Just read in the latest Flypast that the Wellington on display at Hendon is to be removed and sent to Cosford for restoration. This poses a few questions..
Will she remain in the same markings upon completion?
When was it last restored?
And finally did it fly into hendon or was it dismantled previously?
By: Arabella-Cox - 4th July 2010 at 18:34
Please dont put it in another PC scheme ok it never saw any action etc etc etc but that is not really the point, the museum is there to teach about the past of the RAF and the only lesson they are teaching is the RAF scrapped all their combat aircraft and kept all their training aircraft instead:confused:
I love to see the wellington in the dark but she is one of only 2 wellingtons in exsistance so if she has to loose the PC truth to be respresentative of all those crews who flew and died in wellingtons then so be it.
curlyboy
By: PanzerJohn - 4th July 2010 at 18:26
Perusing this thread there seem to be many people saying that the Welly wasn’t a bomber. I was up there a couple of weeks ago and one of the chaps there showed me the bomb racks that had been taken out of her. I am some what confused. If she was a bomber that was converted to a transport and is now back in bomber config where’s the problem, she’ll look far better in camo anyhow.
By: BSG-75 - 4th July 2010 at 12:36
Large sections are still there in the bomber hall. I paid a visit yesterday with my son. The Battle Of Britain Hall was as dark as ever, but the re-opened Sunderland display was a nice treat. I can’t remember the last time I was able to see that, the Graham White building was only open 10-12 though.
The museum was quite lively and busy, the parking charge (not unreasonable IMPO) didn’t seem to have put people off at all.
By: Peter - 2nd June 2010 at 14:55
Rob has some nice pictures of the dismantling process underway.
http://forums.airshows.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=23328
By: pagen01 - 1st June 2010 at 19:09
Photos of the dismantled Wellington can be found here http://forum.planetalk.net/viewtopic.php?p=76686
Excellent pics, it’s good to see these aircraft being taken apart properly and to be able to see the guts of these mythical beasts!
By: BSG-75 - 1st June 2010 at 16:52
Ken Ellis wrote a very (IMPO) erudite piece in Flypast a couple of months ago, pushing the case for target tug and training aircraft to be displayed in such schemes. I have to admit that it did change my way of thinking on the subject, I have no problems with the Wellington being displayed in the silver scheme, and before now (and reading the Flypast piece) I’ve moaned about the Tempest in its target towing colours.
By: benyboy - 1st June 2010 at 16:33
Maybe they could sell fabric patches to raise funds for the restoration, like was done with the RNHF Swordfish.
Ben
By: jeepman - 25th May 2010 at 16:39
Er… it was built as a B X !
I also agreed with james in that is there an actual proposal to paint silver ? or has somebody got hold of the wrong end of the stick ?
I refer you to page 140 of the new, 22nd, Edition of Wrecks and Relics, and I quote
Wellington T10 MF628 is due to move to Cosford, Shropshire, for a medium term restoration at the Michael Beetham Centre. This will return it to overall silver with yellow “trainer bands”.
Depends whether you take what can be read in W&R with a pinch of salt or not.
By: bazv - 25th May 2010 at 13:00
The aircraft is currently painted to represent a bomber that it never was.
Moggy
Er… it was built as a B X !
I also agreed with james in that is there an actual proposal to paint silver ? or has somebody got hold of the wrong end of the stick ?
By: Moggy C - 25th May 2010 at 09:38
Thanks, I’d missed that.
Moggy
By: pagen01 - 25th May 2010 at 09:24
Suddenly we are talking about returning it to the (silver / no turret) appearance of the actual airframe post WW2.
This latter is a proposal that has arisen here – with no external prompting? Or have I missed something?
W&R 22 has the Welligton returning to Hendon in silver with yellow trainer bands….
In post #61
I have questioned the validity of the usually reliable Wrecks & Relics statement myself.
By: 25deg south - 25th May 2010 at 09:20
One point for consideration during any restoration .
I went in the RAFM Wellington in 1967 at Biggin Hill. IIRC the navigator training stations were still all in place down the fuselage.
By: Moggy C - 25th May 2010 at 09:13
And as a side note – can we stay on topic here please? BOB Museum proposals are exhaustively covered elsewhere.
Moggy
Moderator
By: Moggy C - 25th May 2010 at 09:11
Can I just sum up a moment here?
The aircraft is currently painted to represent a bomber that it never was.
The RAFM proposal is to display it as an OTU machine (Visually little different from at present, just different code letters) Which it never was.
Suddenly we are talking about returning it to the (silver / no turret) appearance of the actual airframe post WW2.
This latter is a proposal that has arisen here – with no external prompting? Or have I missed something?
Moggy
By: thedawnpatrol - 25th May 2010 at 08:07
Perhaps they are going to fill it with Fibreglass replicas!
Total waste of money if you ask me, its better spent restoring the Hampden and Striling projects!
Give me a good old dusty museum any day!
Jules
By: 25deg south - 25th May 2010 at 07:33
Although one could mutilate the 110, 88 and 111, the Ju 87 in the video presentation is meant to be a “B”, so I think we can presume that the graphics team were just uninformed ( or considered it irrrelevant) as to the implications.
Or perhaps the aircraft in the cooling tower charade will be plastic models after all.
By: Creaking Door - 25th May 2010 at 00:38
Impossible? The RAFM have spitfire 1a’s on strength, hurricane P2617, an Emil, the CR42, and The Battle.
Actually I meant virtually impossible to find Battle-of-Britain period Bf110, He111 and Ju88 so that the current exhibits didn’t have to ‘stand-in’ for the earlier, and different, versions.
Take another look at the Battle-of-Britain Beacon promotional video; there seems to be a non-tank-buster Ju87, a non-night-fighter Bf110, a glass-nosed bomber Ju88 and a gun-armed He111 on display.
http://www.battleofbritainbeacon.org/
I know it is only a promotional tool but surely the RAFM would not allow the genuine historical airframes to be butchered into these bogus configurations (or more butchered in the case of the Ju87) while at the same time following a policy of absolute accuracy for the markings of other exhibits?
By: jeepman - 25th May 2010 at 00:03
impossible? The RAFM have spitfire 1a’s on strength, hurricane P2617, an Emil, the CR42, and The Battle.
Not that I want to to see any of them strung up mind you.
and the Defiant – although there is now a press release on the MAPS website which indicates that it will be returned to it’s 307 (Polish) Squadron marks
By: SADSACK - 24th May 2010 at 23:45
re;
impossible? The RAFM have spitfire 1a’s on strength, hurricane P2617, an Emil, the CR42, and The Battle.
Not that I want to to see any of them strung up mind you.
By: Creaking Door - 24th May 2010 at 02:21
Not sure it is double standards – has the RAFM indicated that they do not wish to put the Axis aircraft in authentic markings?
As far as I know the Stuka in the Battle-of-Britain Hall has been displayed in inaccurate markings for about twenty years, not to mention the fact that the tank-busting cannon have been removed (and I think fake dive-brakes added).
The current plans for the Battle-of-Britain Beacon project seem to have two night-fighters, the Bf110 and Ju88, on display; aircraft fitted with radar equipment that simply didn’t exist in 1940.
As has been pointed out, it would be virtually impossible to get the correct aircraft to display but, that being the case, why then dedicate this new project to such a limited period of RAF history.
Sign In
March 9, 2010 at 9:53 pm