WJ244Unfortunately the chances of saving a real one are pretty remote but thoiught you might all like to know that there are 1/200 diecast models available.
BAF – last colours, British United and Channel Air Bridge should be available now. Gator Air services should be available as limited stock and Aer Lingus is due this month. Original British Air Ferries colours are sold out.
They should be available from most outlets (RRP £39.99) but if you have trouble then PM me and I may be able to help.
WJ244Not sure about these. The only german recognition models I have ever seen were black (Bakelite?), much larger and far more accurate than these.
My feeling is that these have been made from wooden kits possibly from the Skybirds range. The kits contained wooden parts cut to a basic shape and had to be finished by hand.
Anyone else any ideas?
WJ244Hadn’t seen this thread before as it started long before I joined the forum but the thread does highlight the problems of maintaining aircraft outside.
As Melvyn Hiscock correctly stated there was a lot of speculation about the longevity of many of the “saved” Vulcans when they were first bought and flown in to various sites.
I saw both the Southend and Hendon Beverlies shortly before they were scrapped and the Southend machine was certainly dangerous as corrosion had destroyed much of the undercarriage bogie beams and it was obvious from close up that the Hendon airframe needed huge amounts of work and money as well.
I remember Bill Gent worked for Hanningfield Metals at one time and they broke up a Varsity (I think) at Duxford probably about 20 years ago. He said that one of the senior staff remarked at the time that further visits from the scrapman could be on the cards in the future – an acknowmedgment of the problems inherent in maintaining airframes outside.
Fortunately Duxford have since been able to bring much of their collection in from the cold but inevitably others aren’t so lucky.
I am sure that sadly the preservation movement will continue to suffer other losses simply because there isn’t a bottomless pit of money to preserve every old airframe no matter how significant some of them may be to the aviation world.
WJ244There were stories many years ago that the aircraft was actually being delivered back to Staverton after filming when the undercarriage
“accidentally” collapsed on landing at Staverton and by sheer coincidence the film company happened to have a film crew there filming the landing. Strangely the only sequence missing from the film at that time was alleged to have been a sequence of a Mosquito landing accident! I don’t know how true this story is but it certainly did the rounds for many years and from what I remember of the film sequence it looked amazingly like someone had deliberately retracted the gear. Just wondered if anyone knows the true story.
WJ244I was 11 when Campbell crashed and like many others I have never forgotten the footage of the final moments of Donald and K7. I had always found it unbelievable that both the boat and occupant went missing in the lake and was very pleased to hear the news reports when they were first found.
I must admit that the first pictures of the wreck made me very sceptical that a full restoration would ever be possible. Having looked at the website (for most of one evening) I was impressed by the care taken to make it possible to reuse so much of the original fabric of the boat. I am sure there were many cases where it would have been far easier to fabricate new parts rather than straighten out the original metal.
The whole team should be very proud of themselves and I look forward to the finished restoration and hope that I will at last be able to see K7 on the water.
WJ244I did put in another thread that G-AOFW was under the watchful eye of Historic Aircraft Museum manager Bill Gent when it was parked out at Southend. The arrangement was that if it came to move her or scrap her she would be moved to the museum car park (the only space available at the museum to take her) as a temporary measure. Sadly the closure of the museum spelt the end of her potential lifeline and she eventually met her end at the hands of a JCB driver.
A Carvair should be saved and as most of them spent the vast part of their lives on the Channel crossing it would be appropriate to preserve one at Southend or maybe Lydd but as far as I am aware there is no potential home at either airfield.
WJ244Hope no one minds if I revive this one. Hoping there is someone out there who can help solve this mystery which has puzzled me for years now. Thanks
WJ244I can imagine the conversation-
“Darling, i’ve bought something for the garden, all we’ve got to do is move the washing line and rearrange the gnomes”
“Ooh, that hanging basket we were looking at? Ahh, you’re so thoughtful”
“Err, not quite…”
When the Gannet had no home I did mention to my other half that we could put it in the garden.
First answer was “it won’t fit” and she was almost certainly right ( a Pitts Special would be a tight fit) but I did try “it would if I folded the wings” at which point I was informed that I already had a motorbike and car to restore in the garage as well as a room full of stuff I sell on Ebay and that was quite enough for any man.
So it looks like even a Pitts is out of the question unless I can afford to buy the empty bungalow next door. Damn
WJ244My first foray into Zero 6 was as a 15/16 year old museum volunteer sent by the ex Channel Airways engineers to scrounge some carpet offcuts for the museum’s Viscount nose section.
Went back to the hotel a couple of years ago. Looks completely different from the outside but inside seemed much the same. Very strange going back after all those years.
WJ244Hi Bruce, (‘Bedsheet-Bomber’) etc………..:mad:
It was always cited – it’s remote location, when compared to Rochford station, plus Southend/Shoeburyness “seafront” (for want of a better-word:D ) was the major-factor in it’s closure……….(i.e. not sustainable re-punters thru the gates).
🙂
The problem at Southend was that it was remote from the main part of the airfield so it didn’t attract the public who visited the airport to “watch the aeroplanes.” In those days there was a sizeable contingent of Joe Public sitting on the airport viewing terrace with a pint totally unaware that 5 mins drive away they could actually get much closer to some (for the most part) far more interesting aeroplanes.
The local council weren’t much help either. They decided that the museum was a commercial venture. As such it did not qualify for the sign posting that a tourist attraction would be permitted to erect so they were only allowed 2 signposts. I think one was on the A127 at Kent Elms Corner and the other was probably on the corner of Aviation Way where the museum was sited.
It was possible to take several wrong turns between the two signs and I expect many potential punters got lost and went home never having found the museum.
One of my jobs when I worked full time in school holidays was to cycle to Shoeburyness and walk the entire length of Southend seafront pushing my bike and handing out flyers to anyone who would take one. It was the only way the museum stood a chance of getting any of the holidaymakers/trippers through the doors.
WJ244Thanks for the link. I actually found the other thread after my last post.
I didn’t exactly live in Electric Ave as my flat had a horrible habit of trying to fall down or leak every time I thought it was ready. I finally gave up and sold it.
By the way it is Westcliff and I don’t think you could describe the area around Electric Ave as the posh end of town although it certainly isn’t the worst either.
WJ244Even smaller world as I owned a flat at 31A Electric Ave in the 80’s.
I believe the aircraft was a Meteor. There was a newspaper cutting of the accident framed and hanging in the entrance hall at the Southend Museum. I believe it was still there after the musum became a roller rink.
As far as I recall it was discussed at the museum before the cutting came to light and I think it was a pilot giving an unofficial airshow to his parents but I may have misunderstood the discussion. As a teenager you don’t always listen to the whole story. Can’t remember the road but I am sure it was further towards the football ground than Beedell Ave.
WJ244I have been told many stories by classic car owners who have loaned / rented their pride and joy to TV / Film companies and from what I have heard the best advice is be very careful and definitelty make sure that you babysit your aeroplane.
One owner had spent fortunes on a car restoration and was approached to hire it (for a nominal fee) for use in a TV series. For one shot the director decided he couldn’t get the effect he wanted so he ordered the team to pull the door off to give the camera a better shooting angle. The door wasn’t removed very carefully and the car was returned with a misaligned door and much paint damage. The repairs cost more than the fee he got back.
Another owner decided to babysit his car and was able to put his foot down when the director wanted to run it into a hedge. The directors attitude was we have hired the car and if we wreck it you can always get another one.
I met some of these “film” people while they were filming a TV show when I had a shop at Brands Hatch. They do not live in the real world. One tried to buy a box of matches in the shop next door and got stroppy when the shop owner refused to allow him to pay by credit card!. He then asked how many boxes of matches he needed to buy to get to the minimum card purchase limit. When this proved impossible (not enough boxes of matches) he got on his mobile and to another rmember of the crew in the paddock. I heard the phone call “Oh Justin sweetie would you bring some money over to the shops. I want to buy some matches and the little man here won’t let me use my card”.
As a rule they appear to have no respect for hirers or their property. All that matters is what they want to do _ so Be careful.
WJ244When the Heinkel was at Biggin Hill it was definitely in one pice along with the CR42, an ME-109 and posiibly others. They were all displayed in the hangar on the RAF side of the airfield at the 1967 Battle of Britain display.
WJ244Thanks David. I have never been able to find anyone else that remembered the Dragon wing so it is nice to know that I didn’t dream it.
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