Have heard on the “aviation grapevine” that the prime mover in the Lasham Museum has sadley passed away. If this is correct what is the future for the exhibits. Any information gratefully recieved – would hate to see some of these unique aircraft lost for good.
By: David Burke - 24th April 2009 at 18:04
The news of Bob Coles death was in FlyPast. Bob was a member of the committee at Lasham and owned a couple of the airframes. There are no plans at the moment for airframes to move on. What I must point out is that whilst some aircraft might appear uncared for – the group is active and striving to do their best. The notion that aircraft should move to preserve them is fine – however the rain that falls over Lasham has the same elements to promote corosion as any other part of the country.
To effectively preserve an aircraft at best you need to bring it indoors
just to slow down the rate of deterioration. Anything else is fighting a slow decline which cannot be stopped – just slowed. How this fits in with Lasham
is that they are trying to do something. For instance the Sea Prince was saved from the FAAM at Yeovilton when they put it up for disposal . If Lasham hadn’t acquired it – it very likely would have been scrapped. Disposed of at the same time from Yeovilton was the Sea Prince C.2 which was burnt in the Channel Islands.
So in essence whilst the aircraft might appear uncared for – they have in many cases survived certain extinction and might in future go on to other places – they are however at present secure and not under threat.
By: pagen01 - 24th April 2009 at 17:15
Whereas all the others are T.1’s with the long nose and were used for crew training purposes. Jon
And a handful of C.2s, similar to the T.1 in layout (long nose, twin wheeled U/Cs etc).
The Sea Prince T.1 at Lasham is certainly the one aircraft I would like to saved.
By: Jon H - 24th April 2009 at 16:28
the Sea Prince unique as it is unmodified (nose cone?)
No modifications involved.
The unique Sea Prince WF137 is a C.1 variant which had the stubby nose. Only 3 were made and were used to ferry VIP’s around in. Probably very similar inside to our G-AMLZ. Whereas all the others are T.1’s with the long nose and were used for crew training purposes.
Jon
By: Brian Doherty - 24th April 2009 at 16:03
Hi,
Thanks for the link Jon, looking at the list I would think that the Drover has to be the most unique, I don’t know, but would think it unlikely that any exist outside of Australian museums as it was designed specifically for that market. The Sea Prince, I don’t know about, not qualified – but I guess you would know Jon. Of the rest, only as an oddity, the NF14 qualifies as the only one I’ve heard of as a civilian Israeli night fighter!
Thanks to you both.
Cheers Brian.
By: TwinOtter23 - 24th April 2009 at 15:59
Hasn’t Bruce commented before about his contacts there re the Drover? :confused:
By: BSG-75 - 24th April 2009 at 15:35
The list appears up to date – I’m a couple of miles away and went past about a month ago. The airframes are stored in the open on grass with the inevtiable result, if memory serves the Drover is a rare bird and the Sea Prince unique as it is unmodified (nose cone?) – we had a long thread on here a while back but BT Broadband (:mad:) is faffing about and I can’t search much….
By: Jon H - 24th April 2009 at 15:19
Does anyone know what they have (or are supposed to have) at Lasham, bearing in mind, that “facts” from fiction/rumour grows without sustenance – this comment is a genuine query and not intended as an insult to anyone involved.;)
Cheers Brian.
Quick search on google –
http://www.aviationmuseum.eu/World/Europe/UK/Alton/ww2_preservation.htm
Jon
By: Brian Doherty - 24th April 2009 at 15:15
LASHAM
Does anyone know what they have (or are supposed to have) at Lasham, bearing in mind, that “facts” from fiction/rumour grows without sustenance – this comment is a genuine query and not intended as an insult to anyone involved.;)
Cheers Brian.
By: WJ244 - 24th April 2009 at 15:06
Not been to Lasham in years. the last time was probably mid 80’s when I returned the main switchbox for the Drovers cockpit which I took home to restore best part of 15 years earlier. I had never returned it to Southend as I wasn’t convinced that the management at that time would make sure it went back into the aeroplane. The scrap bin seemed the more likely fate so I kept it safe until I felt that I could be reasonably sure that it would return to its proper place.
What did strike me on the 2 or 3 visits I did make to Lasham was that progress on anything seemed very slow but the group I met when I returned the Drover bits all seemed pretty enthusiastic. Maybe it is a case of too many airframes and too few workerss – a great shame.
By: Ewan Hoozarmy - 24th April 2009 at 11:08
Maybe some of the aircraft will move on and be cared for properly:rolleyes:
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April 24, 2009 at 9:06 am