Canada TDThe Kidlington one I would think. They did a good job.
MH
Bingo old chap. BL370 now in D Day Museum New Orleans. Julian Mitchell and Stephen Arnold rebuilt it to a fantastic standard. Neither are aeronautical engineers (professional or practical) or technicians, they are just driven by pure enthusiasm. Unfortunately it had to be sold. The cockpit was superbly stocked with everything a MkV should have in it.
Incidentally Geoff did a fantastic painting of BL370 over the D Day beaches. This is sadly all Steve has left of it, albeit a beautiful painting.
Canada TDHi Herbert,
……………
I’d recommend a visit to Shoreham anyway. As TD says above, it’s the best U.K. aerojumble, but I still miss Yeovilton!
682AL old chap, I miss Yeovilton too….ISTR the US bombing Tripoli put paid to it…….I bought spade grips as low as £10…..Lancaster side window and rail £10, Hurricane seat £15, Spit U/C selector £5, Hawker Fury grip £35….must I or need I go on!
My first spade grip cost me £4.50 including P&P, it was a late Spit spadey!! My first control column part was half a Lancaster yoke for £1.60 which included P&P!!! (Back in 1985)
Canada TDThe ‘piece of string’ is certainly a good analogy. In data plate restorations, it does not matter how poorly the restoration is done, obviously. The worst thing is when decent potentially airworthy parts are ruined in a poor restoration job. I have always had a policy of replacing potentially airworthy parts in my static restoration allowing the Fly Boys to have useful parts, if they need them. Provided the replacement they provide is nice, straight and fit for purpose I am happy. Thereby, noone can whinge that I should get my project airworthy or indeed that I am ‘depriving’ the flying fraternity of parts (you would not believe the rubbish I have had to endure!!).
I have always maintained that you can build a nice static side by side with your airworthy project.
My friends rebuilt a bitsa Spit to static…..cheap but then they do not price their time. A Spit is cheaper to restore than a Hurri by a factor of about a half. So far, I am must have spent over 30,000 hours and I am only halfway there (if that much!!!).
Canada TDThats only true in part – both magazines have played their part in preservation. In the early days, Flypast tended more towards static and museum preservation, and aeroplane to flyers. There is still a difference between the two, though it has narrowed.
Bruce
Bruce, I think that Flypast supports grass roots preservation and the efforts of individuals alot more. It certainly provides welcome sponsorship of my beloved CockpitFest!
Canada TD~ But won’t be funded because it’s not ‘interesting’.
I don’t like it, but better a ‘fancy’ building over an aircraft than a bog standard, suitable, perfectly good hangar that don’t happen becos it isn’t interesting enough to get funded. It’s a vicious cycle, but at least there’s some buildings rather than none coming out of it.
HLF? A good way of the UK govt withdrawing funding from heritage without people giving the kicking they deserve. 🙁 Many HLF projects would have been tax funded, but aren’t now. HLF suffers from fancy short term projectitus, rather than continuation funding. Keeping stuff open isn’t a HLF priority. Better than nothing.
Agreed, a building more in keeping with Duxford’s main hangars would be better IMHO. I wish Duxford would use that perfectly good hangar base (‘created’ during BoB film filming) to build a replica WW1 hangar!
The HLF was to make the arts etc more accessible to the great unwashed…great to see how the cost of opera and ballet tix have reduced (NOT!) :diablo:
Canada TDQ wide mouthed frog joke (you know we love you really)
Canada
I admire your optomism but in this case there will be nothing salvegable from this aircraft, having seen it myyself I can confirm that its a total basket case. There is nothing that you can take from this aircraft that would improve any other Vulcan on display anywhere.AMARC keep thier aircraft in very closely monitored conditions and inspect them regularly, this aircraft has been parked 200 yeards away from the sea for the last 20 odd years. Its vulcan shaped scrap metal. He would have been better off donating the money to almost any aviation cause in the UK rather than spend it on this.
I have not seen the Vulcan recently so cannot really disagree with you wiser chaps. I suppose I am an optimist, but you have to be in grass roots aviation preservation. I hope at least some of this beastie is saved as it would be sad just to see phots of it being bulldozed in Flypast. I am well aware of the work required to service such equipment and install it etc and I am well aware of the AMARC environment. I have been in the aviation operation world for 17 years.
Incidentally, those of you with every copy of Flypast, will find a controversial letter I wrote at the time people were buying retired Vulcans for £6000 (1982ish IIRC) warning about them being scrap heaps in the years to come and the restoration being some sort of ‘Forth road bridge archetype’. ISTR I was most unpopular at the time…..oh well lucky I am thick skinned!
Canada TDTo be fair chaps, David has never particularly referred to it as an aerojumble in the sense you mean – it always was more a collectors fair aimed at a broad cross-section of collectors. Bear in mind that David has always dealt in flying gear, not aircraft parts. To be objective, when I’ve gone in the past I’ve sometimes felt that there were too many aircraft parts sellers (although I still rue the day that I didn’t buy the Mosquito tail unit which was around £50 IIRC)- so I guess it depends on what you’re expecting. 🙂
Whilst on the topic, what event do you chaps rate as the top “aerojumble”?
Easy….Shoreham Aeromart….still
Canada TDNo, not for an airworthy rebuild, in the same was you cannot use parts from a scrapheap. The CAA have insisted that only properly overhauled engines are used on the Vulcan, the ones that were in it have to be taken out as they have time on them. Getting parts from what is, without a doubt, a scrapyard on wheels is a non starter. All parts need to be properly overhauled and traceable and nothing on the Blackpool Vulcan will be. It would be more expensive to have bits of this one inspected than it would to use new stock that still exists.
MH
Melvyn, I am talking about parts etc. There are loads of black boxes and other such stuff on a Vulcan which could be made serviceable again if required. Traceability is only half the answer. Any item, provided overhauled, inspected/zeroed and more importantly documented will given them traceability. Yes much of this stuff may be available ‘off the shelf’ but will need inspection/serviceability re-verified.
Many times an aircraft has been aog for some obscure little black box…these items keep places like MARC in Tucson in business.
Canada TDI think the mans a fool anyway.
Paul.
I don’t. He has decided to preserve this airframe. He may be a dreamer like most of us, but he has elected to do something beneficial with HIS money. It may prove to be a task too big, but most of the people on this forum have consigned this aircraft to the scrap bin anyway, so if he can save even just the cockpit and engines, then he will have done something. £15k is nothing to the 558 team, but it is a whole heap of beans to saving some of this aircraft.
If the aircraft does go to scrap, it may provide many useful parts to other Vulcans and indeed dear old 558. The engines will have useful and salveable items.
I am surprised to see a Vulcan display team enthusiast or member decrying the effort of a fellow Vulcan fan!
This is just my humble opinion.
Canada TDSome lovely photos, thanks Geoff.
It is nice to see the Bf109G “Black 6” looking so lovely – these are the first photos I’ve seen of it since it crashed.
That Hurricane is a bit worse for ware. What’s the story with that? Mind you, it’s in about the same state as Sir Tim Wallis’s one was when he got it, and his now flies. Looks like Hendon should send it off the Hawker Restorations.
The Hurricane is the remains of Geoffrey Maffett’s Hurri (please correct me chaps if I am wrong as this is all from memory as I do not have my books here!). It was recovered in the 80’s IIRC byGeoff Rayner – He wrote a superb book called One Hurricane – One Raid. Poor old Maffett baled out but his chute either failed to open or he was too low. The resulting sculpture is a fantastic tribute to a brave man and the Few.
Dear old Black 6, I was there for her first ever flight. I know someone who has a nice bit of skin from this aeroplane in his museum (wink wink!)
regards to all….
Canada TDI should imagine that the vast majority of people get the meaning of the project from the title. I think possibly the effort to built a D.H Hornet virtually
from scratch is worthy of more attention rather than a minor niggle over the company name.
Indeed David, we are hoping to have Mr Collins and some of his cockpit parts at the CockpitFest (in fact he promised me!!!)
I have sent you a PM DB old chap….!!
Canada TDchaps/chapesses
your help in this matter will be greatly appreciated and probably earn a piccy or two when finished…..
I am just contemplating my next modelling wonder, a fabric winged hurri’ (if your plasticly inclined its the Classic airframes offering). The colour scheme I’d like to do is that for an aircraft of no.1 squadron stationed in france beginning september 1939. The serial is L1842. Its coded G and is said to be the aircraft of PO ‘Boy’ Mould.
However, I have a copy of the 1st and 10th edition of Fighter Pilot by P.Richey, he goes onto mention aircraft ‘g’ as if it were his personal aircraft…..I dont think aircraft were shared at this time as all aircrew flew over.
so any info people can offer in the area of foto’s, and pinning down just who’s aircraft L1842, and also the colour of the front of the spinner (I am guessing red), whether these aircraft had the ventral strake/long rudder ( I think they did) and also which type of exhausts were in use by sep 1939, (did everyone have the ejector type or the ‘kidney’ type exhausts by then or was it still mixed by squadron or even inside squadron??).
lot of questions, and some of them a bit of a long shot I know, but i think its worth getting the historical detail right here, which is not somthing I often can be bothered to do.
I might just then have to do a battle and a blenheim 1 to go with it……….
coanda 🙂
The strake was more of less standard by May 40, as was kidney exhausts.
Canada TDI wish I had my library with me old chap, then this would be easy! There is a superb modellers book on the Hurri which I have, I shall try to remember its name and get back to you.
Canada TDYes , Andy is the Putnams king 😀 😀 😀 😀 Anna 😉 Hows the shades of grey going 😉 😀 😀
Anna, you’re not the lady with the Westie are you?!
Canada TDI know this will be a very subjective list BUT….
As we have so many knowledgeable people on the forum here, what books would people recommend for research and why?
To keep the list relatively narrow could we avoid biographies/autobiographies, but DO include squadron histories.
I’m always trying to expand my own library but you don’t always hear what’s available or what others recommend.My own “Most Thumbed”….
cut…text
Over to you chaps!😀
Great thread Skypilot!
It all depends on your interests in aviation. I am interested in the Battle of Britain, general WW2 and early jets….wide spectrum. My most thumbed books covering WW2 and cockpits are:
Men of the Battle of Britain
BoB Then & Now by After the Battle
Blitz Then & Now Vol 1,2,3 by ATB
Every set of original & repro Pilots Notes I can get (60+ now)
The trilogy of excellent aircraft interior books by Nijboer/Patterson (Cockpit of WW2, Cockpits of Cold War and Gunner).
The superb book on German interiors (released in UK by Monogram, now no longer available except in German…still excellent)
Spitfire the history
Wrecks & Relics
UK Military serials from 1908…..to present
Assorted Squadron histories.
etc etc!
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