The Cosford / BA Collection thread

……..and does BA continue to own the wreckage of the aircraft that are destroyed – or will Cosford claim the entrails?

Neither, I suspect. They will both distance themselves from this act of wanton destruction just as fast as they can.

Does BA still retain ownership of the Airline collection after the move to East Fortune?

where else do you suggest to put the Valiant Skymonster in the middle of the Airfield so no visiters can see it or hang it on sky hooks ?

think you’ll have to suffer with the cars! car park is MOD property & is used by various people (including myself) for work!

Ah, and here I was thinking Cosford was an aviation museum, presumably designed to allow the public to look at and, perrish the thought, photograph the historic aircraft contained therein! :confused: Now I discover that all along its primary purpose has been to act as a car park for the MOD, with its role as a museum presumably consigned to a somewhat lower priority! 😮 It must be a terrible imposition for the MOD to have that damned great big Valiant dumped in their parking area! 😉 :diablo:

Andy

think you’ll have to suffer with the cars! car park is MOD property & is used by various people (including myself) for work!

The Valiant last Tuesday 4th April,the last day before the fence around the 707 made this side more challenging to photograph:

Andy

The Sabre has canopy covered because it is being move in & out of the Hangar at present

ALBERT

You’ve been able to get round the other side as far as the apron fence since it arrived. The real bugbear has been the amount of cars parked all around the aircraft.

An interesting point is that with the Belfast going indoors and the BA machines moved/scrapped/reduced to parts* there will be a large empty space there. Maybe room for further acquisitions as and when they retire from service?

* Delete as applicable.

Regards,

kev35

I’m not sure the RAF Museum / Cosford have any clue that anyone wants to take photographs. One of my other reasons for going was to take some of the Sabre , which is inside hangar 1, unfortunately they have a cover draped over the cockpit canopy. 😡
Quite ironic that they take so much trouble over an aircraft which is indoors when they leave the Valiant without any protection whilst its outside. :rolleyes:

Thanks very much for that Valiant shot Mark. Perhaps when the 707 has gone, there may be a chance from the other side. Does the museum ever think that so many people would like to get a decent shot of the Valiant and to reposition it, or stop cars parking near it? 🙁 There is a photo of it in the current issue of Flypast with cars parked all round it. They wouldn’t even get them moved for Flypast, so what chance do we stand?
Also with such a heavy aircraft, does it REALLY have to have all those concrete blocks tied to it?

Kev35, I was up there for about midday, managing to get the photo’s just after one hailstorm had blown through and before the next one arrived!
As there has been some interest in the photo opportunities around the Valiant, here’s my effort, still not great as there are still bollards about and I managed to just about keep the car out of shot!
Shame the weather would not co-operate though as its a bit dull.

I wouldn’t think the Britannia will be receiving any treatment in the near future as she is almost landscaped into her present position. It’s an interesting point about the Ju52.

I think i might have been very near to you today Jagx204, the weather in your photo’s looks very familiar. Best opportunity to take pics of the Valiant today though as only one car was parked near it.

Regards,

kev35

I would think so

Albert – maybe the paintstripper will be applied to the Spanish Ju52 too !

Thats a good question at the moment I dont think any decision has been made on repainting due to major spray jobs in progress on aircraft going into the cold war building.

Both the Comet & Britannia are staying at Cosford, with the Comet being put inside

Yes we all know that, but in what colours, as they would not ‘fit in’ with the museums’s theme in their present colours!

Both the Comet & Britannia are staying at Cosford, with the Comet being put inside

As all the airliners didn’t ‘fit in’ with the Cold War Museum’s theme and were no longer supported by BA, I wonder what will happen to the two remaining airliners – the Comet 1 and Britannia, as neither are painted in correct markings and will look very odd if they remain in their pseudo-BOAC colours? Will they be repainted in RAF colours, the Comet reverting to XM823 and the Britannia being repainted in RAF Transport Command markings with a bogus serial? Has anyone asked the museum about these two?

‘Relocated’ is the modern ‘moved’ ! . ‘Rehoused’ is what used to happen with stray animals and children – the new meaning is moved to another location and put under a roof when they have found £10 million. ‘Deconstructed’ used to be something the Luftwaffe did to British buildings during the Blitz . The new meaning is to take something apart but not necessarily in the way it was built i.e using hand tools and a buzz saw! . ‘Reconstructed’ also used to apply to buildings that severe renovation – it now means putting back together in a way that is convincing but unlikely to be approved by the CAA or indeed meet the manufacturers criteria.

Refreshingly the Viscount can be ‘dismantled’ in old terms by removing bolts and sleeves and then ‘rebuilt’ by reversing that procedure at the other end!

Cosford 9/4/06

I’ve posted more pictures on the ‘other’ thread relating to Cosford, however I will just post a picture of the notice attched to the fence around the 707 – it gives the impression the whole aircraft is going to East Fortune rather than the front fuselage :confused: