Bassingbourn Canberra

Hi there Shabby, fingers crossed i’am planning to visit the museum this year…..can you tell me if you can see the Canberra…if so do they ever open her cockpit ?
all the best Matt;)

If you ask nicely enough, then you may get your wish! 😉

Seriously though, the Board of Directors for the Museum may be offering chances to ‘open up’ the cockpit on the old Jet, during the coming open season. The museum isn’t all about the Control Tower, or wartime USAAF, we recognise there’s just as much interest in the post war RAF jets etc.

As suggested, I would email the Museum’s email address and put in your request. [email]towermuseum.121@btinternet.com[/email]

If the interest is good enough we may open it up fairly regularly. Visitors have to be escorted to the Jet as it’s an active Army Base, but that’s not a problem if people want to see it (inside and out). The keys to the cockpit are available…

Shabby
http://www.55th.org

No (visible) parts numbers on the frame, but found these on the ‘hinges’

Mike –

Yep, I agree… puzzling thing is I cannot find any historical reference though. Most (if not all) of the forced landings are noted in official records…but having said that the locals swear blind they removed a fuselage section from near that location post-war (for scrap) and I have no record of anything being left there…so what do I know!?! hahaha

I agree with Denis, it’s probably the soil conditions. The corroded parts are more ‘yellow’ than the others and the green paint is very evident on some parts. There was an RAF a/c that crashed in the wood immediately in front of that field boundary, but I was always told it was an RAF Halifax… guess they may have incorrectly ID’d it (?!)

I get the suggestion that it’s ground handling, or potentially reused post-war material , but given it’s remote location I’d be surprised. It’s a very heavy bit of metal (to be hauled around) and the guy that hit it with the mower has worked the fields there for the last 50-60 years and is adamant it’s not agricultural, or from any long forgotten piece of recycled farming equipment.

From the wonders of Google I can see all the various mounting point and brackets that match a Blenheim/Oxford undercarriage…so that’s looking the most likely for now… or perhaps it was a reused item after all and I’m barking up the wrong tree ! lol

Big thank you for all your contributions people…appreciated.

!?! Wasn’t expecting Blenheim…but I reckon you are right (having subsequently Googled ‘Blenheim landing gear’ to death). That raises an even bigger question…what on earth is a bit of Blenheim doing on the edge of the airfield at Nuthampstead. We have extensive records, but no mention of a Blenheim crashing, or even visiting, Nuthampstead during wartime service…. many thanks H.M.S. Vulture, that would have taken me years to have failed to ID that aircraft! 🙂

Hi ShabbyAbbey, have seen these before ‘protek plug’ link to an earlier post … I hope ?

Keith.

http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?100432-Dug-up-at-Deopham-Green&highlight=

Cheers Keith. I guess if they are at Deopham Green and there’s loads of ’em, they must be off Wright Cyclones and not the ‘lovely’ Allisons (ignore my earlier post mentioning Pratt & Whitneys)… unless you had a P-38 Group up there I was unaware of! 😉
BTW, the one we found looks the same as the top one in your photo.