Coltishall Housing

Anywhere else they would call it an ‘air park’ and enjoy themselves.

Quite agree re Syerston,could not believe how they could let good homes just go to rot,but then thats the MOD for you,its not their money.

Tempest 11

Considering how many of and long these machines were lying around in India this has to be the clue.
The racers had the Furies/Sea Furies by then,and they simply did not fit in with anyones requirements.
As a film prop one could slot in a PT6 and dub in the sound, but nowadays the CGI boys have seen that off.
There was one lying on the hangar floor when i went to Dunsfold some years back,and i was surprised how small it looked without the Napier engine.
With mega-bucks required for any sort of restoration nowadays the ultimate value will decide its fate.
They also had a bit of a reputation for ‘swopping ends’ on landing, and this was confirmed to me by someone who flew the MKV. At the end of the war they had their machines ‘upgraded’ to the MK11 and the ferry pilots took their old machines back. Keen to try out the new mounts several pilots jumped in for a quick blast around the area,but the CO had to stop this after a series of incidents with aircraft leaving the runway during t/off or landing.
When you look at the difference in length of the engine installations the weight on the aircrafts tail must have increased considerably !!.
In fact the Sea Fury had a tail wheel lock, and it is the failure to engage this that promped the loss of several of these.

Tempest 11

I think the problem with the Tempest 11 is it does not fit in with those wanting a WW2 machine with operational history (Typhoon/Tempest v) and also misses out on the Korean theatre unlike the Sea Fury.
With a lack of Sabres to retrofit, (plus the cost) it therefore sits in warbird limbo as the cost of the completed project may well exceed its market value.
I remember talking to Nick Grace when he was involved with this machine and him being surprised when i related to him that they were not operational until after VE Day.

BoB Film

Ah well Kenley is still available so no cgi required there, and if they get a move on the Officers Mess and the NAAFI (as per RFTS) could be used.
This could be the third BOB film made there; and quite in order as an important 11 Group sector station.

Ford Merlins

In Sir Stanley Hookers book (Not Much Of An Engineer) (a very good read) he mentions how Ford had to redraw the RR Merlin drawings for mass production and ‘interchangability’.He also mentions that Ford were never given the recognition for this output and that once production started they turned them out like shelling peas.He also adds “And very good engines they were too”. It would not make sense to ‘deconstruct’ such engines more like a bit of RR urban myth, i think Ford knew a thing or two about making engines so i think Sir Stanley summed it up nicely.

Guy Gibson

Down here in the West Country (Portleven Cornwall) they have a very strong attachment to Guy Gibson and his association with the Town. For many years there has been a ‘film-show’ (now DVD) of his time spent in the area and this year the ‘collection’ has gone towards a plaque that is to go on the Institute near the Harbour entrance.Apart from many images of the ‘young Gibson’ there were recordings of interviews with him and also recollections from those who met up with him during the war.This was all threaded into clips from the original film and made an unique record of his life.Needless to say the hall was jam packed with locals who always support this event and the applause at the end said it all.I can pass on the details of the availabilty of the DVD if interested.The entry charge included a Pasty and tea so had to be the Aviation related bargain of the year.Although Gibson was born in India his mothers home had been Porthleven so this is where they returned for leave and holidays.What with Geoff Wellum just across the water at Mullion and Cheshires association with Predannack and Marazion its not such a aviation backwater as one might think.Vickers two seat Spitfire G-AIDN was used by Cheshire during his Predannack days and was probably one of the last aircraft he flew.

Hurricane prop

I know there will be a certain amount of distortion re the proximity of the image,but that prop would not be out of place on a Lanc or a Mosquito, and looks a trifle large in dia for the normal Hurricane size.

Copyright

He who holds the negs has a good case, although i am not sure how the old wartime images come under this system as some of our well know museums seem to claim CR on everything. It only really becomes a problem when a commercial gain is likely.