scott.bouchI believe the Valiant’s in Scotland in a good home 🙂
– but how it came to Newark is another story, but not for a public forum!! :rolleyes:
Is that the Valiant cockpit that was at Bruntingthorpe, or is that still there… not been to Brunt for ages…. (bad as I’m local!)
How many Valiant cockpits are in existence?
Am I right to believe the only whole aircraft is at Cosford now (ex-Hendon)?
Cheers, Scott.
scott.bouchAs pointed out earlier, There are the two clear “types” that attend the fest..
All of us who love to geek-out over the aircraft and history, and then there’s the people attending for a family-fun day out! If the owls are what the families enjoyed the most, then so be it! 😉 …To be fair, the little owl called UFO was very, very cute! See attached pictures…
I personally got a kick out of the exhibitors taking an interest in my helmet colelction, as they know the level of care needed to look after such items. But what probably made it more worthwhile is when a family comes along, and the kids want to try on a helmet and mask! They do look like little mushrooms with a massive helmet resting on their shoulders, but they have a bit of fun with it, and that for me, is satisfaction enough, regardless of who wins what….
I loved the weekend. This was my third event (only camped over twice) and I love the community who attend… people are so warm and welcoming, it’s just a shame we have to attend our stalls / cockpits all day, and we don’t get that much time to spend looking around each other’s gear and chatting to the other exhibitors!!
Many thanks to my understanding wife for putting up with me and supporting me for a second year with my display! Just sorry I arrived very late on Saturday.. damn car wheel bearing!!!! Unfortunately this year, the fest was down on my priority list, with us trying to sell our house, and been working offshore a lot.. so my effort was less than 2010, but we still came along!!
http://scottbouch.posterous.com/its-official-now-la-maison-is-for-sale
Thanks again to Bill, Howard and all the museum staff who put on this superb event year after year, may it continue!!! I was saddened 🙁 when Bill asked us all if we wanted to try again or not next year, I didn’t realise it was so close to finishing, but am pleased as punch that the dates have already been released!! 😀
My reports form the event, two were blogged live form the camp site!
http://scottbouch.posterous.com/
The Australian contingency also did some live blogging too!!:
http://heritageflightgear.blogspot.com/2011/06/cockpitfest-australia-report-part-1.html
Cheers, Scott.
scott.bouchGREAT WEEKEND!
Another Stunning Weekend!!! I’ve put my photos and write-up on my new blog:
http://scottbouch.posterous.com/
Great turnout, fantastic people, superb atmosphere, nice little bit of rain…. Great Hog and Beef roast too!!
Really enjoyed this years ‘Fest, even though we arrived really late on Saturday, still managed to pick up some bargains form the aerojumble, and get my stand set-up by 4:00pm!! Wish I’d been able to get there on Friday night, as hardly had any time to get outside to see the cockpits and chat to the cockpiteers! Did spend some time on Saturday Night with Darren Green in his stunning Canberra cockpit, which was great!
I was showing the helmets in Hangar 2, met a couple of people from this forum which was nice… lots of people stopped by to say hello and talk about the gear, including a few ex-RAF airmen who remembered which were the most comfortable helmets!
Looking forward to future events!
Cheers a lot, Scott.
scott.bouchHi all,
I’m actually in the North Sea right now on a Rig…. Keeping my eyes open, but not spotted anything! ;o) would be pretty amazing sight to behold, a bit of cold-war activity!
It’s interesting to learn what’s been going on overhead though, the last event like this was only a couple of months ago wasn’t it? Wasn’t it about the day after our wise government announced the defence cuts?? I saw the irony in it…
Keep us posted! Cheers, Scott.
scott.bouchHa ha… Sunday morning at C-fest = HANGOVER!
scott.bouch@twinotter
the first thing I thought of was a live web-chat over skype or similar, it’d be great to say “hi” to people on the other side of the world doing the same thing! 😀
Good luck with your Australian cockpitfest!!!!
Cheers, Scott.
scott.bouchHoly cow! Just seen this thread….
What a sad waste… it’s a tragedy. Think if the number of Lightnings that have been in there over the years. It’s a blessing that the resident lightning is kept outdoors.
Thank god no one was hurt.
Scott
scott.bouchThe rear crew had Air Ventilated Suit (AVS) supply at their crew positions. The CDT was not pressurised, what would be the point? It had no oxygen supply either.
I was only thinking about the degree of realism that the training went to… ie: disconnecting all hoses etc… in order to escape.
I’ve been through the ‘Bosiet’ helicopter escape training course for North Sea offshore work, and apart from the helicopter being made from fibreglass, and the water not being quite so cold, all equipment used is identical to the real thing. It was quite an interesting course.
I wonder what electrical equipment this simulator had that would require an inverter? as most of the basic essential kit is usually 28v DC.
This has got my curiosity going!
Cheers, Scott
scott.bouchHi mate,
Thanks for the photos, it’s another fascinating piece of history which I had no idea of before reading about yours!!
Are the seats present? (front and rear) is the rear desk fitted too?
Interesting to know the oxygen hoses (donkeys appendages) are present, and not much evidence of any instrumentation / avionics aside form the cardboard cut-outs… So I assume the main purpose was life support and escape training. Do you think it was used for cabin pressurisation training too? are the seals intact?
Just thinking about it, I imagine if it was used for my afore mentioned purposes, there might be some pipework exiting at the rear / fwd bulkhead, one to supply the oxy hoses (large diameter for low pressure and high flow), one for cabin pressurisation (possibly large diameter too), and one for the inflatable hatch seals (possibly quite small diameter)…. I also imagine there would be a comms system installed too, so you may have 3 Nato sockets hanging in the rear, one in the bomb aimers position, and connections at the front seat PEC’s… or just cut off cables where they once were. there would also be the requirement for an intercom amplifier, probably type 1964, a very common intercom amplifier used in lots of aircraft of this vintage. If the amp was fitted inside your cockpit, it may still be there, or at least a mounting tray and cables / conenctors (3x plessey mk5’s) plus a 24v power supply cable to the outside world. Or it may have been external and the comms cables would exit the cockpit.
I believe the front PEC’s also had an AVS connection (air ventilated suit) but I’ve not noticed these connections in the rear positions.
I think it’s a wonderful relic, and well worth preserving like you are doing, and not trying to find / make instrument panels etc… I think keeping / restoring it as it is carries much more historical merit to keep it as a trainer example.
Really nice subject, thanks again for the photos.
Cheers, Scott.
scott.bouchThat’s a really interesting piece of aviation history…
I’ve never seen such a trainer before, is it the whole cockpit?
Were these just for escape training, or did any instrument / operational training take place in them?
Would love to see more photos of it…
Cheers, Scott
scott.bouchThat is good news!
I contacted one of your members a while ago when I had a flight from Staverton to see if I could see the collection, be we were there on a Thursday no no luck..
I did have a nosey at the Javelin, which incidentally is located right next to a great little bar / restaurant!
Best of luck with it!! Scott.
scott.bouchI’ve listed it at: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170603125851#ht_908wt_1132
All of what I’ve been able to gleam over the years is noted in the auction page.
Cheers, Scott.
scott.bouchHi Red Mike! 😀
Thanks for the confirmation that it is Dave Stewards helmet…. I wonder if he still has the original? That would be something!
The picture you mention with the crew walking toward he camera, I have this copy: http://picasaweb.google.com/Scott.Bouch/FirebirdsHGU2#5544728405392976706
it is quite poor quality, but I can clearly see the only helmet with a solid visor cover is being carried by Dave Steward in the centre of the group (7th from the left, and 8th from the right as you look at the picture) as all British helmets never used solid visor covers (some exclusions: helicopter Mk4’s, 10’s an 15’s).
Today some more parts arrived (from Australia!) for my reproduction, these are the leather tabs which fit inside the “cheeks” with pop-studs for mounting the G-type helmet mask hooks.. these are new-replica items as you simply can’t find original replacements.
Only got one part left to find now, that’s an oxygen hose for the P1 mask. The early P masks (with larger microphone) had the oxygen hose end stretched OVER the facepiece inlet moulding. Later P/Q masks used the bent elbow to direct the hose forward away from the pilots chest.
So if anyone out there has a spare oxy hose (preferably with aluminium bayonet fitting on the end, to suit lightning PEC’s), and a rather large / stretched looking opening at the mask end, please drop me a line!
I’m also on the look out for some “spare time” to complete this project! any miracle-cures, please let me know!! 😉
Many thanks, Scott.
scott.bouchI saw one of these little engines being restored very recently… at work we have the Rolls-Royce heritage trust, they’re always rebuilding various piston and jet engines for museums etc…
When I last popped in to see them, there was one of these little beauties being cared for! I don’t know if they had any information on it, but I can ask for you..
Cheers, Scott.
scott.bouchOC 56 at the time was Sqn Ldr Dave Seward. He had flown with the USAF hence the helmet. At the time standard issue helmet was the Mk1 Bine dome this consisted of 2 parts the cloth helmet and then the outer hard shell. The cloth inner had all the electrics ear pieces etc if you see pics of Roly Beaumont he only ever wore the cloth inner not the greatest idea! It looks from your picture if he may be wearing the inner under his US helmet the only way to keep the P type mask on as the two metal hooks were attached to the cloth inner. Frankly I always thought the mk1 helmet a dreadful piece of kit very hot and sweaty and pretty useless at noise attenuation. A lot of pilots wore the Mk1 helmet well into the 1980s as they were lighter. Hope this helps SF
Hi Salad,
I’d thought it was Dave Steward, and now you tell me about his time in the USAF, it makes sense! Thanks! Do you know any dates / years when he was over there? and what types he may have flown?
The HGU-2 was originally built with leather tabs fitted to either side of the shell front opening, these have 3 pop-studs on them similar to the G-type helmet (that’s the inner of a Mk1). I’m having a reproduction pair of leather tabs made in Australia, as they were missing form my shell. I’ve got a pair of the G-type mask hooks to clip on to the tabs.
This 56Sqn helmet has been modified using a loom form a G-type, you can see the UK mic socket has been screwed to the outside of the shell, and the original HGU-2 square grommet re-used to take the cable inside. I’ve found a G-type cable too, and the G-type speakers (which incidentally fit perfectly in the HGU-2 earpieces! so it’s a straight swap for the speakers!)
I need to know how the loom exits the helmet at the rear, it’s quire likely to be through a large round grommet, since the other US helmets of the era (P-series etc..) were set up like that.
Many thanks, Scott.
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