The one in the Museum of Flight Seattle was roaded all the way from Toronto to New York State for restoration, and then on to Seattle. A journey of around 3,000 miles.
Actually the Special Ops element came from Germany, the Woodbridge element was the rescue squadron.
They were only there for a couple of years in the early-90s, before flying operations at Alconbury closed down in early 1995.
Yes, there were 2 or 3 IIRC, which replaced the rather lovely Convair C-131s
The based King Air aircraft left about 10 years ago
It is Grade II listed, so I’m sure any planning permission for redevelopment would be contingent on preserving it.
Brooklands does have a long term plan to cover their aircraft with a ‘wing’ roof. Concorde, VC10, Vanguard, Viscount, 1-11 and the Viking do comprise a sizable ‘civil collection.’
mmitch.
As does the Museum of Flight in Seattle, who plan to put a canopy over their outside collection of large airliners.
But then, how would you move a Connie by road?
Probably the same way they got it from Ireland to Wroughton in the first place!
The Australian Beaufighter restoration is being done by HARS at Albion Park, NSW
Has anybody made a sustainable, ongoing commercial success of a purely civil aircraft museum anywhere in the world? I can’t think of any. There is the Airline History Museum in Kansas City, but the place seemed almost empty on the couple of visits I’ve made there and I’m sure it isn’t commecislly sustainable without subsidised rent of the space that it occupies and a large pool of volunteer, former TWA, staff to run the place.
…..some biggish ( British) historic civilian aircraft…….some which might in the meantime be flown in to Wyton (also apparently ceasing flying and conceivably not needing its hangars) if necessary, as a holding exercise.
None of the Duxford airliners are in any state to be flown again. Ever.
Would a museum consisting of nothing but busses with wings be commercially viable? I would very much doubt it, even with a Concorde as a centrepiece.
I suspect the days of Bourn as an active airfield will be numbered without some money being spent on the infrastructure. The runway and taxiways looked to be in very poor condition the last time I was there a few years back, and can only have deteriorated further since then.
They stopped adding to the collection about 20 years ago, so there are no examples of the BAe 146, Jetstream, Vanguard, HS 748 or BAe ATP in the collection.
Where the ugly shed full of rusty old tanks and the mudbath next to it sit now.
Walter Mitty appears to be alive and well.