Gannet to fly at Farnborough 2016

No digs,i was pointing out a fact that if you only appear at 1 show which is not going to be seen by the average air show attendee then it is a rather limited appearance.Now hopefully you will get some bookings from a nice variety of the UK area so people will at least get a chance to see her.Good luck and hopefully you will be able to confirm some display venues in the future.

Yep he is my lead guy and takes care of Janet.

I think it is time to move on from all the digs now as we are grown ups!

🙂

Hello from New Richmond Wisconsin!!

Home of XT752 or as we like to call her Janet.

Janet is very special to us, she is a part of our family and we cherish the fact that we have managed in a little over two years to bring her back to life!! Yes she resides in the USA but she has never lost her British heritage.

We have been asked on many occasions to please bring her back home for a visit. We ponder this thought many times over. Many of you know the fight we took on to keep her and preserve her. We continue to fight as we are not done yet! More information to come out soon! But let’s not dwell on that! Let’s talk about bringing her home to visit.

We would like to do this for those who may not be able to get to the USA for the airshows that she attends. Whether it is financial, health or any other reason. We want to share her with you!! She is not meant to be a hangar queen. She is meant to be put on display! We want to hear your stories, see your pictures or just hear your connection with Gannets. We want her to be apart of your life as she is ours.

If she came to the UK yes you would be able to get close to her, meet the team, ask questions. That is what my team is all about. Janet wants to meet you and she loves having her photo taken. She loves it when people come to see her!

When she is on display you will see her smile.

We will be working to raise money to get her over! She deserves this. She has a lot of history behind her and everyday we are writing more!!

Stay tuned!!

Best Shannan 😀

I was just about to post that! After the anti-Farnborough chat I’m keen to read the comments about this development.

More news…

The red rod is the wing fold support – obviously needed to be removed before flight (!), so perhaps the a/c was being moved to another location on the airfield or just doing a ground run? The starboard observers hatch is also open…

You’re spot on, Nick, as it was taxied over with wings folded from the far side to its display position. A horrible gusting wind as well as I recall which made the wing stays even more necessary!

Rob

Would you clarify those last few words? I haven’t been for many years but was thinking of making the expedition next summer…..:)

Great news on the Gannet but I hate the ‘Farnborough’ year. It means as a regular FL and RIAT attendee I have no freedom of choice as to what days I attend as both are lumped in the same weekend as SBAC the most inaccessible airshow outside of a war!

Ahhh…..”B” flight of 849 Sqdn…hence the fin decoration. I’m grizzled enough to remember 849 operating Skyraiders at Culdrose, and sitting in the back seat of one of 831’s Avengers, taxying across the airfield at an Air Day. Lots of interesting stuff around in those days.

From June 2014. Still looking in nice condition.

It does indeed, Alan – thanks for those. It is sometimes to be seen in the YAM newsletters Blue and Ian post here.

It was left to rot away into the dirt at Sandtoft it many years, but was eventually rescued by the YAM at Elvington

What is it with people who can let perfectly good aircraft rot away?

Long live Gannets – can’t wait to see one in the air again.
Fond memories back in 83/84 of XL500 flying from CU almost everyday on noise trials for Dowty Rotol! Even managed to sit in the cockpit whilst it was being prepared for RTF… long way up to the cockpit & even longer when you’re only 11! Can’t imagine what it was like on a rolling deck, with a 30kt wind blowing at night in the wet!

From June 2014. Still looking in nice condition.

In the picture taken at Mildenhall, what is the red rod, a wing prop ? If so, I was wondering why it was still fitted with
the engine running ?

The red rod is the wing fold support – obviously needed to be removed before flight (!), so perhaps the a/c was being moved to another location on the airfield or just doing a ground run? The starboard observers hatch is also open…

Isn’t that the YAM one at Elvington.?

From June 2014. Still looking in nice condition.

In the picture taken at Mildenhall, what is the red rod, a wing prop ? If so, I was wondering why it was still fitted with
the engine running ?

Like most people I would love to see and hear a Gannet fly in the UK and if they want to bring this one across from the states, then that’s ok by me. Yes it would be nice if XL500 was also airworthy around the same time and then perhaps we could see both aircraft flying together. Unfortunately the last I heard from the owner was they were having a problem getting the props serviced, because the tools needed to complete the work, could not be found. Maybe someone out there has an update on the props issue?

Isn’t that the YAM one at Elvington.?

Snap, Mike – pipped me to the post!!

It was left to rot away into the dirt at Sandtoft it many years, but was eventually rescued by the YAM at Elvington

I always wondered what happened to this Gannet XL502, Mildenhall?

gan 3gannet by philip elcock, on Flickr

Neil Moffet’s Gannet AEW3 flew at Mildenhall in 1988….just checked the negative collection.

Off the top of my head it was around 1988 – 89, and was incidentally the last time I saw one fly!

Rob

You might well (as in quite probably or absolutely) be right.

In mitigation I was some 25-odd years younger then, with more brain cells and fewer grey hairs.