Managed to have quite a good look around/under/inside XV408 at Fairford. unfortunately, she’s in quite a state. The cockpit is completely stripped of any instrumentation (although I think the throttle tops may still be in place, all the panels are missing about 90% of the fasteners and there is a fair amount of corrosion around the airframe, especially in the bays. Shame, really.

Is this not John Bradshaw’s Fury, which normally lives at Kemble?

has the T7 got an engine yet? Last I heard, it was engine-less and 100series avons are not easy to come by.

That NO Girls Allowed programme was also filmed at Dunsfold

Best place to keep a JP3 I reckon!

Delta will be putting out the usual turn out of Hunters, so look for WV318, G-PSST and possibly WV372. G-VETA may be out and about although probably unlikely to fly given current progress. I imagine the Gnat (G-RORI) will fly, possibly G-MOUR as well, and the JP5 may be airborne.

Cheers

Dees

[QUOTE=Willow]Glad to know that people don’t care whether a restored static aeroplane is complete internally or not.
Clearly the last 10 years worth of work by the Sunderland crew at Duxford has been a complete waste of time

Thanks

Willow

P.S. XJ824 at Duxford is undoubtably in better condition anyway because it hasn’t been taken apart and (hopefully) put back together again since it came out of service. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.[/QUOTE

The point I was trying to make is that a vast number of poeple who see a static (or flying for that matter) aircraft will not know anything about it and hence be even less bothered if it is complete inside. The people who do know will appreciate (which will include just about everyone on this forum), so the time and effort is justified. Bruce’s point about historical representation of a type is exactly right. It won’t alter that fact that the families who pass through the gates of Duxford probably won’t know or care.

As for XJ824, she may be in good order as she hasn’t been taken apart, but I know plenty of aircraft that haven’t and are ready for nothing more than the scrapman. The Vulvan at Blackpool is a case in point. Another good one would be a comparison of two Shacks: the duxford one, now very delapidated, but one that flew into the airfield, and Juliet at Gatwick, who has been taken apart, moved, reassembled and now is (looking at the photos) in pretty good order thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team

Here’s another thought – how’s about putting all the money allocated to the VTS into getting the TRS2 back into the air! Any takers??