Duxford Hastings

Peter – Many people dream of seeing the Shackleton MR.3/3 being restored – only time will tell….

John,

On the subject of preserved Comets, it now concerns me what will happen to XK699 on the gate at Lyneham when the station closes? Will they put it on the gate at Brize Norton? Saw it last year up close and that badly needs a repaint also.

“On the TLC of aircraft when the C2 Comet ex 216 Sqn was at Dux a few years ago that too was in a terrible state, one of the port tyres was deflated, the paintwork looked much the same as the other outside exhibits, I wrote to Ted Inman at the time, and received a reply, to say that XK??? was then being moved to a final rest home, what ever happened to her?”

Not good news I’m afraid,XK695 was chopped up in the early 90’s,the cockpit being saved for the DH Museum at London Colney,Herts,where it’s displayed today.The IWM’s reasoning was that they had another Comet in better nick,the Dan-Air Comet 4,so it was decided to sacrifice the Comet 2 rather than spending money they didn’t have on an aircraft type they had another example of.I know,I know,the C.2 was completely different to a Comet 4,but they were both Comets and IWM try not to collect more than one example of a particular aircraft type,particularly such a large one as a Comet.It seems a very harsh decision on the face of it,but when you think about it you have to sympathise with IWM to a degree.
As for Lottery grants,I think the usual practise is for the grant to cover a certain amount of the overall cost of a project,while the rest is raised by corporate sponsorship,donations,entrance fees etc.It’s relatively rare for the Lottery to pay the entire sum for a project.I’m not sure how this all works out with the AirSpace project at Duxford,but I think it’s something like 50% from the lottery and another substantial amount from various companies such as BAe,with the remainder being covered by fund-raising and entrance fees.
As for free entry,there was a thread about this a year or so ago on the forum.If I remember rightly,IWM Lambeth (and perhaps IWM North too) is covered by the government’s free admission initiative,but the other branches (Eg,HMS Belfast,Duxford) are not.Don’t ask me why,but that’s how things stand at the moment. A number of the museums/galleries etc who now have free admission have recently been making complaints that they’ve not been recieving enough funding.If so,then perhaps we can be glad that Duxford is not included in the scheme.

Thanks Ant

I appreciate all the extremely hard work that goes into making Duxford what it is, especially from the volunteers. The skills that are attached to the finished article from a seat found in swampland/bog in some outlandish place to a flying masterpiece holds me in awe and all of this workmanship comes at a price along with the materials and spare parts.

I was under the impression that the Superhangar was being funded (wholly?) by a Lottery Grant. When Duxford used to be the Reserve Collection of the Imperial War Museum I understand that renovated pieces were then sent to the IWM Lambeth on a requirement basis, do I assume that the entrance fee to Duxford supplements the free entry to Lambeth or is this purely to cover operational costs.

I was also under the distinct impression that under Tony Blairs ‘realm’ we were to have free passage to all museums held by the state, was I dreaming or is that a broken promise?

On the TLC of aircraft when the C2 Comet ex 216 Sqn was at Dux a few years ago that too was in a terrible state, one of the port tyres was deflated, the paintwork looked much the same as the other outside exhibits, I wrote to Ted Inman at the time, and received a reply, to say that XK??? was then being moved to a final rest home, what ever happened to her?

For those who work at Duxford, paid or unpaid, you all do a splendid job, thank you! 🙂

Hi John,
I sympathise with your feelings about the Hastings,there’s no doubt she’s looking rather tatty at the moment.However,there’s light at the end of that tunnel as she’s one of the many airframes earmarked for the Superhangar once that’s been renovated. The completion of the work is some months away,so it’ll be a while before she can finally go indoors,but once there she’ll be safe from the elements.My guess is that she’ll recieve some tlc shortly before or just after she’s been rolled into her new home-if the work were done now the aircraft would still have to sit out in the elements for the next few months,allowing the paint to wear and the lichen to grow etc.Once she’s indoors,she’ll be done up good as new and stay that way. 🙂
As for the gate price,I can only presume that it’s to cover the cost of the building and restoration work,so perhaps after this spell of expansion and feverish activity the price will fall again.Here’s hoping anyway…