Cosford's Valiant

Glad to hear that the Valiant is finally coming together. Nice pics M101. Living way over here (any further west and I’ll be drinking Guiness) and travelling 20k+ a year, Cosford is a much better bet for those of us who prefer not to be near the big smoke. Things are so bad on the roads in England nowadays that if I need to travel past Brum that I will (weather permitting) hire a kite and smile as I look down upon those thousands of gridlocked unfortunates. On a serious note, with the ‘V’ force at Cosford, it will be easier for those in the UK who live even further away than I do to be able to access these historic machines than if they were all daan saaff.

Tsk,Tsk,
Wouldn’t ‘chance my arm’ – in amongst the land of all you unwashed heathen
:p :p :p

Do not believe all you read Hornchurch there is life north of Watford nd lots of it

There’s lots to see up here in the western midlands:

We’re not all hoolies and pikies.

Blimey, most of us affluent (well off) Southerners thought you were 😀 😀

Good reason for keeping the choice airframes ‘ Darn Sarf ‘ 😉

Perhaps Manchester has some suitable flights? I think it’s no more than an houre from Cosford by rail or road. There’s lots to see up here in the western midlands: Cosford, MAM, Thinktank, Boulton-Paul. Feel free to come over. We’re not all hoolies and pikies (though you may meet some).

Thanks John.

I too find it’s my lightest remarks which land with the heaviest thud.

Hoped to get to Seattle a couple of years ago when I was in Vancouver and around BC, but time, rellies and weather didn’t help. Certainly it’s on the list, thank you for the invite! Should you find your way to Melbourne, I too would be able to show off some fun aircraft places…

Cheers!

Perhaps you should just park yourself in a swish London hotel, and we’ll bring a parade of preserved aircraft past your window?

That would be awfully nice, old chap.
Do call first to make sure I’m not out playing polo or racing the Bentley at Goodwood… 😀

Despite its size, I do find it easier to get around in North America…maybe having five cars (plus an ancient Jeep in bits undergoing long term restoration) has something to do with it.

Seriously, all I said is that it’s easier for me to see aircraft at Hendon! I’m sure I’ll eventually visit Cosford like I’ve visted a dozen or so air museums and airfields in the UK.

JDK…if you find yourself over here, I’ll show you around the Seattle Museum of Flight and a vintage (non-warbird) project I’m helping with.

Perhaps you should just park yourself in a swish London hotel, and we’ll bring a parade of preserved aircraft past your window?

I’ve yet to see the point of explaining on this forum why you can’t get to an aircraft museum. From someone living in a 3,718,711 Sq mile size country to complain about getting about in a 94,525 Sq mile one is risible.

As to the advice from people in Kent and London’s financial district – “Well, they would say that, wouldn’t they.” – Rice Davis, M, 1963. (Mod 2005) 😉

Birmingham INTERNATIONAL Airport is 30 miles from Cosford – suggest you try flying in to there rather than London next time you visit and it may be easier for you to reach such an “outstation” as Cosford.

Getting to Birmingham is a bit more difficult than you suggest. There are no BA flights from SEA to BHX. BA suggests I fly to Heathrow, then to Frankfurt, then to Birmingham. NWA/KLM want me to visit Amsterdam first. Not exactly direct flights.
Remember, just because it’s an INTERNATIONAL airport doesn’t mean you can get there from here!

Besides, my posh friends in Kent and “The City” tell me not to venture too far north of Cambridge. “The people ‘up there’ have positively beastly manners and the food is inedible” they warn. 😀

Well said Finlay I agree 100% in what you said I could not put it better myself

J Boyle:

Birmingham INTERNATIONAL Airport is 30 miles from Cosford – suggest you try flying in to there rather than London next time you visit and it may be easier for you to reach such an “outstation” as Cosford. It will actually be easier for the millions of us who don’t live in the south east to see the Valiant at Cosford. And millions of us do live north of the Watford Gap.

That’s not the point. As a frequent visitor to the UK I’m always going to be visiting London (you see, that’s where Heathrow and Gatwick are… 😀 ).

Pity they built Windsor Castle under the flightpath of Heathrow in fact… 😉

It exemplifies the peripheral nature of aviation museums. If you’ve not had the delight of trying to get to the aviation museum stuck on the outside of some foreign airfield in some foreign country where the public transport and language are alien – well, you haven’t lived!

On a recent visit I rented a car for a trip to the lake country and it cost almost what my air fare did.

But it was kind of them to make the petrol (gas) price high so the car hire seemed less excessive.

A quick check on the RAC web-site (here I am in Australia recommending a route in England to an American…) reveals that it’s a distance of 148 miles (238.3 km ) which at RAC speed (legal, slow) would take 2 hours and 34 min. Yeah, it’s positively Arctic. Suggest you look up Bodo, Norway, or Longreach Australia for the Norwegian AF Museum and Qantas’ for really ‘remote’.

So, sited in the centre of the UK, two minutes off a motorway is outlying is it ??? :confused: 😀

That’s not the point. As a frequent visitor to the UK I’m always going to be visiting London (you see, that’s where Heathrow and Gatwick are… 😀 ).

In the same way, I’m sure many visitors to the USA would prefer the NMUSAF to be near Orlando, New York, LA, Las Vegas, or wherever they are going instead of Dayton…which isn’t near a major international arrival point or city. (At best, you’d have to land in Chicago and drive a day…or land in Cincinnati).

BTW: have you priced a rental car in the UK lately? On a recent visit I rented a car for a trip to the lake country and it cost almost what my air fare did.

Despite her being left uncovered all this time…. I still think it is terrific that all examples of the V force are going to be reunited again!

next stop for the Valiant when reassembled will be on the airfield for a while anyway

Thanks for the update Merlin101 – can’t help but think she looks like a toilet roll with wings on at the moment !

Its not taking them long now they have got around to it, so I hope the preservation guys will be let loose on her soon.

managed to get some better photo’s today, hope you all like?

I woulld imagine that with so many sections of airframe scattered around the Cosford site it was near on impossible to cover it.

I think the reason the Valiant has not yet been reassembled is due to the RAF team assigned with the task were taken off to do another job. The Valiant was due to be reassembled at the end of September and it is due to unforseen circumstances that work is only just starting, so I have been told.

Yes – that seems to be the line coming from the RAFM, but what price some heavy duty polythene and duct tape to temporarily weatherproof the airframe until such time as the smash and crash team could rebuild it. Nobody is bemoaning the fact that the rebuild was delayed – just the way in which it was left open to the elements in the car park when it could have been sealed with a minimum of effort, once it was known that the rebuild would be delayed. Particularly as it was so close to the restoration centre who would presumably know the implications of exposure to the elements. I’m suprised nobody has said that it is irrelevant because airframes were kept outdoors anyway during their service lives – that’s a line of argument that has been used elsewhere in this particular instance…..

Unless of course it’s so corroded anyway from years of gate guardian duties at (?) Marham that it doesn’t really matter whether it was sealed or not.

ps James – I think it’s “whingefest” 😉

I think the reason the Valiant has not yet been reassembled is due to the RAF team assigned with the task were taken off to do another job. The Valiant was due to be reassembled at the end of September and it is due to unforseen circumstances that work is only just starting, so I have been told.