An interesting state of affairs to come back to after a weekend away….!

I can only think of one full Gannet cockpit in existence now.
Does the bottom part still exist?

I can think of 25+ – on the front of preserved airframes. Surely they are more important than this spare part? We have not butchered a complete Gannet, nor have we deprived the world of the sole remaining example. Instead, we have taken a spare part and reworked it so that everyone can enjoy it without the risk of serious injury by falling 10ft whilst exiting/entering the cockpit.

Yes the bottom half still exists and we are looking at options of how to sensibly move it on. Scrapping certainly isnt an option at this moment in time.

Its one of those questions – the Gannet by its sheer size is an impressive aircraft. Cutting the cockpit tends to take away that perspective. Whilst it might in some cases make ownership more practical – few would argue that cutting the likes of Lightnings and Jet Provosts improves the look of the cockpit.

Indeed a Gannet is an impressive aircraft for size, but as mentioned above this was never one being only a spare part. So even before we did anything, to get a true idea of a Gannet you would still need to go to a museum. As for cockpits in general, the moment they are removed from an airfame is surely when you lose the perspective? Anything after that is splitting hairs I would have thought.

So long as TAC keep the lower Gannet C/pit section ( not scrap it) then (It looks like a good straight,clean cut Jon ) Then the 2 sections could be clamped/bolted/fastened –back together at other times, so you haven’t lost that display capability that Pagan mentions. That way everyone wins.

I cant take credit as I didnt do it!

Jon

Its amazing how much the faceplate changed the look of these masks. Just for general reference (apologies for the slight thread creep Terry!), here is my 6D/1913 with a different faceplate again!

Jon

The things you find under layers of paint…..

Jon

I have been searching for an Avro 748 to take some detailed photos of the aircraft especially the undercarriage, but have contacted Southend Airport where there are a few, I think 2 were sold to a Hotel at the airport, the other 3 I am not sure of as I have been given email addresses of Avionicare who says that they don’t own them, they gave me Trygonaviation email, who say they don’t own them either, but are situated near the Easyjet terminal and is impossible to take photos because of Security risks

Kev,

You are more than welcome to come and photograph G-BEJD at Speke, however not sure you will get the shots you want as the U/C legs are all retracted at the moment.

Jon

Yes Bruce, Mike has nailed two T.11’s together 😉

Jon