RAF Trebelzue

Belongs to a very good friend, it’s a replica from Deep Blue Yonder (or something like that!). The film and reps have been discussed here on different threads.

Thanks mate!

-John
PS
We have a very limited supply of smiles to choose from on this forum, is there any chance of getting more?

Re B-36 airshow visit 1952? I’ll ask members at the West Cornwall Air Britain meeting in Penzance tomorrow….bit of a longshot! :)….Mick

I’ve tried that! I’m wondering if I know you?!

Excellent link and pic thanks, one tends to forget the early YB-29s wer camoflaged, In fact it hadn’t even occurred to me that more B-29s didn’t operate from Europe!

[SIZE=”3″][COLOR=”DarkGreen”]…What’s the story with the MK IX Spitfire next to a house at the end of the runway at St. Mawgan, near the A3059. (I spotted it on Google earth).

Belongs to a very good friend, it’s a replica from Deep Blue Yonder (or something like that!). The film and reps have been discussed here on different threads.

YB-29 Hobo Queen 1944 St Mawgan

Link to previous thread with photo from Air Enthusiast#59 on post #15

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=40981&highlight=b-29+uk

Re B-36 airshow visit 1952? I’ll ask members at the West Cornwall Air Britain meeting in Penzance tomorrow….bit of a longshot! :)….Mick

Interesting thread!

What’s the story with the MK IX Spitfire next to a house at the end of the runway at St. Mawgan, near the A3059. (I spotted it on Google earth).

Just a quick look (going by a photo that pops up) it looks like a replica, the wheels, windscreen & prop blades don’t seem right. (I just noticed the donation box with ‘Spitfire fund’ written on it!).

Any info out there?

cheers,

-John

YB-29 Hobo Queen 1944 St Mawgan

Link to PDF of ‘Washington times’ Issue 8 Winter 2005…..theres another pic of the Hobo Queen on this forum somewhere .I’ll search it out…..I think St Mawgan may have been used more for ferrying once the Azores were available (date??) but previously the Northern route Gander-Prestwick was surely the main one…..Mick

http://www.rafwatton.info/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=S7i%2B60gxfv0%3D&tabid=90&mid=417

They did use Prestwick aswel, and occasionally Valley – but this is about Trebelzue.

Of course most new air delivered American heavies entered the UK at Mawgan, usually for service preparation in the European theatre.

Didn’t they use Prestwick as well? I seem to remember seeing an article a few years ago about the B24’s that used to stage through there… I may be mistaken though!

Regards,
Scotty

Thanks for that longshot.
Interesting to see a newsletter dedicated to the RAF Washington B.1! I can’t find issue 8 for some reason.

Of course most new air delivered American heavies entered the UK at Mawgan, usually for service preparation in the European theatre.
I’m wondering if the B-29 went to East Anglia for a bit of familiarization with ground and air crews there.

YB-29 St Mawgan 1944

Google ‘Washington Times RAF B-29’ (its not the US newspaper!!)….its in issue 8 Dec2005…the Hobo Queen left Gander for St Mawgan on March 6, and departed St Mawgan for North Africa April 1 1944 after a deliberately? leisurely spell in East Anglia…Mick

Interesting, anymore info, or where it is recorded?

YB-29 Hobo Queen 1944 St Mawgan

It is recorded that the 1st (and only) B-29 to visit Europe in WWII made its landfall at St Mawgan, It passed some days at East Anglian airfields before flying on to the CBI warzone

LL75, if you go to this link http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/sho…=36444&page=19 and see posts 557 and 510, you see my pics of some of these wrecks.
You might have seen another Shackleton as T.4 was dumped there aswel.
Be good to see your pics

RAF Trebelzue

Interesting to see the list of aircraft.

I remember as a kid seeing the mid/tail section of the white & dayglo Canberra and the burnt hulk of a 4 engine a/c. I imagine this could have been the Hastings.

It went about 1983 time IIRC.

The T4 arrived about 1985 and I have a pic of it when it was still on it’s wheels and a couple from later years.

Also have pictures of a Harrier GR3 on the dump during the mid 1990’s.

If you have any pics it would be interesting to see them.

RAF Trebelzue

Interesting to see the list of aircraft.

I remember as a kid seeing the mid/tail section of the white & dayglo Canberra and the burnt hulk of a 4 engine a/c. I imagine this could have been the Hastings.

It went about 1983 time IIRC.

The T4 arrived about 1985 and I have a pic of it when it was still on it’s wheels and a couple from later years.

Also have pictures of a Harrier GR3 on the dump during the mid 1990’s.

If you have any pics it would be interesting to see them.

Quite a few Canberras had different noses fitted from other aircraft so it’s quite likely that 904 received a different one, hence the confusion. The tip tank saga is odd I agree; every reference to the T.19 (and personal accounts) insist that although the tanks could be fitted, they were not “plumbed” to take fuel from them. Given that the T.19 was only a conversion, this seems odd, but then the T.11 didn’t carry tanks either. Consequently, it’s possible that the T.11 batch never had the fuel systen fully fitted, or maybe it was just left intact but unused (a bit like the Vulcan’s IFR system which was unsued for many years). Either way, the T.11 and T.19 certainly never flew with tanks fitted which is why I can never work out why Newark AM attached them! They’d be more appropriate on the B8 icing tanker as that machine did carry (silver) tip tanks sometimes.

If the new hanger is big enough to house the Vulcan, Hastings and Shackleton, I guess there might be ebough room to squeeze the Canberra (and maybe some others) in there too – hope so!

Demobbed mentions WH904 (Shorts built) is fitted with WH651 (EE.co built) nose, not sure when this happened. This wont effect tip tanks fitment though.
Even though T.19s didn’t have tip tanks fitted, I would be very supprised if they couldn’t. They are only converted B.2s and it would take unecesary work to prevent fitting them.

All beyond me with Canberra mods but Wrecks & Relics talks of October 1957 during “T11 fit” as a possible date. Keep going at this rate with data plates and you could end up with a Spitfire!:eek:

http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/

Demobbed mentions WH904 (Shorts built) is fitted with WH651 (EE.co built) nose, not sure when this happened. This wont effect tip tanks fitment though.
Even though T.19s didn’t have tip tanks fitted, I would be very supprised if they couldn’t. They are only converted B.2s and it would take unecesary work to prevent fitting them.

A further update from the museum has highlighted the debate raised in the last issue Wrecks & Relics over the makers’ plate. Shorts Brothers plate should be there in the nose of “WH904”, but apparently there is an English Electric plate that indicates that perhaps it should be WH651.

Might that help explain the tip tanks – can of worms or what?

As far as the possible third hangar goes the members have been advised it will house Vulcan, Shackleton and Hastings.

http://www.newarkairmuseum.org/

Ah yes, the lovely Canberra T.19’s…

WH904 was in a fairly decent stage when it moved from Cambridge to Newark. I seem to recall that the tip tanks were attached after the aircraft had been at Newark for some time. I have no idea why – the T.19 wasn’t “plumbed” to carry them and I think only the Swedish aircraft ever did. I can vaguely remember asking someone at Newark about this and he didn’t come-up with any plausible reason why they’d been fitted. I also recall that they were planning to get the aircraft into good condition so that they could use the electrics, raise/lower the undercarriage on jacks, etc. Sadly, the aircraft seems to have been largely ignored.

As for the markings, they did indeed remove the 7 Squadron markings because NAM have a thing about trying to be local – so they naturally wanted to have 85 Squadron’s markings on the aircraft (it did serve with 85 as you say). All well and good, but I don’t think they see the wider picture. Most museum visitors don’t care about whether an aircraft is local or not. It seems pretty silly to physically remove existing markings (especially rare ones like 7 Squadon’s on WH904) in order to apply their own. But either way, they only ever did half the job and the dayglow patches were never re-applied. I believe they’re trying to get funds for another hangar, so hopefully one day WH904 might find a home indoors and receive a bit of TLC!

I’d heard about XA536 being with 7 Squadron for a time but I’ve never seen a photo of it, so I don’t know what markings it carried. I would assume it was silver, but as for the rest of the markings, I don’t know.

Maybe we should start a separate thread for 7 Squadron’s magnificent Canberras?!