Duxford Thursday 13th Decembrrrrrrr:
The IWM Spitfire I arrived this afternoon (That’s four Mark I Spitfires on site now). Wings were first to be unloaded:
The fuselage followed, after the inevitable checks. That’s not Christmas wrapping, but required shielding due to regulations on transport of radio-active materials:
With much more to be achieved before Christmas, the Spitfire is likely to stay in the background for a while, so any more detail may have to wait:
The Spitfire is once again positioned next to another combat veteran. It is remarkable to have aircraft from both World Wars with combat victories together:
Duxford Tuesday 11th December:
A very grey day at Duxford:
The only entertainment was watching the IWM Harrier GR.9 being weighed:
Duxford Sunday 9th December:
Thanks for all the kind words, it’s always good to get positive feedback for our efforts. It’s such very hard work hanging around at Duxford watching the action….
Today saw a brief but spectacular visit from the RNHF Sea Fury, presumably just passing on the way to North Weald. Only two passes in the gloom, but a cheering mid-Winter sight:
By comparison, the TFC sister-ship is without prop pending engine work:
I posted the Restaurant’s Christmas menu recently. There’s an update. See if you can spot the difference. I won’t comment since I don’t want to be banned from this forum:
November 25th:
December 9th:
Duxford Tuesday 4th December:
To underline the dedication of the DAS volunteers, while I was suffering from the cold wind while on patrol today, the work still continued on the Ambassador:
Otherwise, the arrival of this Breitling schemed Pitts was the only highlight:
Duxford Monday 3rd December:
Today is a very special day for the DAS Viscount G-ALWF, which first flew on December 3rd 1952.
So, on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday, I thought a brief review was in order.
‘WF was the fifth Viscount built and served for 10 years with BEA after delivery on 13-2-53. Seen here probably at Heathrow, date unknown:
A short spell with Channel Airways followed, including leases to Tradair and British Eagle, before moving to Cambrian Airways in 1965. Pictured visiting Cambridge in February 1966 and Coventry in April 1971:
Cambrian used ‘WF until Christmas Eve 1971, and on retirement, as the oldest Viscount survivor, were keen to assist her preservation. Donation to the Viscount Preservation Trust followed, with her last flight on April 12th 1972 being to Liverpool for display to the public.
The final numbers were:
28,299 hours airborne, 25,398 landings, estimated to have carried 800,000 passengers and flown around 7 million miles.
However, public access was difficult at Liverpool, and the Viscount was stored outside and robbed of spares for other aircraft. It was decided to move the airframe to Duxford, where she arrived on Feb 22nd 1976. Seen here soon after arrival:
Assembly was a long process, with many parts needing to be sourced and corrosion treated, and it took around ten years before ‘WF was seen in her original BEA colours. The following dated 19-4-77, 12-78, 4-79, 10-83, and 11-83:
Over the next 25 (!!) years, ‘WF has been steadily restored inside and out, repainted at least twice, and remained on display with the other airframes of the DAS British Airliner Collection. She spent time in Hangar 1 and Hangar 2. This photo on ‘Airliner Row’ 5-10-96:
The latest restoration programme started around 2005, with a possibility of display in Airspace. These pictures dated 30-5-05, 23-7-05, 23-7-05, 17-11-05, 27-11-05, 10-12-05 and 16-12-05:
The stay in Airspace was brief (seen 7-2-07):
‘WF has since spent time in and outside the Airspace Conservation area, on the flightline, and again on ‘Airliner Row’, Pictures dated 28-6-07 and 22-7-07:
DAS have been custodians of ‘WF for over 36 years, but have only recently taken official ownership from the Viscount Preservation Trust. The time and effort put into such a historical airframe has been huge, and work will continue as time and finance allows. Well worth another look (and onboard tour if you’re lucky) next time you visit Duxford.
Thanks to the DAS website for some background. Well worth a look at:
http://www.das.org.uk/viscount_det.htm
Photos 1-5 and 7-10 from the Tony Clarke Collection, with thanks. 6 and 11-20 my own.
Finally, when ‘WF was displayed and stored at Liverpool, she lost many parts to her airworthy sisters. The outer wings were used by Cambrian to extend the career of G-AMOG, and were later replaced by others from Alidair. G-AMOG is now dismantled at East Fortune.
Can we have her wings back please ??
David,
what are those Bristol Hercules cylinders (if they are Hercules cylinders..) doing there stacked like that??
Great pictures as always! 😉
The cylinders are just a small part of the TFC stock which is being moved, conserved and catalogued.
Duxford Sunday 2nd December:
A pair of Chipmunks were out in the sunshine this morning, based WP929 (G-BXCV) and WG348 (G-BBMV) which appears to be in for attention from ARCo:
In Hangar 2, the chin turret from B-17G ‘Sally B’ was removed for work:
A dedicated and highly skilled volunteer tidying up the starboard wing of the Plane Sailing Catalina, and a reminder of the yellow scheme in which it arrived at Duxford in 2004:
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