It even had a healthy production run for the era.

The Science Museum example made its last flight to the UK. It is a huge shame that it is now entombed and inaccessible at Wroughton where no-one can now appreciate it.

I believe it’s going into the new Aviation Pavilion, which opens in June. Here’s a view of it I took during a visit to the MoF on March 23. This was as close as I could get due to the construction works…
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That has been pretty much grounded for years, I guess the MoF Seattle has just made it official.

They also own the B-17F that was airworthy when they got it, and I believe they also have the last flying DC-2. And many of their fighters were airworthy (but rarely if ever flown) when they were part of the Champlin Fighter Museum in Arizona.
In short, like many others, the Museum doesn’t fly their aircraft

I believe we’re going to soon hear of another type which will be permanently grounded when the last flyer goes into a museum.