What a cracking idea TSR2 is always an interesting topic no matter your view point.

A while back I picked up a set of photos from the SBAC in 1950 which included an Ashton and the equivalent Vickers Viscount, they looked the part rather more than the Nene Viking taildragger.

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I’ll be there with my Victor panel and Trident 2E engineers panel. I haven’t decided yet whether I have enough panel trims to do either a VC10 or Nimrod engineers panel mock up or whether I should cover Brian Trubshaw and the Vickers / BAC aircraft he tested given that I have been fortunate enough to acquire some of his memorabilia including some very nice photographs. Either way it will be a corking weekend as usual I’m sure.

Sounds like a curious question but what was the damage to the fuse from it’s drop from the trestles? The reason I ask is that I have one of 673’s access panels from just aft of the line of the nose gear which is crumpled and has been sawn off at the hinges which I’ve been trying to track down the story of for a while.

Cheers,

Mike

It certainly was!
The “crash & smash” team did the job with help from some willing “volunteers”!
There may be a few straps in place but basically it came apart at the production breaks.

baloffski is right in saying the outer wings could be taken off for servicing but in this case, but for the move, I seem to remember the “mid” section just outboard of the intakes also came off.

The whole lot was then “roaded” into place on low loaders.
(Anyone remember the guy who ignored the road closed signs making the truck carrying the fuselage to brake suddenly causing damage when the fuse slipped off the trestles?)

It looks very similar to something we used to use in the small garage I used to work Saturdays in. It was nicknamed the “Gut Buster” it had an absurd amount of torque so if it grabbed up your arms were the point of least resistance and elbowed you in the gut, hence Gut Buster. Used very sparingly but it was and still is the only thing I’ve come across that would drill a half inch hole through a 1.5inch thick GRP floor pan and then half an inch of chassis steel sandwiched together without going through umpteen drill sizes. Those heady days of savage workshop kit and health and safety provided by your own common sense and aim of survival.

Quite a debate, it shows the passion people have for Cockpitfest event whatever your point of view.

Great write up Garry sums up the event nicely and thanks for the mention in dispatches. There were quite a few interesting things to be had in the aeroboot section in I managed to scratch my collecting itch over the weekend.

For me part of the appeal of Cockpitfest is that you never quite know what you are going to see as you walk around and the context that parts of the displays add to the main subject of the display. I enjoyed the 50’s inspired part of the afore mentioned display it gave context and contrast, the context of the golden years of British aviation with design starting to gain importance against function along with new materials and technology and the contrast of a world of colour after the dark days of the war and the comforts of home contrasted against the survival equipment that many crew found themselves forced to use.

The signage for Cockpitfest I would assume faces the same problems as the Kit Car show next door. Before being lured next door to Cockpitfest for about 20 years or so I used to go to the Kit Car show and every year the signs were either missing or some comedian had switched the arrows on the sign around sending you the wrong way.

Just to echo what others have said another epic weekend at NAM with an incredibly diverse range of things to look at and great people to chat to. Some amazing projects this year and some brave individuals particularly Aggie Paggie and the crash damaged Tornado and the key for me was some of the smaller projects were just as interesting as the big ones. If that wasn’t enough the car nuts were treated to some 80’s/90’s endangered species a Cossie Sierra and a Mk2 Astra GTE 16v. Looking forward to next year 🙂

Despite the couple of no shows it was still a good event and as others have said a good place to catch up with people and put a face to a name. Lots of interesting things for sale as usual. It’s also great to see many of them items even if they are out of your budget it can add to your knowledge of the practical side of aviation.

There was a lovely Shack panel which had the wifey clamps not been in place would have come home with me (apparently the arrival of a Hunter fin last week wasn’t viewed as a positive development by Mrs E!).

With the theft it seems to be the way of the world these days sadly. I wouldn’t mind chipping in a few quid to a whip round to go towards making good the lost money. NAM has both encouraged and facilitated my interest in Aviation and the various events I participate in give me a goal to keep momentum on my projects when they begin to stall. So it would be a shame to see them out of pocket.

Mike