Duxford Wednesday 7th November:

After some exhaustive coverage of a certain Spitfire, I thought I’d feature some of the ongoing maintenance and restoration projects at Duxford.

In Hangar 2, TFC are still occupied with their housekeeping, and work on the fleet has slowed somewhat. Most of the airworthy machines will be resting until next Spring:

Well on the way to flight are the Wildcat, Hellcat and Gladiator, while Spitfire F.22 PK624 has been tidied into a neat kit of parts:

Next door, Winter maintenance has started on the Plane Sailing Catalina, and Chipmunk WK522 continues towards flight:

OFMC have a busy Winter ahead, Mustang and Spitfire have some in-depth work to be completed:

Hangar 5 is not quite full up yet, but many items from Lambeth are on display pending work:

The IWM Victor will remain outside until after next Sunday’s events:

Classic Wings will still be active over the Winter:

Finally, back to Spitfire PR.XIX PS853. After a local flight at lunchtime, she was ferried home after a two year stay at Duxford:

And of course, yellow aeroplanes always make good subjects for monochrome treatment:

Duxford Friday 2nd November:

Today marked the start of the three-day Autumn quilt festival at Duxford, displaced from nearby Chilford Hall due to a recent devastating fire. Barely able to contain my excitement, I had to tear myself away to catch another flight test and display from the Rolls-Royce Spitfire PR.XIX. Beautifully positioned to remain directly into strong sunshine as usual….

Further entertainment was provided by the first UK flight by the ‘new’ SNJ-5 G-CHIA / 85061:

Correct!!
Here’s one in action:

Duxford Monday 29th October:

Still waiting for a correct origin for the TFC Allison, meanwhile here are two more notable engines noted today.
Outside Hangar 2 was this wonderful Bristol Hercules 216, maybe from a Hastings:

Newly arrived from Lambeth is this damaged Oberursel UR-2 rotary. It has been attributed to the Fokker Dr.1 in which Richtofen was shot down, although the provenance is debatable:

Duxford Friday 26th October:

A wintry day, not much to report again. Having missed the two Spitfire I’s move into Hangar 3 yesterday, I was pleased to find them nicely displayed:

A new arrival from Lambeth in Hangar 5 was this beautiful war veteran. A 1911 built LGOC Type B, considered the first mass produced bus, it ran on London bus routes until being bought by the War Office in 1914. Serving in France and Belgium until 1919, it transported troops around behind the trenches. It was returned to LGOC and was retired and preserved in the 1920’s as ‘Ole Bill’. Presented to the IWM in 1970, and arriving with the upper deck removed, it would make a great Duxford Site Transport. At least we would hear it coning….

The TFC housekeeping continues. Any guesses as to type of Merlin?

I’m told there’s an interesting history behind this Allison V 1710. Open to guesses from the experts. There might be a clue from the engine bearers. If we’re lucky, TFC may reveal the correct answer.

Duxford Wednesday 24th October:

Sorry for the delay, the gloomy weather made it difficult to find any pictures worth posting.

The day started with the move of Sally B into Hangar 2 for the winter. A small team, but Steve’s a strong lad:

Luckily a tug was found to make things easier:

Hand signals in use, not sure if that one is in the highway code:

Bomberflight demonstrates the size of the bacon roll he had for breakfast:

Nearly there:

Six months of hard work to come from the dedicated engineers and volunteers:

There were plenty of aircraft displaced during the move, here’s four from North American:

More deliveries from London today. First to arrive were the Camel and BE.2c fuselages:

Finally, the arrival of He162A-1 Salamander 120235. I’m told this aircraft was flown from Duxford, I’ll need to check that out:

IWM are desperate for space at the moment. As well as the aircraft from Lambeth, there are vehicles and other displays to find storage for. TFC are moving all of their stored items from Northside, some to Hangar 2 and some off-site. In the longer term, there is the re-organisation of the American Air Museum and a re-vamp of Airspace scheduled, so space is at a premium.

The plan for the arrivals still seems uncertain. All the effort is presently concentrated on the move, after which the airframes (and everything else) will be assessed for conservation and display. I am sure IWM realise the attraction of the exhibits, many are already nicely on view in Hangar 5.

Finally, I firmly believe that Duxford’s main attraction is the activity, the place is so much more than a static museum. Being an active airfield, the routine flying (and shuffling of aircraft!) is a huge attraction in itself. To arrive and find ARCo’s Spitfire collection on show is rather entertaining….