Bruntingthorpe departures.

Some late answers.

Sorry for the slow replies work and the real world mucking up my life again!!
Peter, we have not had power on for a very long time, and at open days, a ground power unit roaring away is a real pain for the visitors, so we have installed mains power and some up lighting in the cargo holds to give a bit of light and atmosphere. The cockpit is best left with power off on open days, as you never know what the public will do!! And I don’t necessarily mean the kids!!
We have been tempted to put power on for our own benefit and amusement, but never seem to find the time!!!
Mostleyharmless, it has been talked about on a few occasions, but the step from a collection to a museum is a big one, health and safety would become a nightmare and we would hate to loose that special informal atmosphere that is so special at Bruntingthorpe. Ultimately the decision would rest with the airfield owners, and I believe they have considered it in the past, so who knows!
Don’t forget however that an historic building is going up at Bruntingthorpe, the Lightning Preservation Group’s QRA shelter. This project is inspirational, as are the group behind it, and who knows, it might one day inspire others.

Hi Rich,

Probably a silly question really, but with the amount of different projects on the go there is there, or has there ever been any ideas for putting up some sort of building for you all? Im guessing the cost would be prohibitive but im sure it would be a godsend to have some shelter over there.

Thanks for the updates on what happens there, its fascinating reading for those of us who rarely get to visit.

MH

Rich, is she still somewhat live as in electrics??

I did notice one or two rough spots on her saturday.

I guess shes too big for a museum to take on which is a shame 🙁

We do our best!

Hi Peter

In all honesty, we can do very little. Due to her size, and limited resources (we don’t get millions in support, just what people drop in the bucket!), she is beyond our capabilities to really look after properly. We try to keep her clean and tidy, and we have installed some lighting inside the main hold, which we hope is sympathetic to her size and atmosphere. We also added a better access to the main hold a couple of years ago, through the rear lower door instead of up through the cockpit, which could be difficult. We also make a special effort to keep the flight deck tidy and accessible to the public.

We open her up on open days and show people around at every opportunity, but as far as the airframe goes, without cover, she will eventually in time revert to the elements. There are ongoing corrosion problems which we will never be able to get into to fix, as we would need to get the aircraft inside, and there is no hangar available big enough on site. Also, the wind plays havoc with her, and she turns around at every opportunity, which inevitably damages the aircraft. She is one to enjoy whilst we can, but will ultimately have a hopefully long but limited life, and will soldier on for some years yet.

I have over 30 years experience of working on big turboprops, I have been lucky enough to have worked on the Viscount (my favourite aircraft to work on), Vanguard / Merchantman, Lockheed L-188 Electra, Lockheed Hercules and now the Super Guppy, all great aircraft.

I have been blessed! Just don’t ever ask me to work on a Bae-146 ever again!!!!!!

What work do you do with the Guppy Rich and Max? Must be a huge undertaking looking after that behemoth

Thank you Fly.buy. I wont pry any further. I hope it does go on public display in this area when its finished.

Ahh i see, your very busy people 🙂

That supper guppy is huge it must be a big undertaking

Ahh i thought it was you doing the car parking yesterday, hopefully see you next time

Cheers
668

Our projects.

Hi Matt

Right, Max and me own the fast taxiable Jet Provost Mk-3A, XN584. We now also own Chipmunk fuselage WZ869 and a very old Glider cockpit section. Max also owns a large collection of instrument panels.

We recently sold Max’s Beagle Pup-100 cockpit section, G-AXNL, to a film studio in Cornwall, and our Auster J-1 has gone to a good home in the Scarborough area.

We have also previously owned a Bede BD-5 and a Slingsby T-31B, WT910 Tandem Tutor, whichis now airworthy and flying in Cheshire.

We also look after the Super Guppy for David Walton and get involved to a small degree with other groups on the airfield (it was us pointing everyone to parking spaces at the LPG run on Saturday).

I think that covers most of our projects and interests! remembering I have a “day job” in the Aerospace industry and Max is doing A levels at the moment.

Ritch and Max.

I think that’s all

So what projects are yours ritch and max?

Cheers
668

From the picture it appears that a quick bath with a pressure washer would take care of the moss etc.

The Vulcan has gone to a private collector in Yorkshire and I think it will be strored privately for the time being, although he does have other cockpits on display publically at museums, I have sold him some interior panels and finstruments for this aircraft and as far as I am aware his intentions are to restore the aircraft. Fingers crossed.

That Vulcan looks worse with every passing year! Hopefully her new owner will make a good job restoring her!

Any body know where the Vulcan is going ?

Alive and kicking.

Hi MJR
The pan was never being cleared as such, I know, I am based on it! It has however had a very much needed tidy up at the request of the airfield owners. We still “live” on the pan, and still have projects there, indeed Max’s Chipmunk project is there right now.
There have been many rumours about this, but we are alive and kicking and still resident. I also have to be honest and say that Max and me have unintentionaly been to some degree responsible for the speculation. We found ourselves with 5 projects on the go, but with less time to work on them due to work and education, so have reduced our fleet, which has given a false impresion.

Also, the Vulcan was due to move for a very long time, but the owner like many of us took a long time to get around to it. Two Phantom cockpits were sold and moved, which was always the owners intention and another cockpit moved nearer the owners home to be worked on. With all of this happening in a relativly short space of time, a false impression has been created.

I can confirm that the airfield owners have given permision for a new project to come on site this very week, and as you all know the Lightning group is very much alive and kicking.

Bruntingthorpe has had a bit of a tidy up, much needed if I am honest, and we are all looking forward to 2009 and some decent weater to show off our aircraft again.

I hope this clears things up a bit, and I would be happy to try and answer any individual questions if you PM me.

Come and see us in 2009.

The Vulcan serial is XH563 for anyone wondering.

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/vulcan/survivorspics3.html

So the pan is no longer being cleared then?