East Midlands Aeropark (Pictures)

Opps getting my cockpits ID’s confused again… :rolleyes:

Tis sad that both ES and EM were reduced to cockpits…I had seen pictures of G-APEM in the early 90’s in those DHL colours and she did look very smart…but a complete aircraft is much more expensive to park and preserve than a cockpit for sure..

The Merchantman nose is G-APES, I think the nose of EJ went to Brooklands.

The story of ES is a rather sad. It was kept airworthy ‘unofficially’, by one or two engineers at the time in the hope that it would go in to preservation. There was a strong rumour that it would go to Cosford and indeed I knew of a plan by someone who wanted to buy it and swap it for one of the Andovers at Cosford.
In the end it lost a few parts to G-APEP (the last flyer), and then it was only a matter of time.
The Aeropark had originally been allocated G-APEM, (the one in the DHL livery) but at the time didn’t have anywhere to put it. From what I remember she was pretty much 100% complete when scrapped. I think the Aeropark salvaged most of the cockpit instruments which enabled them to refit the cockpit of ES.

I suppose if ES had gone to Cosford, it would be reduced to a nose section now anyway. 🙁

James,

How complete internally are the cockpit sections of the Vickers Viscount and Vickers Merchantman G-APEJ?

I was told a while back that the Merchantman was almost acquired as a complete aircraft but it was reduced to scrap before the collection had a chance to stop them..

Andrew

Great collection and only a few minutes away from where I grew up 🙂

Are there two Vampires in the workshop?

To let you all know, I am a volunteer at the Aeropark. Yes there are 2 Vampires in the hanger XD382 and XD534.

XD534 will be fitted soon with the wings and tails off XD382 outside the hanger.

There are plenty of updates and news on the Aeropark. Please PM or email me if you want to know anything else on the Aeropark.

James B

Are there two Vampires in the workshop?

Looks like it – and that workshop shot illustrates well why the population of surviving Vampire T.11s has dropped rapidly over the 35 years since Hawker-Siddeley almost gave them away to anyone who could come and fetch one.

Roger Smith.

Are there two Vampires in the workshop?

Look over progress for placing at least one example of this fine aircraft back were it belongs http://www.lightningusa.org/index.html

There have been plenty of updates on here about the ongoing conservation of the aircraft. Fantastic really when you come to realise they are all on outdoor display and look in great shape!

Glad to hear the good news, Ian. A friend called in there recently and said they all look neglected and didn’t know who was responsible for their upkeep!

A few more