Firefly ,Manchester Air & Space Museum

Happy to to help mate,hope all goes well with the rebuild

Firefly

Andrew,Dials are in the post for your Firefly.Wife now happy she has less clutter in the house !
Steve

Steve
The Dials arrived today ,Fantastic.
Good to have an original Blind flying panel anti vibration bracket ,they are a specific Firefly part & are slightly differnt from the standard bracket .
I can now make the other two that i need using the original as a pattern.

Thank you very much!!!!!!

Andrew:) 🙂

A Balliol T.2 WN534 [Staffs Aircraft Restoration] displayed at Cockpitfest 2007 but it isn’t yet showing on the list for 2008.

http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/news.php

Ex Failsworth Balliols

Seem to recall two of the Balliol cockpit sections ended up with the now defunct Pennine Aviation Museum – they were in store with one of their member’s at Charnock Richard, so escaped the persistant vandalism that plagued the rest of the collection at Bacup. They later moved to the Boulton Paul restoration group where one formed the basis for their Balliol restoration – sorry long since stopped trying to remember serial Nos. :p

Anon..thats correct, they were transported last wednesday 🙂

Failsworth Scrapyard

The Swift (WK198), a Balliol and Firefly cockpit sections and a Brigand fuselage came from that yard ,I think when it was closed.
Barring the Brigand, the other three airframes/cockpits have just been delivered to the RAF Millom Museum from NEAM.
They are on loan from Mrs Moran, the owner of the scrap yard.
See the thread on RAF Millom Museum elsewhere on this Forum for more information.

Anon.

Andrew,Dials are in the post for your Firefly.Wife now happy she has less clutter in the house !
Steve

WB440

Sounds like you have a fairly difficult job ahead of you, but also the makings of an excellent static display. Any chance you will be looking at finding something for the wings center section so you could stand her on her gear again… or am I getting way ahead of myself here? Regardless, I applaud your efforts, and hope that you are able to make something of it. I am sure you will have a lot of fun in the process. I have found that the people you meet along the way, searching for parts is almost as rewarding as finding the parts themselves.

Cheers,
Richard

Thanks.
Unfortunatly i dont know of a wing center section anywhere.

Andrew

Were there aircraft in the buildings in its later days?
I went in several times in the mid 70s and never ventured into the buildings, just clambered over and in some of the aircraft.
What did I miss?!?!
David

The ‘Mill’ was a separate location to the ‘Yard’.

We flew in, and then it was a triangular route by taxi, so I am not sure of the precise location.

Mark

Following the tenuous thread from Provosts at Clayton Vale to Barton…..Whatever happened to XF914 that sat at Barton for a year or two? I heard it went to the US.
There is a link between that aircraft and Clayton Vale as well!

David

Were there aircraft in the buildings in its later days?
I went in several times in the mid 70s and never ventured into the buildings, just clambered over and in some of the aircraft.
What did I miss?!?!
David

I’m pretty sure there were Provosts as well as Balliols, Mark.

Have a look at posts 52 and 76 in this thread from 2004.

I stand corrected. 🙂

Balliols. From memory I would thinks there were five or six in sight on my last visit. That is both locations, the ‘yard’ and the ‘mill’.

Mark

The rear fuselage is from a different aircraft.
I have the basic structure from the engine bearer bars to the rear wedge (the structure that the tail surfaces & fin bolt on to ).
The rear fuselage needs extensive re skining & will have to make the observers fixed canopys.

Andrew

Sounds like you have a fairly difficult job ahead of you, but also the makings of an excellent static display. Any chance you will be looking at finding something for the wings center section so you could stand her on her gear again… or am I getting way ahead of myself here? Regardless, I applaud your efforts, and hope that you are able to make something of it. I am sure you will have a lot of fun in the process. I have found that the people you meet along the way, searching for parts is almost as rewarding as finding the parts themselves.

Cheers,
Richard

WB440

Excellent news on your plans! How much fuselage is missing between the tail section and the rear of the cockpit? Are the parts from the same aircraft? Very cool collection!

On another note: Did all of those Firefly cockpit sections shown at the scrap yard survive? What about the Sea Hornet wing? I find it shocking to realize that all of this stuff was still available (and under threat) at such a late date as 1980.

Wondeful photos too!

Richard

The rear fuselage is from a different aircraft.
I have the basic structure from the engine bearer bars to the rear wedge (the structure that the tail surfaces & fin bolt on to ).
The rear fuselage needs extensive re skining & will have to make the observers fixed canopys.

Andrew

Provosts? Balliols certainly.

Mark

I’m pretty sure there were Provosts as well as Balliols, Mark.

Have a look at posts 52 and 76 in this thread from 2004.

Provosts? Balliols certainly.

Mark

I was young ! I’m sure they were silver with yellow training bands dumped in the dye ponds by the side of the old mill.How many Balliols were there ??

Provosts? Balliols certainly.

Mark

I’m sure there were Provost fusalages dumped in the old mill too,plus Queen Mary transporter trailers in and around the site.

Yes. I remember the Provosts, too.

And that damn guard dog……… 😮

Doh ! It was a Swift then and not a Scimiter ! There was loads of other stuff like props,engine nacelles with under-carriage still attached.I’m sure there were Provost fusalages dumped in the old mill too,plus Queen Mary transporter trailers in and around the site.Pity we did not realise how important the site was !

It was a lady….and she was very very difficult.

Mark