TFC Mosquito.

Swinderby Mossie

TJ138,a B35, now at Hendon Bruce

Thanks Bruce. Excellent. – Jerry

JDK, of course new wings, fuselages, etc are a fantastic thing as I mentioned in the post. I just think it would be a shame to break up a restorable airframe for the sake of flight. Ah well, it isn’t my plane I spose…

Bruce, glad to hear it may not be true, whats the plan otherwise?

If you manage to catch the rationed 2 hour slot each day during which the Grahame-White Factory at Hendon is open, you’ll see most of the Nash Collection on show.

Must be “severe” rationing going on these days Robbo, as it was closed all day when I went on the 28th Feb. No doubt Fopp would be giving it “budget restraints, end of year financial restrictions blah blah blah” if he ever came out of his Ivory tower to answer some questions on his policies at RAFM.:mad: I remember him churning all this rubbish out in one of the Monthlies about 5 years ago, when asked. You’d have thought he would have got it sorted by now. Maybe its time for him to get a nice big clock on the mantlepiece and one of those “oh so now” golden handshakes that seem to be in vogue at the moment… :rolleyes:

Funny thing is I thought museums are pursuing the “education” agenda these days? Can’t see how you can educate anyone about the First World War and early aviation if you keep it locked away. He should have been a puppet for Doug Arnold in the Blackbushe days or maybe that’s where he nicked the idea from? 😉
Anyway Mosquito’s, lovely aeroplanes and I’m glad I got to see a few flying. I too had the “milestones” example as the backdrop to my RAF passing out parade at Swinderby back in the early ’80’s. It’s looking much tidier these days despite suffering a broken back when it got moved to St.Athan as the jury struts got left out after wing separation due to the team leader having an unfortunate sudden illness and the lads having to carry on without his knowledge IIRC.

Couldn’t he fly a Mosquito T.3 with a safety pilot then?

Possibly.. but why would he want to.? One of his favourite types is the fast and agile Bearcat, which he can fly without restriction.. so i’m not sure he would choose to go up in a Mossie with another pilot ‘holding his hand’.!

Couldn’t he fly a Mosquito T.3 with a safety pilot then?

Not sure but I bet the insurence cost would put an end to it if he could.:D

Phill
www.outflankeduk.com

…but with the sale of the Nash Collection by the RAeS, the museum had little choice but to raise the funds elsewhere, and fast!

What exactly was the Nash Collection exactly?

Couldn’t he fly a Mosquito T.3 with a safety pilot then?

Black Knight is spot on, Stephen can’t fly any twins hence the dispersal of all them
including the support plane G-AWAH.
Its as simple as that really.

Phill
www.outflankeduk.com

I was told that due to Stephen Greys medical condition he couldn’t fly aircraft over a certain weight & that meant he was unable to fly any of the twin engined aircraft he owned. So there would be no point of him keeping them if he can’t fly them.

Surely it is ‘a good thing’ is that airworthy wings are being built in New Zealand?!? :eek::confused:

Sometimes I wonder about a desperate search for a problem hiding in good news by some posters on this forum. :rolleyes:

(And that static wings using original material will be built in Canada, Australia and the UK – not forgetting the recent good news at London Colney.)

BTW – Bruce, you have a PM.

The worry I have is the rumours of a whole new wing coming from New Zealand. I think the work being done out there is fantastic and great for bringing metal Mossie remains back to full aircraft but I worry that original restorable (to static) components are being put aside in the quest for airworthiness. I was fortunate to see TV959 at Duxford a few years ago and other than the cut all looks to be in great condition for static. I hope this isn’t the case… but on the bright side maybe a surplus original wing for TJ118 at the DHAHC?!

Dont believe everything you hear, and dont worry; If we decide to build TJ118 in the future, I know who to ask!

Bruce

I was under the impression that it was “Cash” for the Nash Collection.

Yes. it was a three way deal – a private individual in the US obtained 3 F5’s from the Norwegians, and they used the cash to buy the Nash collection, and then swapped it for the Mossie – sort of!

That aircraft was as perfect as the day it left service. There was a deal in place for a UK operator to acquire it, but with the sale of the Nash Collection by the RAeS, the museum had little choice but to raise the funds elsewhere, and fast!

Bruce

I thought you might like to see a pic of this Mossie taken when she was on show at the IWM in London. My record of when I took the shot is missing but probably 1967ish.

Tim

I was under the impression that it was “Cash” for the Nash Collection.

and the other traded with Norway,

Does anyone actually know WHAT it was swapped for? It all seems a bit murky, and people change the subject when the question is asked!

I think it boils down to insurance for the boss…

Is it not an EU ruling on pilots over a certain age not being licensed for twin engined operations?

The worry I have is the rumours of a whole new wing coming from New Zealand. I think the work being done out there is fantastic and great for bringing metal Mossie remains back to full aircraft but I worry that original restorable (to static) components are being put aside in the quest for airworthiness. I was fortunate to see TV959 at Duxford a few years ago and other than the cut all looks to be in great condition for static. I hope this isn’t the case… but on the bright side maybe a surplus original wing for TJ118 at the DHAHC?!

Its not an early one; it is a 1945 example, serving only post war.

We have one at Hendon, one at Duxford, three and a half at Salisbury Hall, one at Cosford, and one at Elvington.

Not too shoddy.

Bruce

I agree Bruce, although thats two B35’s in the RAF Museum collection, with another two B35’s at Duxford and Salisbury Hall each, 4 of the 6 complete and preserved UK survivors, perhaps retaining a TIII at Cosford and releasing the spare B35 would have been a better long term outcome?

With hindsight the Cosford B35 could have been traded for the Lambeth TIII and then one of the TIII’s retained in the RAF Collection and the other traded with Norway, while the Cosford B35 was disposed off by the IWM as a duplicate to TFC and been a far easier airworthy rebuild.

I know it would have left someone with a wing repair for static display of the Lambeth TIII (either Cosford or Norway) but it does surprise me that the RAF didnt wish to keep a fighter nose Mossie? rather than two bomber nose examples?

I realise those two deals didnt occur at the same time making the Norway TIII the horse that already bolted, and at the time IWM already had its own B35 in anycase, so the swap would only be of value if the IWM already had plans to dispose of TV959.

I wonder if Mr Allen could repair the TIII TV959 for static display and add some other sweetners to a deal with the RAF to swap it for the TA639 – B35 at Cosford? I would have thought TA639 was in much closer condition to airworthy restoration?

would UK enthusiasts consider this to be sacriledge or a beneficial outcome?,

Regards

Mark Pilkington

Its not an early one; it is a 1945 example, serving only post war.

We have one at Hendon, one at Duxford, three and a half at Salisbury Hall, one at Cosford, and one at Elvington.

Not too shoddy.

Bruce

Possible repair aside, were they the only options; fly it or sell it?

I suppose there was always the option of a static restoration but it would probably have needed a lot of potentially expensive and time consuming work on the wing simply to get the aircraft standing on its wheels.
There is also the point that the Fighter Collection is a collection of airworthy and potentially airworthy aircraft so they probably weren’t interested in investing time and money in a static restoration. They took the alternative option which was to dispose if the airframe and invest the money and time in maintenance of existing aircraft or another potentially easier restoration.
It is a pity that we seem to have lost an early and potentially airworthy Mosquito to another country but on the other hand it is probably fair to assume that the fact that the aircraft was for sale was widely known and we can only assume that no one in the UK was interested in buying at the offer price.