Heathrow 1970's Fire Dump

I think the Hermes was transfered to the fire department at Lgw for use as a smoke chamber. Hence it wasn’t destroyed.

I think G-ALDG was used as a cabin trainer probably by British Caledonian. The Britannia sat down near the end of the runway and was easily seen as you turned fo take off if you were sitting on the correct side oif the aircraft.

The Hermes fuselage was over by the BUA/BCAL hangars (at least it was in July 1970 when I first saw it).

I think G-ALDG was used as a cabin trainer probably by British Caledonian. The Britannia sat down near the end of the runway and was easily seen as you turned fo take off if you were sitting on the correct side oif the aircraft.

The Gatwick airframe was the fuselage of Hermes G-ALDG which is now at Duxford

I’m not sure about G-ALDG at LGW but G-ASSV is correct there was a Brit in service with the Fire Service for many years. It was G-ATLE which last flew with Transglobe.

That’s good news. I used to see it as we taxied past, but I shall look out for it next Friday when I fly into LTN

Laurence

This is the kind of view you should expect to see, just from further away 🙂

Jon

That’s good news. I used to see it as we taxied past, but I shall look out for it next Friday when I fly into LTN

Laurence

I thought the Britannia had gone, to be replaced by one of those green monsters. I haven’t seen its fuselage at Luton in the last year or two.

Laurence

It has in terms of location, however look to the south of it on google maps 😀

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=luton&sll=53.304211,-2.942834&sspn=0.005719,0.013754&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Luton,+Bedfordshire,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.879942,-0.360918&spn=0.002954,0.006877&t=h&z=17

A few years back it was moved up the embankment to better represent a crashed aircraft for training exercises. The tracks you can see trailing behind it were dug out to simulate were engines etc had plouged through the ground on impact. When I went they were overgrown and found them the hard way 😀

Chatting with the guys in the Fire Department afterwards they said it was going nowhere anytime soon as was perfect for what they needed.

I have some pictures somewhere if anyone is interested.

Jon

Luton Britannia

Britannia G-AOVS is still earning its keep with the Fire Section at Luton after some 20+ years. A few years back now I removed the very few remaining useful parts from the cockpit and were passed on to G-ANCF to replace parts it was missing (pilots seat being the most obvious one).

Jon

I thought the Britannia had gone, to be replaced by one of those green monsters. I haven’t seen its fuselage at Luton in the last year or two.

Laurence

Scrapped Argonaut

The place this Argonaut AND the British Airways 707-436 cut up at Cosford should have gone was a Rolls Royce Museum (which doesnt exist AFAIK)…little point in preserving the cockpit of either …it was the Rolls engines fitted which made them interesting and historic…(in the case of the 707 the fin and ventral fin mods were a noteworthy British requirement)

The worst of the damage to the Argonaut appears to have been done in the late 70’s. She also appears to have been moved at some time because when I first saw her in 1968 she was clearly visible from the spectator areas on the roof of the Queens Building looking pretty complete and was standing on her undercarriage.
It seems a shame that so much damage was caused to such a rare aeroplane at a time when there should have been resources available to save her. What makes it even worse is that the aeroplane was virtually outside the maintenance base of the very airline that operated her for much of her life.
Definitely one that slipped through everyones fingers although to be fair it does seem she was the victim of a good deal of damage over a very short period not long before any thought was given to finding out if anyone wanted to preserve her.
Makes me wonder if someone thought it more expedient to render her beyond salvation with a view to getting her off site as quickly as possible once her presence was deemed to be inconvenient.

Looking at the picture of it taken in 1977 (link posted earlier) its fate had long been sealed with the nose smashed off and extensive fire damage to the lower part of the fuselage. What a shame…..

Jon

From memory :confused: it wasn’t on its undercarriage when NAM enquired – I believe that it might even have been me that sent the enquiry letter (all my correspondence from that era is now in the museum archive!)

On a plus note we did secure the Safir at about the same time – another one of my letters! 😀

If I can expand the thread I started:
Talking about the miracles of abandoned vintage aircraft still existing at modern UK airports, are there any other “historic” aircraft still on dumps at any UK airports? Wasn’t a Bristol Britannia saved recently or at least parts stripped from one on a fire dump to save another?

Britannia G-AOVS is still earning its keep with the Fire Section at Luton after some 20+ years. A few years back now I removed the very few remaining useful parts from the cockpit and were passed on to G-ANCF to replace parts it was missing (pilots seat being the most obvious one).

Jon

I believe that Newark might have made enquiries about the Argonaut but it was around the time that both the Gannet and Vulcan acquisitions were in the pipeline so I understand that sadly it went by the wayside.

I guess it might also come under the thread “What has slipped through your fingers” 🙁

Looking at the picture of it taken in 1977 (link posted earlier) its fate had long been sealed with the nose smashed off and extensive fire damage to the lower part of the fuselage. What a shame…..

Jon

Shame it even never ended up at Cosford with the rest of BA’s collection, at least even with recent events the cockpit section or something would have still been preserved.

If I can expand the thread I started:
Talking about the miracles of abandoned vintage aircraft still existing at modern UK airports, are there any other “historic” aircraft still on dumps at any UK airports? Wasn’t a Bristol Britannia saved recently or at least parts stripped from one on a fire dump to save another?

Fire dump Argonaut LHR ca. 1972

I shot this through the window of a KLM DC-9 taxying out to LHR 10R by the Perry Oaks Sludge Plant where T5 is now

Just for the record this aircraft spent a few months leased to East Afican Airways in 1958 registered VP-KOT………

Really sad this a/c did not survive.

Planemike

The Gatwick airframe was the fuselage of Hermes G-ALDG which is now at Duxford.

So what happened to the Hermes fuselage that was down at the Colnbrook end of Heathrow in the 70s?

Letters in Flight 18 Sept 1976:

….It does seem unbelievable that the Argonaut lasted so long at Heathrow and it is really sad that as late as 1982 no one felt able to offer her a good home.

I believe that Newark might have made enquiries about the Argonaut but it was around the time that both the Gannet and Vulcan acquisitions were in the pipeline so I understand that sadly it went by the wayside.

I guess it might also come under the thread “What has slipped through your fingers” 🙁

Must have been the last survivor of its (sub-) type…? 🙁

Think you’re right….though there’s a North Star preserved in Canada I believe….’LHJ was replaced as the LHR fire dump victim by Comet 4 G-APDT ,I think

The Gatwick airframe was the fuselage of Hermes G-ALDG which is now at Duxford.
It does seem unbelievable that the Argonaut lasted so long at Heathrow and it is really sad that as late as 1982 no one felt able to offer her a good home.